TK Associates

20/03/2026

We've just seen some interesting new research on the increasing role of AI assistants in searches for information and recommendations:

· Isolating the 52% of AI prompts which are ‘asking’ (i.e. searches) instead of ‘doing’, a signficant 28% of all searches globally are now carried out via AI assistants. And I’m sure this proportion is rising fast as people increasingly get familiar with them

· Total searches across AI assistants and 'traditional' search engines like Google have increased 26% since 2023, suggesting it’s not a simple story of searches switching to AI, but of AI growing the total volume

· ChatGPT dominates AI usage with a whopping 89% share of global AI sessions and 20% of all searches across AI tools and search engines

· 83% of worldwide AI sessions are on mobile, and AI use is growing fastest in the US where it expanded three-fold during 2025

This confirms what we all already knew – that AI assistants are now vital in searches and recommendations. But it also underlines that traditional search engines still play a big role, even if Google’s share of search has apparently fallen from 89% to 71% in the last two years.

So, both SEO and GEO are vital in companies’ marketing efforts.

More from the firm, Graphite.io, that carried out the study here: https://graphite.io/five-percent/ai-is-much-bigger-than-you-think

25/02/2026

𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗗𝗣𝗗, 𝘄𝗵𝗼'𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺.

DPD UK is one of the nation’s biggest delivery companies, with annual revenue of £2 billion and 10,000 vehicles delivering 360 million parcels a year.

The company holds a premium position in the market based on the quality of its delivery services and its commitment to innovation and sustainability. And it’s a trusted supplier to many of the UK’s major brands as well as thousands of small and medium companies.

At the same time, like any forward-thinking corporation, DPD recognises it can’t be complacent about its market position, so Marketing Director Tim Jones has brought us in to look at the company's communications strategy.

It's great to be working with Tim and the rest of the DPD senior team.

You can see more on this here:

Parcel delivery group DPD has appointed us to provide advice to its senior management team on communications. DPD UK is one of the nation’s largest delivery companies, with annual revenue of £2 billion and 10,000 vehicles delivering more than 360 million parcels a year. The company holds a premiu...

24/02/2026

We've just caught up with Gartner's crystal ball gazing on how communications will change in 2026 and beyond in a world fast shaken up by AI.

The company has made five major predictions, and we think its initial two deserve particular attention.

Its first, bold prophecy is that media relations budgets will double by 2027 - driven by the way web searches are being fast replaced by AI queries.

The company points out that “more than 95% of links cited [in AI answers] are non-paid mentions ... with 27% originating from earned media.”

And it says its studies show the areas most likely to see budget increases are "public relations (where 36% of Chief Communication Officers anticipate an increase), corporate brand (34%), public website (26%), and external social media (23%).”

Doubling in two years is a daring forecast. Who knows if that will happen?

But amongst our clients and industry colleagues, there’s a consensus that getting recommended by AI tools is vital – and strong recognition that positive media coverage, combined with other content sources, plays a big role in that.

Gartner's second prediction deals with internal communications and we feel paints a rather dystopian picture of the future of work - so we hope it's off the mark!

You can see more on Gartner's predictions and our take on them here:

Gartner has been gazing into its crystal ball and has published its five major predictions for communications for this year and beyond in a world being rapidly shaken up by AI. Its initial two prophecies warrant particular attention. Gartner’s first is that media relations budgets will double by 2...

19/12/2025

What better way to round off the year than at our client Intralink's Christmas bash!!

Great company, food, drinks, war stories and jokes in a louche basement somewhere in London. Oh, and unexpected live music from a fabulous - if hastily assembled - staff band.

Thanks for having us, Intralink. At the party. And for the rest of the year!