New practice gives clients a measurable path to being recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, and Perplexity, and it is built for AI, not retrofitted from SEO
NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Global Communication Works (GCW), the strategic public relations and communications agency, today announced the formation of SignlLabs™, its proprietary AI Signaling practice. SignlLabs gives GCW clients a dedicated methodology for earning visibility and recommendations across leading artificial intelligence platforms, extending the agency’s four decades of earned media expertise to how brands are discovered today.
“For nearly 40 years, GCW has built our clients’ reputations one relationship, one story, and one placement at a time. SignlLabs is the natural next chapter,” said Suzy Ginsburg, Founder and CEO of GCW. Consumers no longer stop at a search engine. They are asking AI platforms for recommendations and answers, and brands need a real strategy to show up there, not a retrofit of old SEO tactics. That is exactly what we built.”
Search engine optimization earns a ranking on a page of links. Answer engine optimization (AEO) earns the snippet an AI reads back. AI Signaling earns the recommendation itself. The gap matters because an AI does not simply answer the question it is asked. It quietly splits a single prompt into roughly five hidden research queries, then composes an answer from the sources it trusts most, which are overwhelmingly earned with third-party endorsements, not a brand’s own website.
Built from the ground up rather than adapted from existing search practices, SignlLabs pairs GCW’s earned media strategy with a dedicated AI recommendation framework, measuring performance across the five platforms most consumers now turn to for answers: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity AI. The practice is led by Erika Hanafin Austria, who will work alongside GCW President, Brad Ginsburg and account teams to embed AI Signaling into future client campaigns.
“SEO is about being the answer. AI Signaling is about being the recommendation,” said Erika Hanafin Austria. “When someone asks an answer engine who or what brand is best, the platform runs its own research behind the scenes and names the brands it trusts. That trust lives in earned media, not on a brands homepage. SignlLabs is built for how AI decides, not bolted onto old search tactics.”
Today GCW measures success across both traditional and AI channels, tracking impressions, reach, and engagement alongside AI recommendation lift, so clients see the full picture of how a campaign performs and reaches audiences wherever they get their news and their answers.
SignlLabs is already embedded in GCW campaigns across the agency’s women’s health, consumer health and lifestyle client roster, and the practice will be central to new business pursuits going forward.
For more information about SignlLabs and GCW, visit signllabs.ai. or GCW.AGENCY.
About Global Communication Works (GCW)
GCW is a strategic public relations agency serving clients across women and men’s health, consumer packaged goods, wellness and lifestyle, law and energy. Services span earned media, crisis and reputation management, influencer strategy, film and production, events, media training and AI Signaling. For more information, visit gcw.agency.
About SignlLabs
SignlLabs™ is GCW’s proprietary AI Signaling practice, built to help brands earn visibility and recommendations across leading AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, and Perplexity. The practice pairs its Signaling Maturity Score™ framework with strategic growth advisory and is available for license by public relations firms, advertising agencies and web development companies for use with their own clients. For more information, visit signllabs.ai.
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SOURCE GCW Partners, LLC
