PR x Digital Marketing for AI Search: Key takeaways from our FINITE episode with Tom Telford 

As sponsors of the FINITE Podcast, we invited our own Chief Digital Officer, Tom Telford, to unpack why comms and marketing still operate in silos, and why they should be integrated now more than ever. B2B technology marketers gain practical tips for amplifying their campaign effectiveness with integrated communications, with a particular focus on AI search. 

Watch the full episode here:

1) Integration isn’t optional: Align CMO and CCO around a single “red thread”

Great campaigns start with a channel‑agnostic idea and shared outcomes. Tom’s core point: PR, content, SEO, social and paid only compound when they’re pointed at the same objective, measured the same way and funded from a coordinated budget. Keep specialist craft intact, but bind teams to a common narrative, audience and success metrics.

2) No, SEO isn’t dead - AI search just raised the bar

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and LLM answers compress research, but buyers still validate and do thorough research with traditional results. That means you need to show up in AI overviews and rank in classic SERPs. The fundamentals endure: relevance (prompts/keywords), high‑quality content (topic clusters with depth), and external authority. Think of it as an SEO + PR + content strategy, executed as one motion. 

3) Build the new authority stack

Where LLMs look for evidence is broader than your website. Analyst reports, verified reviews, Wikipedia, Reddit, high‑authority trade media and thought‑leading blogs all influence AI summaries and human researchers alike. PR wins can and should be SEO wins; orchestrate coverage to land in the publications and platforms the models and your buyers trust.

4) Orchestrate in real time, even when attribution is messy

AI search is a black box; perfect attribution won’t show up tomorrow. Use practical proxies: share‑of‑overview presence, entity/topic coverage, citation quality, assisted conversions, and movement in brand + category demand. Pair these with classic funnel metrics (SQLs, pipeline, win rate) and keep reallocating spend to the channels compounding momentum.

At Clarity, we believe the winners in the AI search era will be the teams that respect specialisms while operating as one system. Keep the art of comms and the science of performance, then connect them through a common strategy, shared metrics and agile orchestration. If you’d like to benchmark your current “authority stack” or align PR and SEO around a single red thread, we’re here to help.