Optimizing Earned Media for your Energy Brand in our Answer Engine Optimization World

Hate AI-generated answers to user questions that don’t include your clean energy solution? Afraid these answers and other AI tools will crowd your business out of search or share of voice? You aren’t alone. The end isn’t necessarily nigh, however. You can get cited by AI platforms using earned media rather than paid media. The 3rd-party stories, customer testimonials, blogs and more, that make up earned media are fueling AI-generated responses to queries, according to a recent Muck Rack report. Optimizing earned media must be a priority for your clean energy brand in today’s answer engine optimization (AEO) world.

You might be wondering why earned media is more important than ever for marketers at organizations of all types and sizes. A recent report from Muck Rack analyzed more than 1 million links cited by AI platforms. Their analysis revealed that more than 85 percent of AI citations come from earned media, and 95 percent of links cited by AI are from non-paid media sources. The What is AI Reading 2025 report also reported that top-tier media outlets, such as Reuters and Harvard Business Review, are cited most often by AI. The report delved into several industry sectors and found that industry specific and niche media outlets often are cited by AI engines. [This is where AI would link to the report. Like this.]

As you can intuit, the query approach is where it’s at today. There are different results for distinct types of queries, but bottom line is that you must be thinking in terms of questions that potential customers and decision makers important to your business could be asking a search engine. Instead of searching for “solar energy leaders,” a user might ask, “Who is the leader in solar energy in my area?” or “How many data centers are in the state of Virginia?”

AI is generating the answers to those questions and many, many more. You want your solar (or geothermal or nuclear or wind) energy company at the top of the results from those searches.

Does your organization need a media remix?

If your current media mix relies heavily on paid media, it’s time to re-think your strategy and weave in more organic content and media outreach. When you do that, focus on what Muck Rack refers to as “high authority” outlets. AI engines are more likely to cite sources, such as Reuters, Axios, Financial Times and AP, which “dominate citations.” (If you’re new to this type of outreach, it will take a while to build up to these types of outlets. A smart, solid communications agency can help tell your story to the outlets that reach your target audiences.)

Industry-specific media outlets are key here. Not only because they are laser focused on the industry they cover, but also because they also are frequently cited by AI, according to What is AI Reading? Team Silverline was extremely interested in Muck Rack’s insights into the Energy industry in the report.

For the Energy sector, Muck Rack found that earned media comes out on top again. In fact, it found that “owned” media, such as display ads and advertorials, is cited less often than in any of the industries it studied. The energy queries included answers from news sources, such as Science Direct, as well as government agency, such as Energy.gov (Department of Energy’s site) and iea.org in the mix of most-cited industry sources across Claude AI, Gemini and Chat GPT.

Got your AI-optimized earned-media remix ready to play?

Now that you are going to focus on earned media, story creation and pitching to high-authority outlets, you need a better “DJ” for your remix. You need a firm that really knows clean energy, from permitting and siting to regulatory oversight and government decision-making. Choosing a firm based on “having a contact” at a certain media outlet doesn’t cut it anymore. Reporters, like everyone else, change jobs. The pitch team backing up your organization needs to understand what the target media outlet covers, the topic they are pitching, the science behind your solution, and the regulations affecting your solution, and more to be successful on your behalf.

Working with the right partners – those who already know how to “think like a journalist,” as Britopian describes it – is the way to succeed in the world of AEO and generative engine optimization (GEO). Luckily for our partners and clients, in just 15 years, Team Silverline has learned (and unlearned) Twitter/X and seen LinkedIn morph from a networking site to a news outlet. We learned how to communicate our clients’ stories effectively, and are doing it now. It isn’t easy, but we are in it for our clients. We’ll continue to share what we learn as we go!