ATLANTA, July 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LeadCoverage, a go-to-market agency serving the supply chain, freight, and logistics sector, released “PR Drives AI Citations, Traffic & Search Visibility,” a quarter-long experiment showing press releases that lead with a clear point of view on an economically relevant datapoint earn 3.5 times more citations from artificial intelligence (AI) tools than releases that do not. The finding gives marketing and communications leaders a measurable way to influence whether their companies appear in the AI-generated answers buyers now read before contacting a vendor.
The test was designed to answer a practical question: can a business influence how often AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini cite it? Over one quarter, LeadCoverage published one press release per week and tracked every instance in which an AI tool cited its data in a generated answer.
During the quarter, AI tools cited the company's data 1,058 times, up from a near-zero starting point. ChatGPT accounted for roughly nine of every ten citations. The releases that produced the strongest results shared a single trait: each led with a specific, economically relevant number rather than a range or general company news. Releases built around company announcements, personnel changes, or awards earned almost none.
"AI cannot invent a number, so it cites whoever published one," said Kara Brown, CEO and Co-Founder of LeadCoverage. "The companies that publish specific, useful data on a consistent schedule are the ones AI cites most, and that citation is often the first impression a prospect gets before they ever visit your website. The companies sitting on their data simply aren’t getting citations, and they never see the potential prospects and deals that pass them by."
The experiment also measured downstream effects on search visibility and website traffic. Search impressions rose 83 percent over the test period, and clicks from traditional Google search declined, consistent with a broader shift in which AI-generated answers resolve a buyer's question before a click occurs. Direct and brand traffic continued to grow throughout, indicating that buyers were still finding the company, increasingly through AI rather than traditional search.
“The most common mistake we expect to see is companies grading these programs on clicks and shutting them down right as they start working,” Brown said. “Clicks are declining across the board. The measure that matters now is whether AI cites you when a buyer asks about your category. The source cited today is hard to unseat tomorrow, because these systems reward freshness and repetition. This is a position to claim before a competitor claims it.”
The full research, including the methodology and complete results, is available from LeadCoverage. The company is offering supply chain, freight, and logistics organizations a visibility assessment that shows where they currently stand in AI-generated answers.
About LeadCoverage
LeadCoverage is the premier supply chain go-to-market consulting group, dedicated to driving revenue growth for their clients. They specialize in crafting GTM strategies grounded in data-backed insights and sophisticated mathematical models. Their proven expertise transforms businesses into market leaders, ensuring they stay ahead of the competition and achieve sustained success.
Media Contact
Michaela Dildine
LeadCoverage
michaela.d@leadcoverage.com
