How ChatGPT and AI Shopping Decide Which Brands to Feature — And Why PR Is the New SEO

AI shopping is here. Learn how PR and media mentions decide which brands ChatGPT recommends—and why earned media is the new SEO.

In this episode of the Gloria Chou PR Podcast, Gloria breaks down one of the biggest shifts happening in real time — AI-powered shopping inside ChatGPT — and what it means for small business founders.

For years, we’ve heard that “AI is coming.” But now, it’s here. Consumers can shop directly in ChatGPT, and other platforms like Gemini and Perplexity are quickly following suit. This is the dawn of a new era — and Gloria shares why PR is no longer optional if you want to be found, trusted, and recommended by AI.

If you’re a product-based founder or small business owner, this episode will show you why earned media (not ads or followers) is the key to showing up in AI search results — and why the next few months represent a golden window of opportunity to claim your spot.

Why You Can’t Wait to Do PR

The AI revolution is moving fast — faster than anyone expected. ChatGPT already integrates in-app shopping with 800+ million users globally.
 That means:
 🧠 AI is already deciding which brands to surface and recommend.
 📈 If you’re not featured in credible media right now, your competitors will take those trust signals — and it’ll be much harder to dislodge them later.

Gloria explains that PR is how you feed the AI machine — by giving algorithms structured, credible data from trusted media sources that signal your brand’s authority.

The Power of Trust Signals in the Age of AI

AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google, and Amazon are now pulling data from third-party media — not ads.
 That’s great news for small business founders, because:
 ✅ You can’t buy your way into AI recommendations right now.
 ✅ Media features level the playing field between small brands and big corporations.
 ✅ Every earned feature becomes part of your brand’s digital DNA — the “trust layer” that AI reads when deciding who to recommend.

PR doesn’t disappear after 24 hours like a social post or ad campaign — it compounds. Each media mention reinforces your credibility and ripples across search engines, social platforms, and now, AI ecosystems.

How PR Fuels Every Algorithm

When you earn press coverage — a podcast, a blog, a gift guide — you’re not just building awareness. You’re creating structured, verifiable data that fuels AI and search algorithms across:

• ChatGPT
• Google Search
• Meta
• Amazon

Every credible feature increases your visibility everywhere else.

Why Now Is the Golden Window for Small Businesses

Gloria calls this moment a once-in-a-generation opportunity for founders. Before paid placements and large brands flood the space, you can still win with credibility — not budget.

Media mentions today will help AI “learn” who to trust and recommend tomorrow. Once those trust signals are embedded, they’re nearly impossible to replace.

PR Is the New SEO

Gloria predicts that PR will soon replace traditional SEO as the main driver of visibility.
She’s living proof: without spending on SEO or ads, her 100+ podcast features and media appearances have made her the #1 small business PR expert according to AI — all thanks to the power of earned trust signals.

The Small Business Advantage: Simplicity and Speed

Inside the Get Featured Accelerator, Gloria gives founders:
 💡 Copy-and-paste ChatGPT prompts that do the brainstorming and pitch writing for you
 💡 Daily curated PR opportunities
 💡 A media database of journalists you can contact right away

Even if you don’t make your own products (like subscription box founders), you can still get featured — repeatedly — in year-round gift guides and trend roundups.