It’s time for IR and corporate communications to team up

The online investor relations (IR) playbook has long focused tightly on financial reporting and other obligatory disclosures. But this is no longer enough. 

What’s transforming is how company performance information is searched for, interpreted, and used by humans and machines. 

As AI search tools synthesise a company’s output for investors, analysts and other stakeholders, IR and corporate communications teams must work more closely together than ever to ensure that whatever the question, their company’s content, rather than sources outside their control, feeds the answer.

Presenting financial performance information in a wider qualitative context is key to this.

Five steps to ensure that your IR content cuts through in AI search

We recently explored this shift with investor relations and corporate communications leaders in London, New York and Stockholm in our breakfast roundtable series in partnership with IDX – “Search, Signals, Story: Rewiring IR and corporate communications for the AI age.”  

Here’s five key takeaways:

1.     Provide an engaging online summary of the annual report 

Annual reports contain rich information about your company and its performance – and are highly rated for accuracy by AI search bots. Providing an intuitive HTML annual report summary will boost AI search visibility as well as being appreciated by human visitors. For search bots and crawlers, HTML is king for interpreting and ranking content. Including non-financial and financial data in HTML also maximises the chances your company’s information, rather than third-party material, is the source of AI search answers. Mondelez offers data tables in HTML, as well as PDF and Excel – the best of all worlds.

2.     Address contentious topics directly

If your corporate website lacks clear and robust responses to key questions about your company, then AI search platforms will rely on third-party sources to provide the answers. Be the definitive source of answers to key questions – including difficult ones – using direct language and links to robust evidence. Shell recently launched a new area on Shell.com, “Shell’s perspectives on key topics”, providing responses in plain language, with useful links to deeper detail.

Consistency, evidence, and authority drive AI search visibility

3.     Publish an investment case with proof-points 

It’s no secret that LLMs crave detailed information. Ensure that your Investors section contains a rich, clear “Why invest?” area, packed with qualitative as well as quantitative material. 

HSBC's “Investing in HSBC” subsection offers exactly this.

4.     Ensure consistency across every channel 

Consistency, evidence, and authority drive AI search visibility. AI tools look across your IR content, press releases, social media, webcasts, transcripts, and all other online output, meaning governance is key to accuracy. Unilever uses multiple channels to communicate earnings results, tailoring material to suit different channels, while retaining overall coherence.

Make your Investors section an attractive destination in its own right

5.     Give humans real reasons to visit your Investors section

As well as feeding the AI search beast, it’s also important to make your Investors section an attractive destination in its own right. Rich editorial material, including executive videos, podcasts, and infographics, can be effective ways of doing this. 

GSK's website employs all of these elements.