September 30, 2026
Welcome to The L@B Report
Welcome to this month’s issue of The L@B Report from GSG, where we explore news and insights at the intersection of media, technology, and public affairs. This month, we examine the rise of advertising designed to look like organic social content, how AI is shifting the value of earned media, and why communications leaders are turning to trusted messengers and more human interactions to build credibility with increasingly skeptical audiences.
This issue of The L@B Report was compiled by Ryan Alexander.
In the News
The Ad That Doesn’t Look Like an Ad
As brands embrace more authentic-looking social content, the line between advertising and peer recommendations is becoming harder to see.
Influencer marketing has traditionally relied on recognizable creators promoting products to established audiences. Now, a growing advertising model is taking a different approach: paying everyday social media users to produce promotional content specifically designed to look like ordinary posts.
According to The Wall Street Journal, brands are increasingly commissioning user-generated content (UGC) from routine TikTok and Instagram users. Creators can earn thousands of dollars producing relatable videos for brands. Some of the posts do not clearly disclose that they are advertisements, despite platform policies and federal disclosure requirements.
Takeaway
The growth of UGC reflects a broader shift in what audiences respond to online. At a time of significant distrust in social media, highly polished brand content can alienate, while a recommendation delivered in the language and style of an everyday social media post can feel more authentic — precisely what makes the format attractive to marketers.
But authenticity can’t simply become an advertising aesthetic. If audiences discover that seemingly organic recommendations were actually paid promotions, the same strategy designed to generate trust can quickly undermine it.
For communicators and marketers, the opportunity is to adopt the language and creativity of creator-led content without obscuring the relationship behind it. As paid, earned, creator, and organic content start to look alike, transparency isn’t a compliance box. It’s what keeps these formats credible in the first place.
The Internet’s Link Economy Is Breaking
AI is shifting the value of earned media away from clicks.
For decades, digital publishers built their businesses around a relatively simple exchange. They created content; search engines and social platforms helped people discover it; and users clicked through to publishers’ websites, where their attention could be monetized through advertising, subscriptions, and other products.
According to Axios, traffic to U.S. news sites continues to decline as users shift from traditional search and social experiences toward AI-powered interfaces.
Takeaway
Paradoxically, clicks may be worth less, but earned media matters more.
If AI systems increasingly answer questions for people, the sources that establish facts and reputation carry more weight, even while the economic value of each individual click declines. Earned and owned media function as inputs into a conversational discovery system rather than merely distribution channels.
For communicators, success will require thinking beyond whether audiences click through to a story. Organizations will need to consider whether their information is authoritative, clearly structured, and available across enough trusted sources to shape the answers audiences receive — wherever those answers ultimately appear.
The New Communications Strategy Is Surprisingly Human
As audiences become more fragmented and skeptical, communications leaders are putting greater value on trusted messengers and direct interactions.
The communications industry has spent years adapting to new platforms, new technologies, and increasingly sophisticated ways to reach audiences. But some communications leaders believe breaking through today’s information environment may require returning to much simpler principles.
At an Axios House roundtable this month, participants argued that who delivers a message can matter as much as what an organization says, while in-person experiences can provide a degree of credibility that is increasingly difficult to establish online as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent.
The discussion also highlighted the importance of consistency. With organizations communicating across an expanding number of channels — and little control over where individual pieces of content may ultimately travel — maintaining a recognizable message and set of values is critical.
Takeaway
The communications challenge isn’t simply that audiences have become harder to reach. They have also become more skeptical of the institutions, platforms, and content they encounter.
That makes credibility less about producing more content and more about creating recognizable signals of trust. Plain language can make institutions feel more accessible. The right messenger can reach audiences that an organization’s official voice cannot. Consistency can reinforce credibility across fragmented platforms. And direct human interaction can carry greater weight in an environment where audiences increasingly question whether what they see online is authentic.
For communicators, technology will remain essential to reaching audiences at scale. But as AI makes producing and distributing information easier, distinctly human qualities — trusted voices, accessibility, consistency, and genuine relationships — are more valuable than ever.
More from GSG
The “dead internet theory” may not be so far-fetched anymore. The idea that bots are behind most of the content we see online once sounded like a fringe conspiracy. In the age of AI, it’s starting to feel a lot more plausible. For brands, that uncertainty creates a real challenge. When consumers are increasingly skeptical of what they see online, how can companies prove they’re authentic and worthy of trust?
Read more in our latest blog, where we explore how much of the internet is actually shaped by bots and AI, and what communications teams can do to maintain credibility amid the noise.