Through the AI Gate: An Empirical Study of Structural Change and Transformation in Communication Industries

Sammanfattning

Purpose: To examine whether and how artificial intelligence transforms structures within communication industries. Methodology: This study adopts a qualitative and abductive research approach. Empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with communication professionals in Sweden and Norway. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and AI visibility were used as a concrete example through which broader AI-driven developments in communication could be investigated. Literature and theoretical perspective: The study is grounded in literature on AI transformation, GEO, intermediaries, social network theory, and gatekeeping theory. Transformation is understood as fundamental alterations across structures, behaviours, and underlying paradigms. These perspectives provide a framework for analysing whether AI changes communication structures and whether such changes constitute transformation. Empirical data: The empirical data consists of 13 interviews with communication professionals from large private-sector organisations and communication agencies. The interviews explored how participants worked with communication before and after AI visibility became relevant, how they understand GEO, and whether they experience these developments as incremental change or transformation. Conclusion: The findings suggest that AI visibility changes communication structures by introducing AI as a new intermediary and gatekeeper between organisations and audiences. However, these changes are primarily experienced as reinforcing existing technical, PR, and strategic communication logics rather than fundamentally altering behaviours and underlying paradigms. The study therefore concludes that AI, through the example of GEO, currently represents structural change rather than transformation within communication industries.