Your reputation has always reached customers before your products do. Now, with AI thrown into the mix, your entire digital footprint changes how you are discovered and portrayed. 

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT and Claude are changing the way manufacturing businesses are found and presented to potential customers, who may be using them to source suppliers, partners and specialist expertise. 

In the business-to-business world, it is reported that 89% of buyers are using generative AI to help and influence their purchasing process. This means buying decisions are well on the way to being made before a prospective customer even thinks about getting in touch.

Imagine a procurement manager looking for a new manufacturing supplier. A Google search might return dozens of potential companies to choose from. Instead of trawling through every website, they ask an LLM to recommend the most suitable suppliers for their requirements. Within seconds, they’re presented with a shortlist, complete with explanations of why those businesses have been recommended.

In short, LLMs are doing a lot of the legwork when it comes to research and shortlisting the ‘best’ suppliers for the job. They are becoming gatekeepers between your manufacturing business and the customers you want to reach. That’s why manufacturers need to start treating AI as a stakeholder when planning their PR activity.

Just as you think about your prospective customers – who they are, what influences their decisions and where they look for information – you now need to think about AI. They are looking for trust signals, authority, relevance and consistency, and they’re gathering evidence from owned channels, earned media, industry bodies and community websites. 

Ultimately, this is where your PR strategy comes in. If you want your business to be discovered and recommended by AI, you need to consider whether your communications are helping AI understand who you are, what you do and why your business is credible.

That means looking beyond your own channels. AI will look at your website and social media, but it also gathers information from trade publications, industry bodies, manufacturing associations, community sites and other trusted third-party sources.

 The more consistently your expertise is reflected across these channels, the stronger the trust signals AI can find and the more likely your business is to be referenced in AI-generated responses.

Research from PR management platform Muck Rack says 85% of AI results are driven by earned media, including articles in trade publications, while the 2025 Coverage to Capital report found that brands with positive media profiles are more likely to win head-to-head comparisons in LLM search. Manufacturers that are successfully improving their AI visibility are using PR to build authority beyond their own website, demonstrating expertise through thought leadership, media coverage and independent third-party endorsement.

Building an AI-conscious PR strategy means considering where AI looks for information and making sure your business has a credible presence there. Not every publication, association or platform will be relevant to every manufacturer. As always, effective PR is about being strategic, focusing on the channels that matter most to your audience and ensuring your messaging is consistent wherever your business appears.

That’s where working with an experienced PR agency can help. We understand the intricacies in AI, and plan bespoke campaigns that will help to influence business visibility and reputation. When you strip it back, many of the things AI is looking for – expertise, authority, relevance and trust – are the foundations that every successful PR strategy is built on. 

If you would like to chat in more detail about how a PR strategy can help you in AI visibility, get in touch with us, we’d be happy to help. We are also running a series of free workshops throughout 2026 on Staying Visible in an AI World. To find out more and book your place, visit our website.