AI is now the first place most people go to research a senior executive, more often than Google. When a board chair, investor, or journalist wants to understand who you are, they ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Copilot, and within seconds they receive a verdict about you.
The research on what drives AI citation is consistent. Here is what we know works, and why. These tips are specifically oriented toward senior leaders in Western Australia, where reputation travels fast and the stakes are high.
1. Start by understanding where your reputation actually sits
Before you can improve your AI visibility, you need to know your starting point, not how you believe you are perceived, but how the market actually sees you, including what AI platforms are saying right now. Most executives are surprised by the gap. Knowing it precisely is the foundation of any effective strategy. The Hunter Reputation Index is the expert diagnostic to help here.
2. Own your LinkedIn presence as an AI citation source
LinkedIn is the number one cited domain for professional queries across all major AI platforms. Individual profiles are cited more often than company pages. Consistency matters: executives who publish at least five times per month show significantly higher citation rates. Originality matters even more. AI prioritises specific points of view and firsthand experience over reshares and commentary. Your headline, About section, and the language you use consistently all feed into how AI describes you.
3. Pursue earned media
This is the most important factor in AI citation and the one most executives underinvest in. Research consistently shows earned, third-party media generates significantly more AI citations than owned content. Analysis of more than one million citations found 82 percent came from earned sources. For executives in WA, that means a byline in WA Business News, The West Australian, The Australian, or the AFR. One published article in a credible masthead does more for your AI visibility than months of LinkedIn activity alone.
4. Publish long-form thought leadership that AI can extract and cite
AI engines are trained to find authoritative answers to specific questions. Content that gets cited is content with a clear point of view, grounded in real experience, and specific enough to be extracted and attributed to a named individual. Substack is well positioned here. It is classified by AI engines alongside earned media as a credibility source, not as a generic blog. Specificity is everything. A piece on a precise topic in your sector gives AI something to surface in response to a specific query.
5. Build a YouTube presence, even a modest one
This is the most underutilised channel among senior executives, and the data is striking. An analysis of 75,000 brands found YouTube transcript mentions correlating with AI visibility at 0.7, the highest of any signal measured, above backlinks. AI engines read video transcripts. A video on a topic you own, with a clean transcript and specific title, creates a citable source most of your peers have not yet created. Four or five videos a year on subjects relevant to your positioning will move the needle measurably.
6. Show up in person, strategically
Speaking engagements, panel appearances, and industry association involvement generate media coverage and third-party references that feed directly into your AI citation footprint. In WA, the right rooms matter. Credible contributions create a publicly searchable record of your participation in the conversations that matter.
7. Write in language AI engines will find and use
How content is written significantly affects whether AI surfaces it. Structured content with clear headings, specific named frameworks, and precise language that matches how people query AI platforms all increase citation likelihood. Consistency across channels is equally important. If your LinkedIn says one thing, your website says another, and your media appearances describe you differently again, AI systems have to reconcile the conflict and often surface someone clearer instead.
8. Make a plan and measure what moves
None of the above works without consistency and measurement. Identify the one or two highest-leverage gaps in your current profile, commit to specific actions over a defined period, and then run the same audit at the start and end to see what has shifted. The executives who start building AI visibility now, in 2026, before this becomes conventional wisdom in the WA market, will have a significant and durable advantage over those who wait.
Note - While this is correct at the time of writing, this is a fast-moving area and changes regularly. Hunter Advisory keeps across these changes and trends.
