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TRANSCRIPT:

DOUG: AI is changing many things and when it comes to health information, people want the information for their specific needs at the moment. Is AI bringing about a change where one, it’s easier for them to get more information because it’s interactive, and two, it becomes imperative for brands to be out there in that part of the discussion that’s happening within generative AI?

IVAN: It’s not just giving you a bunch of reference material for you to sort through, it’s giving you perspective, and it’s giving you, in some ways, you know, opinion. It’s the type of interaction that people were seeking from forums or from Facebook groups and things like that, except that they don’t have to wait for it. They don’t have to wait for the influencer or the health influencer to respond to their question. They’re getting it in real time, right through their ChatGPT or through their Gemini, or through Perplexity, or whatever it is that they’re using. So, it’s really, you know, shortened the distance between people’s questions and their understanding or validation that they’re seeking and managing their condition.

DOUG: Yeah. And that brings up two issues. One is the amount of misinformation on one level, and the disinformation that can result. And the second part of that is, you know, how do brands navigate to make sure they’re correct information that’s beneficial to them is getting out there? So, let’s maybe start with the first part. Is there any advice for PR people to help them reduce the misinformation or questions that might be showing up in ChatGPT and generative AI?

IVAN: Putting information out there that is credible, that is, you know, that includes references and stats. So, that’s because those are the things that the AI crawlers are going to seek, right? If the noise and the misinformation are louder than the truth, unfortunately, that’s what the AI is going to gravitate to, right? And so, we need to make sure that we’re out there playing offense for our clients and putting their information out there in a way that can be picked up and pulled through in these AI environments.

DOUG: Yeah. And one of the things you talk about with playing offense that’s actually turned into a significant benefit for our business, booking broadcast media opportunities for clients and getting them out there, because generative engine optimization with search has become a thing as an alternative. How important is making earned media to the strategies that are being developed?

IVAN: I think it’s absolutely critical. This is like the resurgence of, you know, earned media. And, you know, PR really has a front seat in this AI world because from a publication perspective, we’re working really, really hard to ensure that these credible perspectives are being broadcast. You know, whether it’s national media or local media. Those stories are the ones that are being pulled through. So, when the AI is giving you answers that seem to be relating to people’s experiences, like this is where it’s coming from, right? It itself is not experiencing these things. It’s only as smart as the information that’s out in the world for it.

DOUG: Yeah. So, is there a role for health organizations to get this information out there in an accurate way? I mean, clearly and obviously, everyone on our show is not a fan of just sitting on the sidelines and waiting to see how they’re affected by something. You’ve got to be engaged, but what’s a good place to start if you’re a health organization? What do you need to do?

IVAN: If you’re a health organization, the first thing you need to do is really optimize your content. That’s online, like we’ve been talking about, earned media, right? And that’s, of course, there are online, you know, extensions into that, but from a digital perspective, we want to make sure that all of our organizations, our partners, and our clients they’re beginning to shift to a more structured content model. So, the SEO model, right, was really based around keyword strategies and making sure that your content was rich with these keywords because you’re going to bid against those keywords, and that’s what’s going to surface your results in the browser. What’s happening now is that the ability for the content to resonate and to provide the nuances that these AIs are seeking. So, again, it all goes back to the credibility. It goes back to the referencing, goes back to the sources, and making sure that we’re putting that out there in a structured way. So, lots of headlines, lots of summaries at the top of your content pages so that these, you know, crawlers can very quickly understand what’s on the page, understand what these headlines are, and use that content, and infuse it into the AI results.

DOUG: It almost sounds interestingly like what was happening in the earlier days when search became prominent. The Google algorithm kept being updated because, for a while, you could, in effect, write your keywords in invisible ink all over the page that no one could see. And then wait a second, they’re like, no, no, no, no, no, you’re not. You’re not going to be doing that kind of stuff. Is a similar thing happening with GEO, and how do you sort of learn what is being prioritized?

IVAN: Well, I think there’s an entire side to that, like a tactical side to that part of the business. That’s really, really interesting because I think that until they start to monetize, right, and advertise on these platforms, which I know Perplexity is already taking some steps to do, it really is trying to understand what the references are that’s pulling through. So, we did an entire exercise with one of our clients where we really sought to understand why. Why are some of these publications being pulled through even though they were older? Even though they weren’t as current as other content that’s out there, and then try to sort of reverse engineer that, right? Like, how do we get there? Do we need to do a different type of outreach from a PR perspective? Are there any types of things that we need to do to again, restructure the content? And so, a lot of what we ended up doing was restructuring a lot of the content on the website to make sure that it was really going back to that structured format that I was talking about earlier.

DOUG: Yeah. And, Ivan, I’m not going to force you to give away all of your secrets during the discussion, but let’s cough up a couple of things. What are some of the things you have discovered about which content tends to, you know, affect your GEO more than maybe it did previously in the SEO days? Or maybe the type of content that’s strong for both.

IVAN: There’s a colloquialism involved with the way that we need to start creating content like content pre-AI. Like I said, it was very keyword-driven and very sort of, you know, there was a prescriptive nature to it. And I think that the AI is responding better to more of the conversational content. That’s why it scrubs through like a lot of the forums and pulls a lot of that content in almost verbatim, but the content, you know, even though it’s going to be a little bit more colloquial and conversational, I guess, is a better word. It still has to be very clear and authoritative. And I think a lot of what we were seeing during, you know, in the pinnacle of the SEO days was sentences that were filled with jargon, keywords, and like kind of it was almost difficult to understand what it was that you were reading. It was almost counterintuitive. I think AI is allowing us to go back to a more conversational tone.

DOUG: Yeah. If your last satellite media tour wasn’t as strong as your satellite media tour before that, you may consider using a different approach on the next satellite media tour you do, or maybe an SMT. It was kind of that kind of mentality that was driving it, versus giving information that’s helpful. Now, in the past, and I don’t want to bemoan, as PR has sort of missed out on opportunities to control this or affect this, and ceded it to advertising or other formats. It seems once again that generative AI and search are involved with that, which lends itself to PR, where it’s a much more conversational approach than dictating this to you. What are some of the things PR needs to do not to just completely blow that and give up the inherent advantage?

IVAN: At FINN, like internally, we’ve already started writing press releases a little bit differently, right? Because even the press releases are pulled through because they’re rich with data, credible information, references, and sources. And it’s the type of content that these AIs, you know, really benefit from. You know where it was marketing who used to always say, you know, short, pithy language headlines, you know, keep it simple. I think that’s the direction that we need to move toward from a PR perspective as well. Keep things concise. A headline that describes it and the content that supports it. And just keep repeating that, because that’s how these things are, reading the content.

DOUG: Is generative AI reshaping the earned media landscape for health care communications? And what are some additional examples you’ve definitely touched on this that you might have?

IVAN: I feel like in a lot of ways, we’re not only having to build trust with humans, we’re having to build trust with this inanimate object called AI, right? And so that is going to be what’s expected. There’s going to be a learning curve there. You know, how do we create that quality content that’s credible, that’s rich in sources and data, but still keep things in a way that is easy for people to understand? And like I said, conversational. It’s a different approach to the way that we’re doing this, right? And it’s only going to elevate the importance of PR.

DOUG: And I’m going to wrap up with sort of a different spin on AI that’s huge in the medical field, because so much of us in PR think of it as the whole generative AI, but there’s also AI that’s being used for rapid advancements, rapid diagnosis, drug development, and all that. And we’re finding that when we do stories related to AI in those instances, tremendous media receptivity towards them. Is that an angle that brands, health organizations should be showcasing how they’re using AI? And I’m not talking generative to advance this pace of advancements in health.

IVAN: Sure. I mean, I don’t think that it’s something that you can kind of like jump on the bandwagon on. I think a lot of companies are realizing that this is another tool in their tool belt, and the way that they’re utilizing it to advance drug discovery, the way that they’re utilizing it to create, you know, medtech products at an alarmingly increasing speed, right, is really, really impressive. And you can’t just talk about AI, right? You’re either embracing it and it’s part of the organization’s culture and their processes, or it’s not. It’s not like a hobby type of thing. A lot of these companies, I think are embracing it in a way where they’re utilizing it to really help people at the end of the day.

DOUG: Well, you’ve certainly helped people with this, maybe added a couple of tools to their toolkit, but at a minimum, you’ve definitely sharpened them. Thanks so much for being with us for this discussion.

IVAN: Thanks, Doug. It was really a pleasure to be here and happy to represent FINN Partners on your podcast.