Three surveys published this year, from Onclusive, Sefiani, and Agility PR Solutions, landed on the same split. Most PR and marketing professionals think PR should control how a brand shows up in ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Overviews. Not one found a team that expects to own that work by 2027.
Key takeaways
- Onclusive surveyed 255 PR, comms, and marketing professionals across 13 markets (Sept 29 to Oct 20, 2026). 75% said PR should own AI visibility; only 22% expect that to actually happen.
- Sefiani’s Australian research, 150 senior marketers and communicators, found 84% disagree on who owns AI visibility, with the job split across five departments.
- Agility PR Solutions found PR teams rate their own confidence tracking AI visibility at just 5.5 out of 10, even though 84% call it a priority.
- Agencies already sell “guaranteed” AI citation placements, even though nobody’s agreed on how to measure whether a placement changed what an AI model says.
Who Actually Owns AI Visibility Right Now?
Nobody does, at least not cleanly. Sefiani’s research split the job five ways: Data and Analytics 23%, Comms and Corporate Affairs 20%, Brand 19%, Digital 17%, Performance 16%. That’s close to an even split, which really means there’s no clear owner at all.
91% of the leaders Sefiani surveyed say they’re restructuring strategy around AI driven discovery. You’d think that urgency would produce a fast decision about who runs point. It hasn’t.
Why Do Three Surveys Agree on the Problem and Disagree on the Fix?
Because everyone sees the same gap, and nobody’s filled it yet. Onclusive’s 2027 Trends Report shows the clearest version: 75% think PR should own AI visibility, but only 22% expect it to happen by 2027. That’s a 53 point gap between what people believe should happen and what they actually expect.
Agility PR Solutions’ separate research, 110+ PR professionals, found 84% already treat AI visibility as a strategy priority. But when rating its own confidence, that same group scored visibility just 5.5 out of 10, and 25% admit they’ve taken no action at all.
Here’s where the three surveys actually disagree. Sefiani’s data says the work is already scattered outside PR, into Data, Brand, and Digital teams. Onclusive’s data says PR itself wants the job and mostly hasn’t been given it. Both can be true at once, and that’s the real story: the title is up for grabs faster than anyone can agree on who should hold it.
We’ve already flagged part of this problem. PR now feeds AI answers, and the measurement has to change with it. This new data shows why that fix still hasn’t arrived.
| Research | Sample | Headline finding |
|---|---|---|
| Onclusive, 2027 Trends Report | 255 professionals, 13 markets | 75% think PR should own AI visibility; 22% expect to |
| Sefiani (Australia) | 150 senior marketers and communicators | 84% disagree on who owns it, split across 5 departments |
| Agility PR Solutions | 110+ PR professionals | 84% call it a priority, but confidence scores only 5.5 and 5.6 out of 10 |
What Happens When Agencies Sell Guarantees They Can’t Measure?
They sell confidence the data doesn’t support. A growing set of PR agencies now advertise guaranteed placements bundled with AI citation optimization, promising a brand will show up when someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity about a category. Muck Rack research, cited in an AuthorityTech analysis of the trend, found 73% of PR professionals already see AI search visibility as the next frontier. That demand is real, and vendors are racing to meet it.
Here’s my problem with the guarantee itself. A specific answer from ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity can’t be promised on command, because these are probabilistic systems, not ad inventory you can book. Anyone selling a guaranteed citation is either careless about that or hoping the client won’t ask. I’d rather see an agency guarantee the inputs it controls, placements and structured content, and measure the output honestly, even when it isn’t flattering.
The industry does have a usable framework, even without a shared standard yet. The IAB’s presence, prominence, portrayal, and persuasion model gives PR teams four concrete things to track instead of one vague “are we visible” question, and nobody has to wait for a committee to start using it.
PR already has a proof problem with human journalists too. There are 6.4 PR people for every journalist now, and most still can’t prove the coverage worked. AI visibility just adds a second, harder version of the same question.
What To Do If AI Visibility Has No Owner At Your Company
Start with a decision, not a department.
- Name an owner this quarter, even an imperfect one. An unclear owner costs more than a wrong one, because nothing moves while departments argue.
- Ask your team to rate its own confidence, the way Agility PR Solutions did. A 5.5 out of 10 isn’t comfortable, but it beats assuming you’re covered.
- Push back on any agency pitch promising guaranteed AI citations. Ask what inputs they’re actually guaranteeing, and how they’ll measure the result.
- Borrow the IAB’s presence, prominence, portrayal, and persuasion framework to start measuring now, instead of waiting for a standard that may never arrive.
- Revisit the ownership question every quarter. This data is only months old, and it’s already moving.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AI visibility in PR?
It’s how often, and how accurately, a brand shows up when someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity about its category, including whether the description matches reality.
Who owns AI visibility: PR, SEO, or marketing?
Right now, nobody owns it cleanly. Sefiani found the job split across Data, Comms, Brand, Digital, and Performance teams, with no group holding more than 23%. Companies need to assign it on purpose, not let it default to whoever moves first.
Can a PR agency really guarantee AI citations?
No, not the way some pitches imply. AI answers come from probabilistic models, not a bookable ad slot, so no agency can promise a specific citation will appear. A credible agency guarantees the inputs it controls and measures the output, rather than promising it ahead of time.
How many PR professionals are already monitoring AI visibility?
Agility PR Solutions found 62% actively monitor how their brand appears across AI engines, and only 35% check weekly, even as 84% call it a priority.
Sources: Onclusive’s 2027 Trends Report as reported by Everything PR; Sefiani’s Australian research as reported by iTWire; Agility PR Solutions’ “Closing the AI Visibility Gap” report, summarized by Agility PR Solutions; and the guarantee critique, including Muck Rack’s research, from AuthorityTech. Sample sizes are moderate, and regional breakdowns are directional.