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Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Guide

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Media monitoring helps organizations stay informed about what’s being said across online news, print, broadcast, podcasts, and other media channels. Whether you're tracking brand mentions, measuring PR performance, monitoring competitors, or identifying emerging trends, our expert guides, best practices, and industry insights will help you build a smarter media monitoring strategy and make more informed communications decisions.

Discover expert media monitoring guides, best practices, and industry insights to track brand mentions, monitor competitors, and stay ahead of the news.

Media Monitoring: Guides, Best Practices & Industry Insights

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.

Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?

The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

How do customers interact with my newly launched product?

How do I increase the productivity of my employees?

How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?

We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.

So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.

But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!

But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.

We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.

Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

AI adoption is no longer the challenge—trusted context is. Most organizations have AI tools, but many still rely on disconnected, stale, or unverified data, limiting the quality and trustworthiness of AI-generated outputs. Meltwater MCP brings trusted, real-time intelligence into AI assistants.

Your Best Context is Already in the Room

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIn to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

What Is Data Analytics?
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.
Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.
Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

Influencer marketing feels like it appeared out of nowhere. The reality is, it grew because social media completely changed how we discover and buy products.

What started as everyday people sharing opinions online has turned into a $250 billion economy. It works because it feels real. Influencers put brands in front of their audiences, helping to build instant trust. 23% of online video content is made by influencers (2026 Global Digital Report). They’ve built relationships with their followers over months and years, so followers actually care about what influencers recommend.

We don’t make buying decisions in a vacuum. We’re influenced by the people we admire, and that’s why influencer marketing deserves a spot in your marketing strategy. 

What is influencer marketing and how does it work?

What are the main types of influencer marketing?

How can influencer marketing benefit my brand?

How can I get started with influencer marketing?

What should I look for in an influencer marketing tool?

What is influencer marketing? It’s a form of social media marketing where brands partner with creators to reach targeted audiences and build trust.

Influencers connect brands to highly engaged communities. Brands use them for a wide range of goals, including awareness, engagement, and conversions.

Influencer marketing is no longer just a fringe strategy; it has become a core marketing tactic for many consumer-facing brands. It builds meaningful connections between you and your audience through authentic brand promotion. 

Tip: With new social platforms popping up all the time, it's important to stay on top. Look at the top beauty influencers, the top South African beauty influencers, the top beauty influencers in Indonesia, the best global food influencers, the top 5 gaming influencers, the top food influencers in Malaysia, the top business influencers, the top sports & fitness influencers, the top Instagram Influencers, the top Finnish influencers, the biggest Swedish influencers, the top Instagram couple influencers, the top influencers in the UK, the top Irish influencers, the top Instagram influencers in Malaysia, the top TikTok influencers in Malaysia, the top Malaysian YouTubers, the top Indonesian Instagram influencers, the top Indonesian YouTube influencers, the top Instagram Influencers in Hong Kong, the top Instagram influencers in Singapore, the top Facebook influencers, the top South African Instagram influencers, the top South African TikTokers, the top TikTok influencers in the Philippines, the top beauty influencers in the Philippines, the top Australian TikTokers, the biggest Australian YouTubers, the top female influencers from Ukraine, and the top Australian (Instagram) influencers.

Influencer marketing works because it feels less like advertising and more like a recommendation from someone you trust. Creators spend years building real relationships with their audiences. So when they talk about a brand, it comes across as genuine.

About 86% of marketers say they’re using influencers, showing a steady climb from previous years. And it's not just marketers who are invested in the influencer sphere - PR professionals are too. In fact, 36% of PR pros surveyed in Meltwater's 2026 State of PR report said they take ownership of influencer marketing, yet only 2.3% ranked this as one of the three main functions of their role.

The average ROI from influencer marketing is around $5.78 for every $1 spent, making it one of the most powerful forms of communication. Top campaigns can reach an $11-$18 ROI per dollar.

Most importantly, over 80% of marketers say influencers are effective. Many are planning to keep or grow their influencer budgets.

Reading tip: How To Promote Branded Influencer Content As Ads

Brands benefit from different types of partnerships depending on their goals. It might be building awareness, driving sales, or establishing long-term credibility, for example. Below are the most common influencer marketing approaches and how they work.

<table>
  <caption>Main Types of Influencer Marketing</caption>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Campaign Type</th>
      <th>Goal</th>
      <th>Best Platforms</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Social Media Collaborations</td>
      <td>Increase brand visibility in authentic, in-feed content</td>
      <td>Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Product Reviews and Tutorials</td>
      <td>Build confidence by showing how a product works</td>
      <td>YouTube, Facebook, TikTok</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Thought Leadership and B2B</td>
      <td>Establish credibility and authority by working with trusted industry experts</td>
      <td>LinkedIn, YouTube</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Affiliate and Ambassador Programs</td>
      <td>Drive consistent conversions and loyalty through long-term relationships with influencers</td>
      <td>Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Social media collabs are the most familiar form of influencer marketing. Brands partner with creators to produce sponsored posts, videos, stories, or reels. The content features a product or message in a way that fits naturally into the creator’s usual content.

These partnerships work best when the brand aligns with the influencer’s style and audience. It makes the promotion feel authentic.

Product reviews and tutorials showcase how a product or service works. Influencers test the product, do a walkthrough, or share their honest experiences.

This format helps audiences visualize the product in real life. It builds confidence by answering common questions before someone decides to buy.

Thought leadership and B2B influencer partnerships

Influencer partnerships can center on expertise instead of lifestyle. Brands can collaborate with industry experts, analysts, or respected professionals who can speak credibly about trends or challenges. 

These partnerships help to build authority and trust. They position the brand as part of a larger, knowledgeable conversation and will elevate your enterprise influencer marketing program.

Affiliate and ambassador programs are built for long-term relationships. Influencers earn commissions or ongoing perks for promoting a brand over time. They do so by sharing unique links or codes, which users click to make a purchase.

Creators have a continued stake in the brand, so they promote the brand more than once. This type of content often feels more credible and consistent to the audience.

Tip: Learn more about Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), how to become a content creator, and how to negotiate as a creator, and read this blog to learn more about the question "What is an influencer?"

High level benefits of influencer marketing include building trust and credibility, reaching highly targeted audiences, increasing brand authenticity, and generating repurposible content and user-generated content (UGC).

Influencers can create content and endorsements that feel organic to followers. This helps brands access niche communities and gain creative assets that improve performance on owned and paid channels.

Summary of influencer marketing benefits:

High engagement compared to traditional ads

More than half of marketers say influencer marketing helps them acquire better customers. Many tend to work with the same influencer more than once, another solid testament to how effective influencer marketing can be.

For more insights into the effectiveness of influencer campaigns, check out our blog on influencer marketing statistics.

Any brand can start using influencer marketing at any time. You don’t need a massive budget or a list of celebrity connections. All you need is a clear framework that will help you find the right influencers and connect them to your goals.

Before reaching out to influencers, get clear on what you want to achieve. Are you trying to build awareness, drive traffic, generate sales, or position your brand as an authority? Clear goals help you choose the right creators, shape the content, and measure success without guesswork.

Knowing the type of behavior you want to influence, will help you identify the objectives and right influencers for your large-scale marketing campaigns.

Some common examples of influencer marketing objectives include:

If your brand is new to the market, or you are about to launch a new product, you need audiences to know about it. And if that is the case, the primary objective of your influencer marketing campaign should be brand awareness. You would want to work with influencers who would reach a large number of people, and use a strong CTA so you can measure the campaign's success.

Influencer marketing is a great way for brands to communicate their values and realize deeper brand loyalty. Brand values can not only be communicated via the content that’s shared but also signaled by the choice of an influencer.

A prime example is Lululemon’s ambassador program. They identified local influencers in the fitness scene who embodied their brand values, exposed these influencers to Lululemon’s values, and gave them high-quality activewear for free. In exchange, these influencers chose to promote the Lululemon brand on their social platforms and run classes at Lululemon’s studios.

Tip: Learn how to run an influencer loyalty program, learn more about value-based influencer marketing, and how the Meltwater Brand Score helps you determine how influencers align with your goals.

Influencer marketing is well-known for being able to generate website traffic and sales within a short amount of time. Based on the principle of word-of-mouth marketing, consumers are more likely to trust the recommendation of someone they personally know. Hence, having influencers talk about the benefits of your product has proven effective in driving sales.

Identify relevant influencers using tools and analytics

The importance of finding the right influencers cannot be overstated. One common pitfall among marketers is selecting a partner based on vanity metrics like follower count or engagement numbers. The existence of fake bots, spam, and inactive accounts can drive up these numbers. 

Influencer analytics tools and influencer search platforms like Meltwater help with this by calculating the true reach of every Instagram account. True reach removes fake bots and spam accounts from the equation, reflecting a more accurate depiction of a user’s influence.

Your relationship with an influencer should go beyond a purely transactional one. As you work with them as true partners, they could become true brand ambassadors, not just spokespeople.

Influencer search tools like Meltwater also help you find influencers through conversational AI search. Enter a prompt describing the kind of campaign you're running or the specifics you're looking for in an influencer to surface results uniquely tailored to your requirements.

Reading tips: How To Amplify Your Brand With a Blogger Outreach Campaign, How To Scale Your Influencer Outreach, How to Approach Influencers Through Emails, How To Perform an Instagram Influencer Audit, How to Perform Influencer Marketing Competitor Audit, Free Influencer Marketing Competitor Audit Template, How to Find Twitter Influencers to Grow Your Brand, three types of influencers driving results for alcohol brands.

Tracking influencer campaign metrics lets you prove how your efforts pay off. Measure campaigns with a mix of reach and engagement metrics plus outcome metrics. Consider how link clicks, conversions, and any brand lift indicators map to your objective.

Use UTMs and time-window attribution to tie social referrals to web behavior. Pair quantitative metrics with qualitative signals (earned coverage, sentiment, and UGC) for a full performance picture.

<table class="table-primary alternate-color">
  <caption>KPI mapping: objectives → primary metrics</caption>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Objective</th>
      <th>Primary metrics</th>
      <th>Notes</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Awareness</td>
      <td>Impressions, reach, share of voice</td>
      <td>Measure velocity and top outlets/platforms; useful for brand-health dashboards</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Engagement</td>
      <td>Likes, comments, saves, story views, engagement rate</td>
      <td>Track relative engagement vs. benchmarks and by content format</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Traffic</td>
      <td>Link clicks, UTM sessions, landing page visits</td>
      <td>Use UTM tagging to attribute sessions and compare campaign windows</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Conversions</td>
      <td>Leads, purchases, coupon redemptions, conversion rate</td>
      <td>Use cohort windows to capture delayed conversions and affiliate codes where applicable</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Brand lift</td>
      <td>Brand-lift survey results, lift in consideration or awareness</td>
      <td>Combine survey-based lift studies with behavioral metrics for a fuller picture</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Tip: Read our in-depth blog about influencer campaign measurement, KPIs, and ROI and take a look at influencer measurement tools.

Strong influencer partnerships are built on collaboration. Give creators the space to tell your story in their own voice. The more natural the content feels, the more likely it is to resonate with their audience. 

After each collaboration, report on your results. Meltwater’s social influencer tool allows marketers to keep track of their campaign’s performance in real-time and generate reports in an instant. From engagement numbers to follower growth, earned media value to link clicks, marketers have all the data they need at their fingertips.

Successful campaigns align influencer content with brand values, have clear customer touch-points, and employ authentic, creative formats.

These examples show that clever hashtag strategies, product seeding, and long-term ambassador programs can scale organic participation and produce sustained social proof at relatively low cost.

1. #ImWithCharlesKeith by Charles and Keith

2. #danielwellington by Daniel Wellington

1. #ImWithCHARLESKEITH by Charles and Keith

The Charles and Keith team employed several influencers to promote the launch of their new collection. A search of the hashtag #IMWITHCHARLESANDKEITH on Instagram will return over 20,000 Instagram posts. While it raised social media awareness for the launch, Charles and Keith wanted influencers to help drive traffic to their own Instagram page. 

Once on Charles and Keith’s page, users would see a link to shop their Instagram feed in their bio. But instead of bringing users to their e-commerce website, the link brings them to a completely new platform that resembles their Instagram feed. Users can click on the items featured in the photos and they will be shown more information about the products. Clicking again would bring them to the product page where they can purchase it.

Reading tip: How to Use Ecommerce Influencer Marketing to Grow Your Business

Charles and Keith’s smart move to create a seamless, fluid customer journey is something we can all learn from.

Tip: Learn more about social commerce and livestream shopping.

Download our free Influencer Marketing eBook for even more insight into influencer definitions, finding the right creators, managing partnerships at scale, measuring ROI, using AI for successful campaigns.

Influencer Marketing Guide: Strategy, Platforms & ROI

Sara Palmbush, PR and Communications Manager at Fourthline, discusses the company’s planned merger with Veridas, the enduring power of earned media and human storytelling in the age of AI, and how Meltwater supports efficient brand measurement, media reporting, and journalist outreach.

1. What was your personal PR highlight of 2026?

2. What might surprise comms leaders in the next two years?

3. What is something you believe about AI in the communications industry that some communication professionals probably would disagree with?

4. What is the biggest benefit of using the Meltwater platform for your team?

1. What was your personal PR highlight of 2026? 

This month was a major PR & Communications moment for Fourthline as we announced the signing of a merger agreement with another digital identity provider, Veridas. The KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and AML (Anti-Money-Laundering) technology space has been in demand because of the growing need both regulatory and social, to identify people as humans and to make sure those humans are who they say they are. You can imagine how valuable this is in a world of AI, bots and deepfakes.

We’ve been chipping away from a communications perspective on getting the word out about what Fourthline does, its role in creating trust in the digital world, and it’s always rewarding when there is a big PR moment that generates the kind of interest you’ve been working towards.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the way earned media and thought leadership have been validated by LLMs. As a former journalist and someone who has worked in the publishing industry, it was disheartening to see the way ‘content’ was taking the place of well-reported and researched stories. It’s also interesting to see how despite everything becoming digital, we have never collectively been communicating more. As new tools are invented, we will continue to use new ways of communicating, but like I always say, people aren’t interested in things. People are interested in people. That will never change. Prediction: People and their stories will still be here in the next two years.

I love using AI for research and reporting. However, I think it’s dangerous to use AI too often for writing content. I believe it comes at the cost of creativity. We will all sound polished, sure. But we will become less interesting. I got into the business of communicating because I like humans. Our task is to stay human.

We use it for our brand measurement and our media reporting, as well as media outreach. It definitely saves time for us in creating and sharing reports and insights and has been a great way to find the right reporters for pitching.

With more than 20 years of experience in public relations, communications strategy, and campaign execution, Sara Palmbush leads PR and Communications initiatives at Fourthline, one of Europe's leading KYC and AML technology providers, serving customers including Revolut, N26, Trade Republic, and Rabobank.

Drawing on deep expertise in thought leadership, corporate communications, and strategic storytelling, Sara develops impactful narratives that strengthen brand positioning and support broader business and marketing objectives.

Before moving into communications, Sara built a career as a technology journalist, providing a unique editorial perspective and an extensive network of media contacts across EMEA and North America. This background has enabled her to translate complex ideas into compelling stories that resonate with journalists, stakeholders, and customers alike.

Conversations with Comms Leaders #6/9: Sara Palmbush (Fourthline)

In the fifth edition of “Conversations with Comms Leaders,” Michael Scheuer, SVP Corporate Communications at the Freudenberg Group, discusses trust as the most important currency in a communications landscape shaped by AI, the rise of AI assistants as a new force in reputation management, the shift towards smaller communications teams with greater strategic influence, and the importance of global real time data for rapid decision making.

My highlight was not a specific project, but a realisation: Trust is once again the most important factor in communications. In 2026, almost anyone could suddenly use AI to produce an unlimited volume of content. As a result, credibility became the truly scarce resource. Organisations that communicated through authentic stories, genuine experts, and a clear point of view achieved far greater impact than those that simply produced more content. Communications is no longer about production. It is about trust.

The speed at which traditional search engines will lose relevance and be replaced by AI assistants. Until now, we have created content for two audiences: people and search engines. In the future, there will be a third audience: AI systems themselves. The key question will no longer be whether we appear on the first page of Google, but whether an AI assistant identifies our company as a relevant source at all. This will fundamentally change our work. Reputation will no longer be shaped solely by the media. It will increasingly be shaped by the training data and knowledge environments used by these assistants.

I believe that communications departments will become smaller, but significantly more influential. Those who use AI effectively will spend less time on production and have more time for their core leadership responsibilities: providing context and direction. AI will simply perform many tasks better than we can. Press releases, monitoring reports, translations, summaries, and speech drafts will increasingly be produced automatically.

At the same time, AI makes effective communications more important, not less important. Strategy, sound judgement, crisis awareness, cultural understanding, and the ability to build trust cannot be automated. In the future, our value will therefore be measured less by our output and more by the quality of our judgement.

For us, the greatest benefit is not monitoring itself, but the speed at which information can be turned into decisions. We have global media monitoring, social listening, alerts, and reporting within a single system.

The international perspective is particularly valuable to us. For a global company such as Freudenberg, it is no longer sufficient to focus solely on the German media landscape. We need to understand how topics are being discussed in North America, China, Europe, and Latin America, as close to real time as possible.

Michael Scheuer is SVP Corporate Communications at the Freudenberg Group. Born in Frankfurt, he began his career by completing vocational training in banking at Commerzbank. He subsequently studied communications, political science, sociology, and media law at the University of Munich. Rather than pursuing a traditional career in journalism, he chose corporate communications and gained experience in Germany and internationally at Siemens before joining Freudenberg in 2012. Today, he is responsible for the company’s global communications.

Conversations with Comms Leaders #5/9: Michael Scheuer (Freudenberg)

Lena Köhne, Head of Communications at Surventis, discusses the successful brand launch following the company’s separation from BASF, the growing demand for fast, precise, and authentic communications, and how AI and data driven practices can enable communications teams to produce less content while achieving greater impact.

The separation of Surventis from BASF and its launch as an independent company were the most defining project of my career to date. Within eight months, we created and introduced an entirely new brand, rebuilt the website in three months, and elevated a corporate identity with more than 130 years of history to a new level.

Even we were surprised by the results from the first few weeks: a total media reach of more than one billion within the first seven days, a LinkedIn engagement rate 217% higher than that of our main competitors in the coatings market, and almost 5,500 colleagues participating in the launch events either in person or online. Within just a few months, a corporate division became an independent and highly visible brand. As a communications professional, this is the kind of project you live for. Seeing colleagues around the world embrace and celebrate the new brand makes us incredibly proud as a team.

First, how quickly speed, precision, and authenticity will all become standard expectations. Response times are expected to decrease without compromising the depth or quality of the content. Communications must also have an authentic and distinctive core rather than being a generic collection of messages. This is where the challenge becomes particularly acute, as resources are not growing at the same pace. On the contrary, fewer resources are becoming available, while the entire team must continue to develop its capabilities.

Second, communications relating to change and restructuring will become part of everyday work for virtually every team rather than an exceptional situation. Those who lack this capability will face significant challenges in the years ahead.

AI will take over most writing tasks, and I see that as a positive development. I do not share the concern that this will result in organisations losing their voice. A distinctive voice comes from a clear position and consistent principles, not from typing every word manually.

I take a more critical view of how the time saved through AI is being used. Most teams are currently producing more content in less time. The real value lies in creating less but better content and working in a much more connected way. Strong writing skills alone are no longer sufficient. Communications professionals need to understand data sources and how to manage them effectively.

This requires a very different range of capabilities. An excellent understanding of language and nuance remains essential, but it must be complemented by strong analytical and project management skills.

Naturally, we want to understand the impact of our work. Here too, the key benefits include connected collaboration across the team, access to data, targeted distribution, and the time saved through daily monitoring. This is vital not only during a year of significant change, such as one involving a corporate separation. It serves as a compass for effective communications.

Lena Köhne is Head of Communications and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Surventis, an international coatings technology company headquartered in Münster. In 2026, she was responsible for the complete brand and communications launch of Surventis following its separation from BASF. Previously, she led global communications at BASF Coatings and at SMS group, a global mechanical and plant engineering company.

Conversations with Comms Leaders #4/9: Lena Köhne (Surventis)

In this edition of “Conversations with Comms Leaders,” Julia Völzke, Head of Global Media Relations & Reputation Management at Rhenus Logistics, discusses the growing importance of trust and human judgement in an information landscape shaped by AI, the evolution of media relations at Rhenus, and the use of Meltwater to conduct research more efficiently.

2026 has been a challenging year due to geopolitical tensions, trade conflicts, and economic volatility, and it is likely to remain so. In this environment in particular, communications plays a vital role. We explain developments, provide context, and seek to offer guidance.

My personal highlight is therefore not a single campaign, but the evolution of our media relations at Rhenus. Over the past few years, we have deliberately adopted a more open approach to communications. In 2026, we have seen just how far we have already come. A few years ago, we still had to actively persuade journalists to speak with us. Today, many of them approach us directly to gain our perspective on developments in the logistics industry.

Seeing my colleagues engage with journalists every day, provide transparent context for complex developments in our industry, and give the company a strong and reliable voice is both rewarding and a source of great pride in the team.

What surprises me most is the speed at which AI is changing the rules of the game. It is no longer merely about creating content efficiently. It is also about how information is found and perceived.

The growing importance of trust is not a new insight for those of us working in communications. However, I believe that this issue will become even more relevant beyond our profession over the next few years. Unfortunately, today’s information landscape is often characterised by misinformation, polarisation, and a steadily increasing volume of content generated by AI.

For precisely this reason, reliable facts, transparent communication, and relationships with journalists that are built and maintained over time will become even more important. AI can make many things easier and faster. Credibility, however, continues to come from people who take responsibility, provide context, and build trust.

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