CASE STUDY

AI
Authority
Activation

CLIENT: MAYFLOWER

We partnered with Mayflower to find out whether original research could earn the brand a place inside AI-generated answers — before a consumer ever visits a website.

As AI platforms increasingly answer questions directly, brands risk becoming invisible at the exact moment consumers are making decisions. Mayflower wanted to know if that could change. In 11 days, it did. Here’s what happened…

How Mayflower increased its presence across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.

The challenge

Consumer search behavior is changing. Increasingly, consumers are turning to AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews to research major life decisions before they ever visit a website.

Mayflower wanted to understand whether original research and earned media coverage could increase the brand’s visibility within these emerging AI search environments and help establish Mayflower as a trusted source on topics related to moving and relocation.

The solution

Mayflower partnered with Talker to develop a custom research study exploring the challenges faced by couples in long-distance relationships who are considering moving in together. The study introduced a new consumer concept: The Long-Distance Tipping Point.

Our Talker Research survey of 761 adults in long-distance relationships identified the financial, emotional and logistical factors influencing the decision to relocate and combine households.

To maximize discoverability, the campaign was deployed using Talker Pulse™, our AI visibility framework that combines original research, owned content, earned media and citation-building strategies designed to help brands become more visible within AI-generated answers.

The results

Within 11 days, Mayflower achieved:

✓Increased visibility across leading AI search platforms, from 20% to 70%
✓From 0-8 direct brand citations across multiple platforms
✓Presence across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews
✓Increased visibility on topics directly connected to relocation and moving decisions
✓Over 200 earned media mentions alongside measurable AI search impact

Most PR campaigns measure whether people saw the story. This activation measured whether AI systems learned from it. Here’s what the data showed…

AI visibility results

Metric	Baseline, before launch	11 days after launch
AI visibility score	20%	70%
Direct brand citations	0	8
AI platforms attributing Mayflower	0	4 of 4
Active prompt categories	1 of 5	4 of 5
Recommendation visibility	None	Active

How AI platforms cited Mayflower

Google AI Overviews

PROMPT USED

What is the Long-Distance Tipping Point and how does it affect couples moving in together?

Google AI Overviews reproduced the Long-Distance Tipping Point concept, surfaced multiple findings from the study and cited both Mayflower and Talker Research as named sources.

Perplexity

PROMPT USED

What are the biggest financial challenges long-distance couples face when moving in together?

Perplexity cited Mayflower and Talker Research directly while discussing findings from the study, and also referenced earned media coverage of the story.

Gemini

PROMPT USED

How much does a long-distance relationship cost couples before they decide to move in together?

Gemini surfaced statistics and insights originating from the Mayflower research — including the $6,888 travel cost figure and the 74% of couples statistics — citing Mayflower as the primary source.