Trust, familiarity and connection are disinformation’s kryptonite
2/24/26 – – If you attend a crisis communications conference this year, the focus will probably be on how to respond to the escalating threat of disinformation. Given the amazing abilities of AI to distort reality, it’s getting harder to protect hard-earned identities, reputations and brands.
Of course, malign disinformation campaigns have been around forever. There are great PR tales about competitive New York delicatessen owners in the 1930s and 40s hiring bus riders to loudly discuss false food contamination claims during rush hour. “Hey Harriet, you wouldn’t believe how sick my whole family got this weekend after eating the putrid pastrami at Danny’s Deli.”
I don’t want to dismiss the headache such an attack would create for Danny’s Deli. But with the unprecedented reach and speed of today’s digital communication platforms, falsehoods that appear to be authentic can do widespread damage in minutes for companies, organizations and individuals.
Your Best Defense Begins Before an Attack
The best defenses against digital disinformation combine new-age AI-powered web surveillance and response tools with old-school proactive PR strategies.
While defensive AI agents and algorithms may be getting the most attention at industry conferences (and grabbing an increasing share of PR budgets), it’s never been more important to establish your reputation before trouble strikes by fulfilling your purpose, telling your story and maintaining dialogue through multiple communication channels with internal and external stakeholders.
Those timeless fundamentals are the blocking and tackling of good public relations.
Achieve trust, familiarity and connection, and if you become the target of a disinformation attack, lies are less likely to be believed. Employees, customers, communities and reporters will make the effort and know where to go to affirm the truth.
The Uncle Harry Test
Here’s a human analogy to keep in mind:
A close relative emails you some disturbing news about your Uncle Harry. “Everybody’s talking about it.” The alleged misbehavior at an industry conference in St. Louis doesn’t sound like the kind, respectful, happily married man you’ve known since childhood. You just spoke with Uncle Harry and his wife a few weeks ago. They filled you in on what they’ve been doing. All seemed fine.
Instead of forwarding the troubling email to others in your family, you pick up the phone and call Uncle Harry. He appreciates the call and confirms that he has never been to St. Louis. His wife joins the call and puts the false, malicious rumor to bed.
Trusting that what you just heard is true, you email your relative, copying everyone on the thread, setting the record straight.
Let’s review what Uncle Harry did right to earn your trust and break the momentum of misinformation:
- He built a reputation of being a “kind, respectful, happily married man” that made you question the veracity of the negative claims.
- He stayed connected with you and kept you updated on the happenings in his life.
- He created a loving relationship that made you comfortable calling him directly to get the truth.
- He earned your trust that what he was telling you was true, giving you the confidence to reach out to a broader interested audience in his defense.
Are your public relations programs achieving this level of trust, familiarity and connection with your stakeholders?
Deploy AI for Defense and Offense
Again, the speed, reach and potential impact of AI-powered disinformation dwarf the reputational challenges faced by Danny’s Deli or Uncle Harry. Communications channels and tools keep changing, but the superpowers of proactive, sustained public relations are universal and timeless. (They also deserve larger shares of corporate budgets.)
The good news is that AI in addition to helping with defense (surveillance and response capabilities) can help on offense (securing earned media coverage using generative engine optimization (GEO), developing authoritative content for owned communication channels, and maintaining stakeholder dialogue through social media).
So, when you decide what breakout sessions you’ll attend at your next crisis communication conference, don’t blow off the discussion of PR blocking and tackling. Follow Uncle Harry’s example and you’ll have a lot less to clean up with your newest AI tools if false claims are made against your pastrami.
Crisis Quotient Blog 