Generative AI is flooding the Internet with content that mimics journalism but lacks editorial integrity.

Organisations including NewsGuard have identified thousands of AI-generated sites, some spreading propaganda under the guise of local news. Meanwhile, audiences are shifting to social media, where creators like Joe Rogan rival traditional outlets in weekly reach. This rise of platform-native influencers reshapes competition and challenges legacy brands.

Further disruption is found in search behaviour, INMA Readers First Initiative Lead Greg Piechota said during the recent Subscriber Acquisition Master Class. AI-generated overviews on platforms like Google are replacing link-based results, threatening referral traffic. For many media companies, Google search drives 28% of visits and 34% of pageviews — critical for both ad revenue and subscription conversions.

To navigate this uncertain terrain, Piechota shared advice from Financial Times CEO Jon Slade: “He told me, ‘You know what, when everything changes, you kind of need to look at what is not changing.’”

That means producing journalism worth paying for, pricing it to reflect its value, and building direct relationships with readers. In a time of rapid upheaval, these principles may be the industry’s most reliable compass.

Human connection is critical

Emphasising the importance of human connection, Piechota showcased The Telegraph’s “second homepage,” a comment-driven space where journalists engage directly with readers.

“This is a way to really compete with AI,” he said. “AI cannot replace human connections. So you need to emphasise those connections.”

He also encouraged news companies to revisit neglected channels. Newsletters, for instance, remain underutilised despite their massive reach. The New York Times’ “The Morning” newsletter, he noted, rivals the audience of top U.S. evening news broadcasts.

Piechota closed with a hopeful call to action for publishers: “Do not panic. Estimate the risk. Plan your responses.”

He urged news publishers to conduct scenario planning, calculate potential losses from AI disruption, and decide whether optimisation or reinvention is needed.

“But when everything changes, we need to also think about what doesn’t change,” he reminded. “What continues to be true about human behaviours, about human needs, their motivations, and about the business?”

Hearst reminds audiences There’s More

Mark Campbell, chief marketing officer of Hearst Newspapers, shared how the company is using two specific growth engines to overcome the challenges of today’s market. One is an AI-powered paywall, and the other is a marketing campaign.

The centerpiece of Hearst’s marketing reinvention is a campaign built around the simple phrase, “There’s More.” Developed in partnership with Dallas-based agency PMG, the campaign was Hearst’s first cross-divisional effort to unify messaging across newspapers, magazines, and other media properties.

“It had dual meaning; there’s more content than you may think we have. You may think we’re all about crime or what happened at city hall, but we’re relevant for many parts of your life,” Campbell explained. “There is also more to the ways we tell those stories. It’s not just text; it’s video, it’s audio, it’s interactive, so ‘There’s More’ was a marching order to really tell the scope of our coverage.”

The campaign spanned traditional and digital formats: billboards, buses, podcast ads, and social media placements. Although they carried the same theme, different markets focused on specific strengths.

“[Some markets] focused on coverage, whether it was election coverage or sports coverage,” he explained. “And then some of the ads were just fun leveraging some of our favourite photography to really lighten the tone of what the brand can mean to its community.”

Campbell acknowledged the difficulty of measuring brand campaigns, but Hearst turned to three key metrics:

• Direct results: The campaign drove 1 million incremental site visits, 7,000 new e-mail registrations, and 7,000 new paid subscribers.
• Correlated trends: In every market, Hearst observed a reversal in declining traffic trends following campaign launches.
• Survey data: Post-campaign surveys showed increases in brand familiarity, visitation, and likelihood to subscribe — each rising by 3 to 8 percentage points, depending on the market.

The campaign didn’t just resonate externally; Campbell said a survey of employees indicated a surge in pride and excitement.

“What did we see over and over was the word ‘proud,’” he said. “Proud to work for us, excited and proud to see the ads, proud of what Hearst accomplishes. So that was a lovely side benefit of this campaign.”

SEO is foundational

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the next step when it comes to search engines, but that doesn’t mean publishers should stop paying attention to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

The basic ranking factors are the same with both SEO and GEO says Clara Soteras, SEO consultant and author of SEO Playbook for News Publishers. Soteras spoke to INMA members about how to improve optimisation for the coming year and the next generation of Artificial Intelligence.

While news publishers may adopt different content strategies, SEO is the foundation that underpins any strategy in place to improve and to increase pageviews, traffic, and Google authority.

Soteras compared the concept to a Hot Pot meal, with different factors being the “broths” that form the unchanging foundation of SEO, the way the broth is the constant base in hot pots.

• Bone broth: The foundations of SEO haven’t changed. GEO, LLMO, and AEO haven’t altered how publishers cook the traditional broth they’ve been serving for a long time.
• Tomato broth: Content quality, good on-page optimisation, internal linking, and user experience within articles.
• Mushroom broth: EEAT, authority, and being a reference as the content creator. The user knows where to find the information they need.
• Spicy broth: The unique, distinctive product and value propositions that set a publisher apart from its competitors.

While there may be four different “broths,” the ingredients are the same ones that have been used for PageRank for years. That’s not to say that SEO hasn’t changed, Soteras said: “It changes because the behaviour of our audience is changing with the development of different technologies.” 

Banner photo: Adobe Stock soimsigittt.

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