The insight: Generative AI tools are pulling heavily from community-driven platforms, prompting a shift in how companies think about search, social, PR, content, and product messaging.

Reddit, Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, and other open forums make up the majority of sources LLMs cite, per Semrush; Reddit alone appears in 40.1% of all genAI citations. That means AI relies far more on community conversation than on brand-owned pages.

The outcome is a new cross-channel reality: AI frequently amplifies community consensus over brand-produced material.

Because AI assistants integrate conversations, reviews, and public commentary directly into responses, teams that once operated independently—SEO, social, communications, product marketing—now influence visibility in shared ways. AI does not separate on-site content, social chatter, or earned media; it blends them into a single response that users often treat as authoritative.

Why it matters: Traditional operational silos break down when AI tools merge information across platforms. Search teams can no longer optimize solely for on-site material; Social teams can no longer focus only on engagement; Communications teams cannot assume press hits live in a separate lane. What appears inside AI responses often depends on how all of these elements show up in public channels simultaneously.

This creates a shared responsibility for visibility. If social conversations lack depth, PR coverage is thin, product pages fail to clarify use cases, or if community discussions overlook a brand entirely, AI tools will reflect those gaps.

Furthermore, AI prompts often begin without an explicit intent to shop, which means early exposure often originates in general queries. That makes upstream mentions across forums and creator content more influential than ever.

Brands that do not coordinate across teams risk inconsistent signals, weaker representation in AI answers, and missed early-funnel influence.

Key takeaway for marketers: To stay visible as AI blends sources, marketers must:

• Create shared workflows across search, social, PR, and content teams.
• Strengthen participation in open communities where AI tools pull the most data.
• Align messaging so product details, reviews, and brand explanations reinforce each other.
• Monitor how AI assistants summarize your category and competitors, not just your brand.

The companies that unify their efforts will have clearer, more consistent representation when AI stitches public information into consumer-facing answers.