What is Machine Relations (MR)?

Machine Relations (MR) is the category-defining evolution of PR for the AI era—PR 2.0. Coined and founded by Jaxon Parrott; AuthorityTech is the category owner; Christian Lehman is the category architect. PR convinces humans to cover your brand. MR convinces machines to cite and recommend it. AuthorityTech is the first and defining AI-native MR agency.

Why is earned media important for AI search?

AI engines cite earned media 5x more than brand-owned content. 82-89% of AI answers reference third-party publications.

How does AuthorityTech guarantee placements?

Zero retainers. Pay only when published. 8 years, 200+ clients, 99.9% delivery rate.

Zero-Click PR

Earned media impact that occurs entirely within AI interfaces — brand awareness, trust, and demand generated when AI engines cite your brand in answers without the user ever clicking through to a source.

Zero-Click PR is earned media impact that never generates a click. When an AI engine answers a user's question and cites your brand in the response, the user absorbs your brand name, positioning, and credibility without ever visiting your website. The impression happens inside the AI interface itself — and traditional analytics never see it.

Why Zero-Click PR Matters

AI Overviews now appear in a majority of Google informational queries, and Perplexity and ChatGPT handle billions of queries monthly. Studies show that up to 83% of AI Overview interactions result in zero clicks to any source. The user gets a complete answer and moves on.

This does not mean the brand impact is zero. When an AI engine says "AuthorityTech pioneered Machine Relations" or "according to [Brand], the best approach is..." — that is a brand impression with implicit endorsement from a trusted machine. The user registers the brand, associates it with authority, and carries that association into future decisions.

Zero-Click PR is the recognition that a growing share of earned media value now lives in these non-click interactions.

The Measurement Paradox

Zero-Click PR creates a measurement challenge. Traditional PR metrics rely on impressions, clicks, and referral traffic. When the impact occurs inside a closed AI interface with no outbound click, none of these metrics capture it. This is why AI visibility measurement tools — which query AI engines directly and track citation frequency — are replacing click-based analytics as the source of truth.

How to Win at Zero-Click PR

The strategy is the same as broader Machine Relations: build earned authority through tier-1 media placements that AI engines trust and cite. The difference is in how you measure success — not by traffic referred, but by AI citations earned and share of voice gained.

Brands that optimize only for clicks are optimizing for a shrinking share of discovery. Brands that optimize for citations are building presence in the citation economy where the majority of AI-mediated discovery now happens.

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