April’s digital PR trends: New research on AI trust, Google’s advice on good content and a ‘stickier’ search experience

New research revealed how people treat AI product shortlists.

According to the recent study, 74% of people accept AI Mode recommendations outright. And it’s fascinating, if not slightly worrying.

The study (by Kevin Indig, Citation Labs and Clickstream Solutions) recorded how people made “high stakes” purchases in both AI Mode and traditional search. It analysed user behaviour, tracking how participants used search to make purchasing decisions.

Some of the key findings include:

• When using AI Mode, 74% of the final shortlists came directly from the AI’s output – no external check, no second opinions.
• 64% of AI Mode users clicked nothing at all during their task – they literally just read the AI response.
• The two top drivers of trust in AI Mode were how it talks about a product (37%) and brand recognition (34%).

In other words, people trust AI. A lot. And studies like this show what we’ve known for, well, ever. People are inherently lazy. If they can avoid researching, comparing and reviewing options themselves – they will.

What does this mean for digital PR?

Until now, search has always required some thinking. Looking at different options, going down rabbit holes, collating research. The user had to do some work.

But with AI, all that work is done for you. From a list of blue links to a bespoke curated recommendation, with perfect grammar and an authoritative tone, the responses sound incredibly trustworthy and 100% accurate. So, for better or worse, people blindly believe them. Despite even Google saying you shouldn’t.

If this blind trust in AI continues, then getting our brands mentioned in responses will only get more important. And as earned media is such a key driver of AI SEO – the PR industry needs to grasp the opportunity quickly, before SEO snaps it back up.

Google highlights what good content looks like

Director within Google Search, Danny Sullivan, shared some info on their preferred content at a recent Search Central event. And while it shouldn’t be a surprise, it’s a useful reminder for digital PR teams.

As covered by Mark Williams-Cook below, commodity content is basically the mediocre SEO blogs that every business has been publishing for years – "What is X", "9 Tips for Y", "Complete Guide to Z". Basically, the type of content that lacks E-E-A-T (and that AI can easily replicate).

Non-commodity content is what anyone working in search should have been writing for years. Unique, experience-led content featuring different perspectives, opinions, case studies and experiments. In other words, good content. Something that only you could write, and something that is designed to influence your audience in some way.

What does this mean for digital PR?

This is basically the same drum that Google’s been banging for a while now. So, if your digital PR strategy involves onsite content – as most will – it’s a good reminder to ensure that everything you’re creating is exclusively “non-commodity”.

But beyond on-page content, I think it’s a valuable frame of mind for all PRs (and all marketers to be honest). Not just for search, for how we approach marketing as a whole. So, whether you’re working on a digital PR campaign, brand announcement, landing page optimisation, social strategy or anything else, ask yourself: how unique is your approach? 

Does it give your target audience anything new? Will it actually stand out in a sea of brands shouting about themselves? If the answer is no, you’re probably leaving results on the table.

AI Mode gets ‘stickier’ with side-by-side browsing

Google’s latest AI Mode update means clicking a link won’t open a new tab anymore. It’ll open within your AI conversation (when it launches in the UK that is).

Is this a helpful update? Honestly, who knows. On one hand, clicks should (theoretically) increase as people browse through sites more easily. But on the other, page engagement will probably drop off as each click becomes less ‘sticky’. If your audience can jump from page to page without leaving the AI conversation, they’ll be far more likely to check out other alternative options.

What does this mean for digital PR?

On a personal level, I’m still undecided. The UX sounds similar to Google’s side panel, which I’ve never really enjoyed using. Pages within pages just feels way too busy. Maybe I’m a traditionalist, but I just don’t think side-by-side browsing is an intuitive way to search.

But for PR, it’s yet another indication of where search is heading. Search is becoming stickier. We’re moving ever closer to an ‘all-in-one’ platform that you never really leave – researching, comparing and converting without hitting a single website. Or, even having an AI agent do it all for you.

So how do we make the most of this? Whether it’s using earned media to drive search visibility, or the increased importance of brand building before your audience starts searching, there’s such a huge opportunity for PR here. We need to take it.

What else is new in digital PR and SEO?

• Google cracks down on websites that hijack the back button. Some publishers are awful at this. You need about 35 clicks of the back button to get off a page (and away from infuriating ads). Hopefully this has a positive impact on the search landscape, and improves the user experience when audiences are reading our digital PR coverage on publisher websites.

• SparkToro launches AI Prompt Topics and improved keyword data. SparkToro is an audience research tool for better understanding your target customers. We genuinely love it here at Energy PR, and new features like these make it even more essential for your PR toolkit.

• March 2026 Google Update was a volatile one . You (or your clients) might’ve seen some movement in the search results – particularly across traditional search. Google’s latest update impacted a lot of sites, so definitely check your analytics and build it into your digital PR reporting.