South Africa, July 1 -- When Gartner predicted last month that global PR and earned media budgets would double by 2027, the communications industry celebrated.I did not. Doubling is nowhere near enough.

After 25 years of leading South Africa's number one PR agency, I have watched companies chronically underfund their communications function while pouring capital into marketing and advertising that delivers a short-term sugar rush and looks spectacular in a year-end board presentation.

AI search has just delivered the reckoning for that thinking - and it is going to be brutal for the brands that are not ready.

We are not talking about a trend. We are talking about a fundamental restructuring of how the world finds, verifies, and trusts ...