The Story Your Earned Media Is Already Telling Without You
By Grant McLaughlin
June-July 2026
Think about the last great story you placed for a client. A feature in a trade publication. A quote in a national outlet. An executive positioned as an expert voice amid a fast-moving news cycle. Now consider this: That story is still working. And one of its most important readers is not human.
Right now, AI tools are answering millions of questions about your clients and their industries. Nearly a third of the U.S. population will use generative AI search in 2026, according to eMarketer’s “FAQ on GEO and AEO: Where AI search and SEO overlap in 2026.”
When someone asks one of these tools who the leading expert in a field is, which company to trust, or what a brand stands for, the answer they get back is shaped almost entirely by what has been written, cited and published about that organization across the web.
Your earned media is feeding that answer. The question is whether you know it, and whether you are shaping it.
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Grant McLaughlin
Grant McLaughlin, managing director for Deloitte Consulting LLP, brings a strategic edge to integrated marketing, creativity and behavior change. His multidisciplinary team includes public health experts, communication and marketing professionals, digital and data wizards, behavior change strategists and analytical powerhouses (and a sheep-a-doodle named Chief).
