Ofcom’s 2026 News Report published this week has revealed that, in the past month, 21% of British people are using AI to stay informed about current affairs.
For law firms, and other organisations working across the injury sector, this raises an important question: if more people are turning to AI for information, does traditional media coverage still matter as much?
In fact, in some ways, it matters more.
BBC Radio 4’s coverage of the Ofcom findings highlighted that chatbots frequently draw on established outlets like Reuters, The Guardian, and BBC when generating answers.Traditional media is therefore not simply competing with AI for audiences; it actually provides the source material that AI tools rely on. For specialist organisations seeking to build authority around areas such as patient safety, rehabilitation or serious injury, credible media coverage may now influence how their expertise is discovered far beyond the original article.
Adapting to different audiences’ AI adoption
Understanding who is using AI-generated news is increasingly important when planning communications.
Ofcom found that AI news consumption is concentrated among younger adults and people from more affluent households. Older audiences, meanwhile, remain particularly reliant on established routes such as television and traditional news providers.
Conventional media coverage therefore remains essential when older audiences are a priority. Organisations trying to reach younger claimants, families or professionals should increasingly consider how information might also be encountered through AI-powered search and other online intermediaries.
That does not necessarily require a completely different PR strategy, but it does mean thinking more broadly about where authoritative coverage may subsequently appear and how easily expertise can be identified within it.
A new challenge for search visibility
This shift towards AI search does create a new challenge for SEO. When people receive an answer directly from an AI search, they may have less reason to click through to the original website or news article. Even where sources are cited, click-through rates can be lower than in traditional search, partly because AI tools simplify a source into the specific answer someone was looking for, giving less reason to read the full report behind it.
For businesses that have historically relied on Google rankings to drive website traffic, that creates an obvious challenge, butat the same time, being referenced within an AI-generated answer creates a new form of visibility.
Because AI-generated answers frequently rely on a relatively small number of cited sources, appearing consistently in authoritative coverage may help an organisation establish a particularly strong association with a subject. For specialist firms, that could mean becoming one of the sources repeatedly selected when people ask questions within a particular area of expertise.
People are using AI search faster than they trust it
One of the more revealing findings from Ofcom’s report is the gap between adoption of AI and trust in the information it produces.
Despite 21% of adults already using AI tools for news, 56% say they are less trusting of a news story written by AI than one written by a person. That distinction is particularly important in sectors where professional credibility is central.
Solicitors, clinicians, expert witnesses and other specialists depend heavily on audiences trusting their expertise and judgment. As AI becomes another route through which people find information, clearly attributable expert commentary and coverage in trusted media may therefore become even more valuable. AI can distribute and summarise information, but credibility still has to originate somewhere.
Good PR has not changed as much as the technology has
Ofcom’s findings show that AI is changing how audiences discover information, just as social media and search engines did before it. However, AI-powered search is not independently generating most of the news it displays,and it continues to depend heavily on journalism and trusted published sources.
For organisations across the injury sector, the core principles of effective PR remain intact: sharing useful expertise, telling people-focussedstories, building trusted relationships with journalists and securing credible coverage in authoritative outlets.
The difference is that strong coverage can now travel much farther than the publication in which it originally appeared. Rather than making traditional media relations less important, the rise of AI may give authoritative coverage another route through which to influence how organisations and their expertise are discovered.
If you would like to learn more about how Scala's PR services can increase your visibility, client reach and engagement, contact the team at:
T: 0114 4070159
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