By Ray Hennessey

For years, public relations has followed a similar playbook: You get the story. You land it in the right outlet. And then you let Google do what Google does, namely surface it, amplify it, keep it working long after the ink is dry. (Well, when we used to use ink, at least.)

That’s been the deal, but now that deal may be breaking.

Adweek recently reported that some major publishers are starting to consider something that would have sounded insane even a year ago: pulling back from Google altogether rather than letting their content be used to train AI systems without compensation.

Think about that for a second. The very platforms PR depends on for reach are now in open conflict with the media outlets we rely on for credibility.

If it becomes more widespread (and I’ve seen media’s relationship with Google ebb and flow over the past few decades, first as a journalist and now in my PR perch), it will have a profound impact on the way we do business.

First, placement is no longer the same as visibility. We’ve long believed that if you hit the right publication, the audience will follow. That was true when search was the primary gateway. But if publishers start limiting how their content shows up—or if AI tools summarize it without sending people back—then the reach of even great earned media becomes a question mark.

Second, we’re moving from clicks to citations. AI-driven search is changing behavior in real time. People get answers without clicking through. The industry has been talking about “zero-click search” for a while, but this accelerates it. The implication is simple: it’s no longer enough to be published. Your client has to be referenced, quoted, and baked into the answer itself.

Third (and this is the part that should make communicators uncomfortable), we’re losing control of distribution.

Publishers are pushing back on platforms. Platforms are rewriting how information is delivered. And PR sits in the middle, still being held accountable for results we don’t fully control anymore.

That changes the job. What we do going forward isn’t just about getting the story told. It’s about making sure that story is structured, credible, and durable enough to travel, whether that’s through traditional media, search, or whatever AI layer sits on top of both.

At Vocatus, we’ve always said reputation isn’t just what you say, it’s how it’s received, repeated, and remembered. That idea matters a lot more now, particularly because the old assumption that visibility is built into the system is no longer something we can take for granted.

The good news for our clients is that we are adapting every day to stay ahead of the curve, even as the curve shifts more dramatically in an AI-driven world.