And while generative AI has reshaped workflow speed, it cannot create immersive, in-the-moment experiences. This creates room for Augmented Reality, making markerless AR the next frontrunner, due to its flexibility and audience-centric tool.

Across industries, the introduction of ChatGPT has been near revolutionary, and PR is no exception. What used to take hours can now be done in minutes. This includes research, analysing sentiments, drafting press releases, and uncovering trends in customer feedback or media coverage. Its greatest strength, however, is its ability to conduct media monitoring. According to Agility PR Solutions, as of 2025, 65% of PR professionals use AI for media monitoring. 

But speed alone doesn't build emotional connection. What truly captivates audiences is participation, emotion and shared experience. And while AI can generate text, it can also produce bias or misinformation, making AR not a replacement, but a powerful complement.

Markerless AR cuts the need for printed triggers, such as QR codes or stickers. Instead, it anchors digital content to real environments instantly. This gives PR teams the ability to deliver personalised, interactive moments anywhere, strengthening recall, connection, and brand affinity.

Why Markerless AR Matters in a Post-ChatGPT PR World

PR is shifting from delivering messages to designing experiences. Consumers trust what they can interact with, not just what they are told. Generative AI can describe an experience, but only AR can create one. By blending digital elements into the physical world, AR brings storytelling to life in a way traditional formats cannot.

This shift is especially visible in Out-of-Home (OOH) communication. What used to be a passive, one-way channel is now evolving into an interactive space. With AR as a bridge between physical locations and digital content, brands can transform billboards, shop windows, or public spaces into dynamic experiences that audiences can engage with, creating a deeper impact than static messaging ever could.

Practical PR Applications of Markerless AR

Campaigns and Activations

  • Brands can overlay narratives in public spaces, transforming ordinary environments (street walls, billboards, public squares) into immersive brand-driven storyscapes. With markerless AR, they can launch their experience wherever they are.

Crisis Communication

  • In times of crisis, e.g., natural disaster, infrastructure failure, public safety threats, AR can be used to visualise instructions or real-time updates directly in the environment. For instance, evacuation routes overlaid on real streets, hazard warnings in real-world locations. This makes critical information vivid and immediate, bridging the gap between communication and action.

Corporate Communication

  • Organisations can use AR for internal or external corporate messaging. Think: AR-enabled CEO updates that feel more personal, virtual plant tours, interactive sustainability or CSR reports where stakeholders can "see" real data visualised in 3D over buildings or communities. This adds transparency and immersion beyond standard PDF reports or press statements.

Media Relations or Journalism

  • Rather than just sending a press release or fact sheet, brands or organisations can offer journalists immersive AR experiences, letting them experience the story. Instead of just reading about it. This can deepen understanding and make coverage more vivid and memorable.

One of the earliest mainstream experiments with AR was Pokémon Go, which used GPS and sensors to place virtual Pokémon into players' physical surroundings. Since then, brands have embraced AR as a storytelling tool. Coca-Cola for instance, created immersive holiday experiences using markerless AR billboards and mall installations, allowing families to "meet" a virtual Santa in their physical environment. By simply pointing their phones at the space, no QR codes or printed markers required, users could trigger animated scenes, take photos with Santa, and unlock personalised holiday messages. 

The true power of modern communication lies in the seamless integration of generative AI and markerless AR. AI provides the intelligence, crafting content, analysing audiences and adapting messages with precision, while AR delivers the immersion, transforming those messages into lived experiences that audiences can interact with. Together, they create a participatory form of storytelling where information is not only consumed but felt, shared and remembered. 

By blending AI's adaptability with AR's humanising presence, communicators can craft campaigns that are intelligent, inclusive, and unforgettable. This is the next frontier of public relations, where technology does not replace humanity, but amplifies it.