World’s first language engine optimisation business launches
Leoprd – a company developed to help brands get noticed “and trusted inside AI tools” – has launched.
The announcement:
Publicity expert and PR Shed founder Celia Harding has launched LEOPRD, the world’s first company dedicated to Language Engine Optimisation (LEO) – a new discipline focused on helping brands get found, cited and trusted inside AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity and Gemini.
The launch coincides with the release of LEO 2025: Reputation to Revenue – Building Trust, Visibility and Authority in an AI Era, a first-of-its-kind report mapping how Australian businesses are appearing in AI-generated answers – and why.
The report’s key finding: 62% of brand mentions across LLMs come from third-party signals, like editorial coverage, awards and reviews – not paid or owned content.
Harding says: “We’re not just chasing eyeballs anymore, we’re marketing to machines.”
Key findings from the report include:
– Each AI platform shows distinct personalities and different citation logic, requiring brand teams to build platform-specific strategies:
- ChatGPT 4.0: Prioritises consistent media coverage, expert opinion and awards
- Perplexity Sonar: Leans on editorial coverage, recency and reviews.
- Gemini: Trusts policy papers, research-backed data sources, and official datasets.
- CoPilot: Relies on structured metadata, FAQs, reviews and Linkedin.
– Editorial is King (almost everywhere): ChatGPT gave up to 33% weighting to editorial coverage – the highest of any platform or signal. CoPilot was the only platform where reviews outpaced editorial exposure.
– Editorial media, particularly from trusted outlets like the AFR, The Australian, and Sydney Morning Herald, is the most influential source of brand citations.
– Owned website content accounts for less than 20% of cited brand content in AI summaries.
– Review Content Matters: Reviews influenced an average of 23% of citations across all platforms.
– Offline credibility – like conference talks and awards – directly boosts AI visibility.
Harding comments, “After 20 years of Googling where a search is three to four keywords, now the average prompt is 23 words and can be typed or voiced, and that demands a completely different approach and strategy.”
The report includes expert insights from leaders including Amazon, Hero Packaging, Goldee and The UNSW Institute Climate Risk & Response discussing how businesses are adapting to this new reputation economy.
AI is becoming the lens through which brand information is filtered – but it’s still a black box,” said Professor Ben Newell, Director of the Institute for Climate Risk and Response at UNSW. “That makes misinformation, greenwashing and brand misattribution harder to detect – and harder to challenge.”
The report also outlines a blind spot in the PR and marketing industry: while many teams are experimenting with AI tools for content creation, few are addressing the real opportunity – shaping the data LLMs learn from.
“Most brands don’t have a functioning press office anymore – yet that’s exactly what you need to be visible in this new AI ecosystem,” Harding said. “If you’re not generating credible, consistent third-party coverage, you’re not just invisible to journalists – you’re invisible to the machines.”
Harding comments, “In a world where AI rewards credibility, supporting quality journalism has never been more commercially critical.”
The report lands the same week OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman revealed ChatGPT gained 1 million users in an hour following its latest product launch – a signal that AI interfaces are rapidly becoming the new discovery layer for consumers and decision-makers alike.
LEOPRD’s Visibility Engine: AI-Optimised Engineering for Modern Brand Discovery
At the heart of LEOPRD is the Visibility Engine – a proprietary system that engineers brand visibility for both AI algorithms and human audiences.
Unlike traditional PR or SEO agencies, LEOPRD combines the full executional stack of modern visibility under one system:
- AI visibility optimisation for ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot including structured data, citation signals and voice search strategy
- A dedicated press office that generates earned media in top-tier publications
- Personal brand positioning for founders, including speaker placement, podcasts and LinkedIn strategy
- Technical SEO and search discoverability across Google, TikTok, YouTube and Reddit
LEOPRD offers three transparent product tiers tailored to growth stage and goals:
- The Visibility Engine – a retained, end-to-end visibility function for scaleups and high-growth brands.
- The Visibility Accelerator – An intensive 8-week sprint for startups needing fast traction across AI, media and search.
- A Launch Blitz – A campaign-based engagement designed for high-stakes brand moments – product launches, capital raises, rebrands, or new market entries.
The team behind LEOPRD recently helped Goldee secure nearly 200 media hits and show up in 94% of LLM-generated summaries about parenting tech in an 8-week sprint.
PR Shed is already working with a cross-section of high-growth brands, including Flexischools, Goldee, Retail Media Works, Inhouse Ventures, CoinJar, Biohack Me, and My Big Adventure, with clients planning to transition over to LEOPRD on launch.
Download the full report or find out more at leoprd.io
Source: Leoprd
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