Social media reshaped distribution and engagement. Smartphones and the always‑on news cycle accelerated how quickly information spreads. By 2021, the “fake news” movement had deeply eroded public confidence, with the Edelman Trust Index showing that more people distrusted the media than trusted it. In 2023, generative AI arrived at scale and flooded the digital space with unprecedented noise. Today, communicators face the most consequential shift yet: the move from traditional search to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).