New Platform Shows PR Teams What AI Says About Their Brand and Why It Matters

Communications teams have gotten used to tracking coverage, rankings and sentiment. What has been harder to see is something more fundamental, how AI systems are actually interpreting and describing their brands.

Five Blocks is stepping into that gap with the launch of AIQ, a platform designed to give PR professionals visibility into how major AI models are shaping brand narratives behind the scenes.

As tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity become a starting point for how people gather information, the role of communications is shifting. It is no longer just about what is published. It is about how that information is synthesized, prioritized and retold.

AIQ is built around that shift. Instead of focusing on rankings or visibility metrics, the platform looks at how AI constructs a narrative. It tracks what themes show up in responses, which ones gain traction over time and, importantly, which sources each model appears to rely on when forming those answers.

That last piece is where things start to feel different from traditional tools. AIQ surfaces whether models are drawing from Wikipedia, Reddit, earned media, PR distributions or other sources, offering a clearer picture of how influence is actually working inside AI systems.

“Search engine optimization taught us to chase rankings. AI optimization requires something entirely different,” said Sam Michelson, CEO of Five Blocks. “You can’t game AI with keywords or backlinks. You need to understand which sources AI trusts, which narratives are forming, and how those stories evolve across different models.”

The platform tracks more than 5,000 topics across industries, spanning corporate brands, executives, product launches, crisis situations and employer reputation. It also compares how multiple AI systems interpret the same brand at the same time, highlighting where narratives align and where they diverge.

For communications teams, that creates a new kind of dashboard, not just for monitoring visibility, but for understanding interpretation. It shows whether messaging is breaking through, where competing narratives may be taking hold and how those dynamics shift over time.

“Communications teams are entering a new phase where AI answer engines aren't just distributing information, they're actively shaping how brands are interpreted,” said Amanda Coffee, CEO of Coffee Communications. “AIQ gives PR teams what they've desperately needed: visibility into how AI constructs narratives, which sources it trusts, and how those stories evolve in real time.”

AIQ is available now as a subscription platform, with pricing starting at $99 per month, designed for individual practitioners, agencies and enterprise teams.