AI Is Changing How People Understand Your Organisation

Your website isn't dead — it's the proof

AI can summarise information about an organisation without requiring someone to visit its website. Yet corporate websites remain essential sources of authoritative information, allowing audiences to verify what they read and explore the detail behind an AI-generated answer.

IDX data from January to June 2026 put average traffic to a FTSE 100 website at 2 million sessions. People still visit websites to check whether the machine got it right, whether they're researching an investment, considering a job or evaluating a business relationship.

Organisations need to consider their websites both as destinations for people and as sources AI systems may draw on. Clear language, useful structure and credible information serve both audiences.

Who is shaping the answer about your organisation?

AI-generated answers draw on information from across the web, potentially including corporate websites, news coverage, analyst commentary, competitor material and outdated content.

An organisation's own communications may therefore compete with sources it does not control. An older review or incomplete account of a business decision could influence how a company is described, particularly when current, authoritative information is difficult to find.

The roadshow captured this challenge in a simple message: ‘The machine will quote someone. Make sure it's you.’

Organisations cannot dictate what AI says about them, but they can influence the information available to these systems. Publishing clear, accurate and current content gives AI more useful material to draw on, while monitoring generated answers helps communications teams identify gaps and inaccuracies.

For IR and corporate communications professionals, this extends familiar responsibilities around accurate information, consistent messaging and corporate reputation.

Visibility depends on credibility

In his City A.M. letter, ‘Can you trust AI with crisis comms?’, IDX Worldwide CEO Crispin Beale examines how AI-generated video can help leaders communicate across languages and markets while raising questions about authenticity and transparency.

His Forbes Business Council article, ‘Who Gets To Define Your Company When AI Answers For You?’, explores the broader implications of AI-mediated corporate information.

Both connect to a central consideration for organisations: visibility alone is not enough. Information must be credible, accurate and trustworthy. Structured content and accessible websites matter, but so do clear attribution and consistency across the sources audiences encounter.

Four actions to strengthen your AI presence

The ‘Search, Signals, Story’ roadshow identified four practical actions organisations can take to understand and improve how AI represents them.

1. See it

Find out how AI answers questions about your organisation, from its strategy and leadership to its products and performance. This establishes a baseline and highlights areas for further investigation.

2. Structure it

Make website content easy for machines to interpret. Clear headings, accessible information and appropriate technical markup help AI systems identify relevant content and understand its context.

3. State it

Publish clear facts and identify credible sources. Use direct language, attribute content to named authors where appropriate and keep important information consistent across digital channels.

4. Sustain it

Treat AI visibility as ongoing work. Publish updates, monitor generated answers and investigate inaccuracies to identify where published information needs attention.

Together, these actions connect the technical foundations of an effective digital presence with the editorial discipline required to maintain a credible corporate narrative.

Take control of the information you provide

Organisations cannot guarantee how AI systems will interpret their content, but they can take responsibility for the quality of the information they publish and how accessible it is.

Understanding what AI says about your organisation is a useful first step. An AI audit can help identify how your company appears in generated answers, which sources inform those responses and where opportunities exist to strengthen your digital presence.

As AI becomes a more prominent intermediary between organisations and their audiences, maintaining accurate, accessible information will remain central to telling a credible corporate story.

Get in touch with IDX to find out more about how we are helping our clients.