Why AI trusts media and independent sources more than company websites
Companies can remain invisible in generative AI answers even with good Google rankings, and this visibility cannot be bought with the same tools as classic search. Kristina Vorobyova, founder of the communications agency Sparrow PR, explained what influences AI search results and how Azerbaijani companies can get into them.
According to the Global AI Diffusion Report by Microsoft, in the first quarter of 2026, the share of Azerbaijan's population using AI services (AI User Share) reached 14.23% — close to Georgia's 17.26% and higher than Kazakhstan's 13.5%.
According to Global Stats, in May 2026, ChatGPT held 79.52% of Azerbaijan's AI chatbot market, making it the leader and the number one priority for GEO (generative engine optimization) in the country. At the same time, over the year, ChatGPT's share in Azerbaijan fell by about 15 percentage points amid the growth of competitors, primarily Google Gemini and Claude, according to Statcounter data.
Recall that in June 2026, the Ministry of Science and Education and the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI as part of an action plan to accelerate the country's digital development for 2026–2028.
According to the latest KPMG report on technology trends in the Caucasus and Central Asia, published in June 2026, almost 100% of companies in Azerbaijan report leadership support for the use of AI tools.
Together, these data mean that the most active and commercially significant part of Azerbaijan's audience has already begun to shift from traditional search to AI, and this is happening quickly. According to the Reuters Institute report 'Trends and Predictions 2026', referral traffic from Google to media websites fell by a third over the year, as users increasingly receive answers directly from AI assistants without clicking through.
Why AI sees your brand differently than Google?
'For artificial intelligence, what matters is not the size of a company's optimization budget, but the level of trust formed by independent sources. This opens new opportunities for companies that cannot compete with large players in terms of marketing budget,' says Kristina Vorobyova.
According to her, generative search begins to evaluate a company's reputation rather than the technical optimization of its website. A small company can appear in the same AI answer as a market leader if its experts regularly publish and are cited in authoritative media.
According to an analysis by the international PR platform Muck Rack, 82% of all sources cited by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are publications in independent media, not companies' own content. Similar conclusions are found in studies by commercial GEO monitoring platforms Zyppy, Authoritas, and Profound.
Preparing for AI search does not mean abandoning SEO. It means expanding the communication strategy beyond owned channels. Before launching SEO or GEO promotion, it is important not only to align information on your own platforms but also to ensure basic brand visibility in external sources — media, industry blogs, podcasts, ratings, and professional communities.
What companies should do right now to become visible to AI
Build a digital information footprint through regular media publications. Recent studies show that content update frequency is a key factor in the likelihood of citation, and the exact list of sources AI cites for a specific query can change from one search to another. However, sources that AI models consider reliable and authoritative tend to consistently repeat across different outputs. By investing time and resources in publications in quality media, companies build trust with both customers and AI systems — trust that cannot be bought with an advertising budget.
Invest in developing leaders' personal brands (thought leadership). In the era of generative search, an expert becomes as much a digital asset as the corporate brand itself. An analysis by the SEO platform Semrush showed that E-E-A-T signals (experience, expertise, authoritativeness) are the second strongest predictor of citation by AI systems, second only to the clarity and structure of the answer itself.
Maintain consistency of messages on the website, in interviews, and on social media. One of the most common mistakes is different positioning on different platforms: one message on the website, another in the media, and a third on social media. For the algorithm, this looks like information noise. It is worth defining three to five key messages and using them consistently everywhere — from blog posts to media publications.
Build an information trail. Information independently confirmed in multiple sources inspires more trust in AI systems: if the same fact is independently mentioned in media publications, research, and industry blogs, the AI model is more likely to consider it reliable.
Publish content that directly answers customer questions. A separate section with answers to the most frequent customer questions helps a brand become part of the AI answer itself, not just a link next to it.
'Artificial intelligence does not choose who to trust from scratch; it accumulates trust that has already been formed by media, experts, and every independent source,' summed up the founder of Sparrow PR.
SEO taught brands to fight for a place in search results. GEO forces them to fight for a place inside the answer itself. In the end, the winner is not the one with the biggest budget, but the one who has earned the trust of independent sources, one publication at a time.
Kristina Vorobyova is the founder of the communications agency Sparrow PR, an expert in communications with 18 years of international PR practice, including leadership positions at Havas, MINT (BBDO), and Saatchi & Saatchi.