DISCOVERY ENGINE: This is a big shift… maybe we need to change how we create Facebook page content

Some new data has been published that has made me rethink who you are creating content for on Facebook. Let me explain.

Firstly, if you think Facebook is all about friends and family then please think again.

Some new data has emerged that shows FORTY per cent of your timeline is now content algorithmically selected just for you.

It’s an approach that started a few years ago but that’s now seriously ballooned. 

It also poses the very significant question… what can Facebook page admins do?

Yes, TikTok is to blame

In the olden days, Facebook and much of social media was friends, family and pages you follow.

Then TikTok came along and upset the apple cart. Instead, it started to show users content based on their INTERESTS instead. This is done through the For You Page. A user switches on and straight away sees content selected based on what they’ve watched, shared and engaged with.

Basically, on TikTok if you spend a lot of time searching or watching midweek recipe ideas then you’ll get more midweek recipe TikToks.

This approach has seen TikTok users spend more time on that platform compared to competitors.

What is Facebook’s discovery engine?

In response, Facebook tweaked their algorithm to also start showing you content you may have a stronger affinity with. Of course, Meta would never admit they had stolen the idea. So instead they called their approach ‘the discovery engine’.

They get clues from you on what you may be interested in from what conversations you are having. Talk about beach holidays with a friend or on a Facebook group and you may see more beaches, for example. 

Recent Facebook data now shows 41 per cent of people’s timelines are now ‘unconnected’. That’s not something you are following. That’s the posts the discovery engine has selected for you.

Unconnected is a figure that’s now double the amount you see from friends. It’s three-and-a-half times the amount you see from Facebook groups you are a member of. It’s similar for the pages you follow.

So what does Facebook discovery engine content look like?

I decided to go looking for it in my own Facebook timeline.

A quick scroll through my timeline finds several posts from places I’m not following. You can see the blue ‘follow’ button on this Stoke City post. I can see I’m not following them.

This makes sense. I support Stoke and I was having a long chat on a Stoke City Facebook group. The post itself was doing really well recalling the day Stoke lifted the Division 3 title. 

Next was this.

It’s a quirky Reel from BBC Cumbria with GoPro footage of a climber rescuing a crag-bound sheep. 

This also makes sense. My Dad was from the Lake District and I’m a member of several Cumbrian Facebook groups. 

So, what now?

What it means for Facebook pages

Firstly, your pages’ followers are less important. Follower numbers as a vanity metric make even less sense. The 10,000 people who liked your page haven’t seen all of your content for a very long time. 

The next question is what content may work?

For this, I have a hunch.

I think you should experiment with topics you think are popular with people online.

In the run-up to half-term, maybe people are talking about what to do in half-term. 

So, the council Facebook page that talks about what to do in half-term may look extra attractive to the searching discovery engine bots.

The NHS page that offers solutions to hayfever at a time when hayfever is peaking could see rewards. 

Right now, that’s just a gut feeling. I don’t have data to support it. Neither is there a place on Facebook where you can see what interests people. So, maybe we are just using common sense to think may appeal. 

Thinking about trends first may make it harder to get your topic on a less fashionable subject. That’s a creative challenge. But isn’t all of Facebook?

I’ve blogged before about what makes effective content on Facebook. Avoid links. Carousels of images and video may be an approach. 

But the bottom line is this. By writing for the discovery engine you are aiming at a larger slab of Facebook.

Creative commons credit. Newstand. By Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine – Own work.

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape. 

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ALL CHANGE: How a local government comms team can navigate a change of administration

There’s many unique things about local government communications and none more so than the change of administration.

The old administration have met their Waterloo at 3.56am in a leisure centre sports hall and there’s now a new Sheriff in town.

What challenges now face?

Here are some notes for the local government comms team wondering what is around the corner.

Much of this falls on the head of comms but there’s reading to be done for everyone in the team.

Remember, there have been changes in administration before and there will be again.

Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.

The mental image I have for this period of people’s careers is the cricket shot of the forward defensive. Play safely, with caution and without risk.

Understand the new strategic priorities

First, the head of comms needs tto understand the strategic priorities of the incoming administration. What’s important? What’s not? It’s their job to help communicate them.

Was there a manifesto? What did it say? 

It’s quite possible that the big comms plan you’ve been working on is not wanted anymore. That’s life. There will be another one.

Can the head of comms arrange a meeting with the Leader?

It’s also important to understand from that meeting who may be doing the communicating. Is the Leader media savvy? Are they a former Councillor? How much support do they need for interviews? 

It’s maybe worth starting with a clean slate on how you offer that help. What works for them? A phone call? A WhatsApp message? Avoid ‘Cllr X wanted this, is this okay with you?’

Understand they may be suspicious

Typically, the new Leader may have been the opposition Leader and may think the comms team are the dark agents of spin who are the megaphone for the administration they so deeply despise. Their greeting to you may be lukewarm.

They may be wanting to pick-up on gossip they can use politically. Don’t. Be professional. Similarly, they may expect you to have the same political views as them. Again, your job is to be professional and to give that support to the best of your ability.

It’s the head of comms’ job to set out what they can do to help. Some strategic quick wins here may be helpful. Hello that hackneyed phrase ‘low hanging fruit.’

But sooner than later you’ll rub up against what they may want versus what you can legally do. You answer to the Chief Executive not the Leader.

Local government comms is a tightly regulated area and if its been a while since you brushed up on this now is the time.

Draw up a briefing note for the team

The clever head of comms or manager will draw-up a briefing note that sets out what the team can and can’t do.

The benefit of that briefing note is everyone is on the same page, literally. It should set out the chapter and verse for the relationship between the comms team and the administration as well as the other elected members. 

i) The elected member – council officer relationship. 

Check your council’s constitution for this. It sets out what is reasonable and unreasonable. There’ll be more than likely be something about undue pressure, should you need it.

ii) The legal principles of what you can and can’t do

In a nutshell, you can’t be political. Comms teams are politically restricted which means that you can be ba member of a political party but you can’t campaign for them or express open political views. Is everyone in the team clear on that? The press officer more than likely will be? How about the new graduate who works in marketing? 

In England, the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity is the yardstick to work to. 

The principles are clear:

Publicity by local authorities should:

• be lawful 

• be cost effective 

• be objective 

• be even-handed 

• be appropriate 

• have regard to equality and diversity 

• be issued with care during periods of heightened sensitivity 

The passages on even-handedness and objectivity need to be studied closely and it would be useful to keep the exact wording handy. It needs to be accessible. It needs to support the law on equality and diversity. You may need this.

For Scotland, there is a very similar document and there are also a version for Wales. There is no specific version which mirrors this in Northern Ireland but there is more disparate advice across different acts. 

Your behaviours

I often thought when working in local government that you need the skills of a diplomat and to be able to understand the complex and explain it in plain English. The skills of a diplomat in this post-election period are particularly important. 

Understand what you can and can’t do in your job and treat all elected members with respect. 

It is not such a bad idea to communicate what you can and can’t do at the appropriate time when pressed. Out in the wild, the junior member of the team may feel less confident of this. This is fine. They should be able to flag things up with the manager or the head of comms.

The head of comms may want to have a conversation with the chief executive as a reminder about what the comms team can and can’t do. If they too had a copy of the briefing note this wouldn’t be all bad. 

On occasion, I was put under pressure from an elected member who were testing boundaries. Could I send through a picture for a political leaflet? No. It was created with public money. Can I criticise a political party? No, the release needs to be objective. But the cabinet member can talk to the reporter directly and say whatever they like. People are watching and will complain. When that complaint lands you’ll be on your own. 

After a conversation where advice was offered, you may want to confirm all that in writing to ensure there’s no confusion. 

After years spent court reporting the words ‘In my respectful submission, this is my professional advice…’ have been used often in my career.

Also, you may be tempted to remain on terms with politicians from the departing administration. They may be after snippets of gossip. Avoid this. The relationship has now been reset. Be professional.

Remember, your ethics and your reputation have been hard won. Protect them.

Your own individual insurance policy 

I’ve been very consistent in saying that everyone should join a union. It is an insurance policy against bad employers. If you haven’t done so join one today. It takes five minutes. There is usually a cooling of process where the union won’t handle an issue that’s just emerged. So, join ahead of time.

It’s worth repeating that HR are employed by the organisation for the organisation. There’s a limit to what they can do. 

In addition, the CIPR have an ethics hotline where members can talk to people to get advice.

Failing everything there is always the wise words of the Buddha: “All things must pass.”

Good luck. This will be a few pages in your autobiography whatever happens.

Creative commons credit: Forward defensive by Anthony O’Neil, CC BY-SA 2.0.

PAGE REVIEW: What do you do with your social media if your organisation merges with another? 

When there’s a change of borders for an organisation there needs to be a change of borders for the socials too. So here’s some questions to ask.

Changes in the NHS and changes in parts of local government. We’re seeing some of the biggest changes for 50 years.

But what should a comms team do?

Well, there’s a long list of tasks to do. Not least explain the changes to residents who generally don’t care so long as there’s a GP appointment or have their bins collected.

To merge pages or not to merge?

Here’s a scenario for you.

The county of Oxdown had five councils. There was a county council and four towns each with their own District Council.

Under changes, there’s going to be just two councils. From now on, East Oxdownshire and West Oxdownshire will take shape. 

First things first, do you even want to have a single page for this new organisation?

The attraction is a single digital footprint which can be your new font of all knowledge. But the downside is that your Facebook page may now be unbalanced. They will have more people from one area than the other. 

So, do you keep the existing pages? That could get messy. 

Here’s some practical tips for each of the main platforms.

Realistically, the key to making this work is to keep the page admins on board. If someone leaves with the keys to the account then this can throw a spanner into the works. There’s a risk that a disgruntled member of staff can not just fail to pass on the admin rights but to leave with a send off.

On LinkedIn

I’m starting with the business-focused platform as that seems the easiest to tackle.

Good news. If two organisations merge there’s a way to merge pages.

Both pages need to be of the same name and have the same super admin. That’s an admin with the maximum levels of admin rights.

You can merge a secondary page into the main page. The second page’s followers will be added to the first but the content won’t go with it. 

There’s some useful notes on what to do on merging LinkedIn pages here.

On Facebook

Good news. This can be done but there are hoops for you to jump through.

On X (formerly Twitter)

Bad news. You can’t merge accounts. 

Overcoming the Facebook imbalance

One NHS Trust I worked with hafd merged with another. They kept their Facebook page and renamed it. The only problem they were now lopsided. They had 95 per cent of their page followers coming from one half of the new area.

The way to tackle that was simple. Firstly, it’s the Facebook group approach I keep banging on about. Post to the page and then share to the Facebook groups in the area where they have no followers. 

Secondly, its Facebook ads. Yes, I know you’d rather not but if you need to get a message out and the benefit to the organisation is more than the ad budget you are in the black.

Creativity is the key. 

On Instagram

Bad news. You can’t merge accounts. This is to stop follower manipulation. So, you’ll have to pick one and mothball the other.

Pick an account, any account 

If two councils merge and there’s two library services you need to be thinking about what route to take. There’s the route of merging pages. But the practicalities may make this impossible. So which one will you pick as the flag bearer?

Mothballing and redirecting accounts

The internet is littered with ghost social media profiles that have run out of steam. There is a list of reasons for this. Sometimes it’s because the admin has moved on. Maybe they’ve  metaphorically threw the keys to the page into the canal on the way out. Or maybe the organisation has become defunct and nobody bothered.

When an organisation stops operating there’s absolutely a need to review what pages there are and bring to a close their usefulness.

Mothball 

For me, mothballing is better than deletion. There may be a need to refer back to previous comments and coverage. Besides, deleting an account may allow someone else to take that handle for themselves.

This example of London Midland Railway shows how to do it. Sign off then signpost to the next account. 

Perfect.

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape. 

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SURVEY DATA: The era of public sector AI Wild West is closing

One set of figures comes shining through from the AI tracker survey I carried out at the tail end of winter.

That’s having a policy.

A policy is the organisation having a set of guard rails to give safety, confidence and direction.

In the most recent tracker survey I carried out, almost two thirds of public sector comms people say that their organisation has a policy.

This is a significant shift since the summer.

Why is having an AI policy important?

If you have a policy, you have guard rails.

But having a policy drawn-up on its own does not mean that the problem has been solved.

But that’s a step on the journey not a destination.

Many commentators have rightly pointed out that everyone who uses technology as a minimum needs to have Blue Peter-style AI basics training.

In the 1990s, we had desktop publishing courses as a matter of course.

Thirty years later, we need the same for AI.

But the shift towards organisations having policies starts to close the era of AI Wild West when anyone could technically do anything. How can you take action against someone on how they use AI if you don’t have an AI policy?

Not just that but how can you encourage people to use AI well if you don’t have a policy?

I’ll be blogging the results of the AI tracker survey in the coming weeks.

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape. 

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Creative commons credit: Retro computer by Adam Podstawczyński.

PAY TO PLAY? Social media platform subscriptions for pages analysed for the public sector 

Back in the olden days you posted something and bingo your followers saw it.

Today, the dynamics of this are very different.

Algorithms shifts obscure your content to nudge you towards paying for ads to reach the audience you know are there. 

But in recent times, a new tier has emerged where pages can effectively pay subscriptions in return for benefits.

So, is it worth putting your hand in your pocket to pay extra as a page?

In the public sector when budgets are tight the immediate answer is probably no. But hold those horses. Social media is the most significant channel for news in the UK. In an emergency, people will often turn to online channels. There are arguments that you need to be on these platforms and with organic reach getting especially hard are there other options?

Is it worth it?

For existing organisations, there’s some benefits. Broadly, you get more visibility. However, for newly merged or created organisations this would be an interesting way to get your content in front of more people. The LinkedIn option may be especially useful here.

But for any organisations, the Meta Verified option which allows you to contact support feels like a useful thing all on its own. Think of it as an insurance policy against Meta.

Broadly speaking, a lot of what you pay for with these paid layers is more useful for an aspiring start-up or private sector company. But I really don’t think we are at a place where we just dismiss these things out of hand anymore.

So, here’s what’s on offer.

I’ve taken a look at options for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube. 

Meta Verified for Facebook and Instagram

With this option, you get a verified badge. Most public sector organisations have pretty established pages so don’t really need the extra flakes of trust a badge can offer. 

But one attractive factor is the offer of 24/7 enhanced support. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have asked for advice to get hold of someone from Facebook to overcome a particular issue. Their customer service is almost non-existant. So, there’s part of me that thinks that this option is an insurance policy against things going wrong.

There’s also the option with the medium tear of adding two links to a Reel. Given that links are heavily penalised by Facebook and almost impossible to achieve on Instagram this is an attractive proposition. But if you do go down the path don’t blow your monthly allowance on linking to a heavily mangled press release. That would be daft.

With this option, Meta also offers impersonation protection. If Meta think that Oxdown Council Official is trying to underarmine the actual Oxdown Council page then this becomes a proposition. But to be fair, the only damage often in these impersonation cases is to a councillor’s ego.

All this is handy. The enhanced search function would probably be of most use to a new brand or maybe a new council that emerges from three merged ones. But if you are established this feels a little unnecessary.  Similarly, exclusive stickers for stories isn’t that much of an attractive proposition.

Options: £11.29 a month for the basic with no links on Reels and £37.65 for two links a month and some fringe benefits.

Value: ***

Benefits for the public sector: ***

More info on Meta Verified here.

LinkedIn premium company page

While the corporate page on LinkedIn is the organisation’s shopfront the real strength of the platform is the networks each member has.

That said, there’s an argument to have a premium company page. It’ll give you a gold page badge. It’ll give you a custom call-to-action button for the page so you can ask people to go to the website, register, volunteer or other tasks. It gives you a list of who has visited your page which feels a little bit stalkerish.

You can also display an 80-word testimonial prominently which again is probably not a public sector tool. Neither are credibility highlights where you can brag about awards you’ve won.

The AI-assisted writing tool feels slightly problematic. It also cuts to the heart of the divide between public and private sector. The private sector can throw anything against the wall. Councils, fire and rescue, police and NHS really do need a policy.

The dynamic cover image sounds a bit grand and eye-catching but is maybe not a huge benefit to the public sector. 

The ability to auto-invite engaged members does sound attractive. With this, people who like or comment will be prompted to follow the page. If you are looking to grow the page this could be a handy tool. 

Options: A company page starts at £75.38 a month.

Value: **

Benefits for the public sector: ***

More info on a LinkedIn premium company page here.

YouTube Premium

Anyone with a YouTube account can upgrade to premium.

However, this is more aimed at making the user’s viewing experience bettger rather than promoting a business. So, it allows you to watch clips without ads. There’s nothing really here for the public sector.

Options: £12.99 a month.

Value: *

Benefits for the public sector: *

More info on YouTube Premium here.

X premium

Where Twitter was pivotal to public sector a few years ago X has become something of a legacy platform.

That said, let’s go through the options. You can edit posts for an hour and you can have longer posts with up to 25,000 characters instead of the 280 for the free level. You can also share longer video of up to three hours in length. 

There’s also some other benefits like the ability to reply to other verified accounts. But it’s hard to see how this is all that useful for the public sector. There’s some other monetisation tools that would work maybe in the private sector but not the public.

If you did go down this route as the public sector you’d need Premium Organisation status.

Options: The basic level of premium is £6.03 a month rising to £23.35 a month for Premium+.

Value: *

Options for the public sector: **

More info on X Premium here.

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape. 

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Creative commons credit: Tickets please by Colin Smith.

KEY SHAPES: Here’s 7 stats from a key survey that can help shape your communications in 2026

We live in changing times but there is no reason, to quote Withnail & I, to make an enemy of our future.

Knowing the slight touches at the tiller is useful as the boat chugs ever onwards.

The Ofcom Adults Media Use and Attitudes report is one such document that shows slight tweaks of direction.

Here’s seven stats that you need to know. 

54 per cent of UK adults are using AI

Within two years the number of people who are using AI in the UK has doubled. This compares to the eight years it took for half the country to be using the internet. This figure includes a mix of work, home, education, curiosity and other factors.

Almost twice the number of 16-year-olds are using AI compared to 55-year-olds

With 79 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds now using AI the younger generation are adopting the tools at a far greater rate than older people. By definition, senior communicators who are older are at risk of being left behind. This is not something to outsource. It’s something to understand. There are some great online explainers from the likes of Google and Microsoft out there.

75 per cent read AI summaries in search

Google has switched from a traditional listing to a summary generated by AI for many searches. We have had SEO – search engine optimisation. We now have the age of GEO – generative engine optimisation. That’s techniques for placing your answers into AI summaries not just on Google but answers from large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot.

44 per cent are confident they can identify AI content

If less than half of us are not confident that we can identify something made by a machine this poses questions. Are we likely to be taken in by AI deepfakes and disinformation? Yes, we are. 

85 per cent use mainstream news

The majority of people use our 300-year-old tradition of journalism. But within that, while a fifth always trust it the same number always question it. We would be wrong to think that the liberal tradition of journalists holding decision makers to account will always be with us. This needs work.

49 per cent now post or comment on social media

This figure marks something of a collapse. Last year, the figure was 61 per cent. If we are retreating from active social media use what else are we doing? The overall figure of social media use – 89 per cent – hasn’t changed much.

78 per cent see news regularly on social media

Social media once again has become an established source of news. While four in five see news in their feeds a third of people will also share it. 

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape. 

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Creative commons credit: Piccadilly Circus in 1986 by Stella Gardiner, CC BY-SA 2.0 

DATA SET: A deep dive into how we are using YouTube in the UK in 2026

In the olden days there was just one type of YouTube. That was landscape clips that lasted less than 15-minutes. You can still see the sediment of this period if you go searching for it.

The 15-year-old Bullseye episode that’s split into two 14-minute parts. That’s from then.

Now, there’s many ways to watch how to skin a metaphorical cat.

One of the glorious things about Ofcom is they don’t just publish reports they also publish selective data that goes into them.

So, here it is. I’ve read the 154,000 lines of data that went into the video on demand survey to unearth some absolute gems.

We know that video is significant in the media landscape.

We know that YouTube is the most popular social media channel in the UK and used by 43.6 million people. That’s 94 per cent of all internet users.

But how are we using it?

What length of YouTube clips do we watch… and why does it matter?

Traditional short-form video still tops the charts on YouTube. That’s clips less than 15-minutes. Ofcom research shows that 57 per cent of the UK population have watched this length of clip in the last 12-months.

What’s interesting are the YouTube Shorts data. Shorts is the vertical platform to challenge TikTok and Reels. Here, the data skews strongly to a younger demographic. Seventy per cent of 13-to-17-year-olds watch this platform.

As we get older, the traditional short-form content performs strongly. More than half of 18 to 50-year-olds will watch this.

Live streams are measurable but are not really cutting through to much more than a tenth of people. They perform best with 13 to 17-year-olds.

What’s also interesting is the longer-form content. Again, almost half the population watch clips longer than 15-minutes long. Full length films and full TV programmes perform less strongly. Around a fifth of people up to the age of 64 will watch this kind of content.

What can public sector communicators take from this? Well, maybe its worth looking at cross-posting Reels or TikTok content to Shorts would be one lesson.

But it would be a mistake to think that 15-minutes of someone dull lecturing you is the answer.

What types of genre perform well on YouTube in the UK?

The real detail in the Ofcom study can be found in the type of content we are watching on YouTube in general.

From the breakdown, music has regained the top spot but how-to guides are the most profitable type of content for public sector communicators. The new recycling bin launch can best be communicated through a ‘how to’ film.

Here, you may not always be looking at what the organisation wants to tell people this week. There may also be value in finding content that people want and making that. A chat with customer services or the webteam may show the less glamorous areas where an explainer can work.

As ever, the question ‘who is your audience?’ is vital.

By knowing the age of the audience you can better frame content.

The ‘how to’ route offering timely practical help is a powerful and underused tool in the comms toolbox.

CHANGING TIMES: In a time of change there are enthusiasts, followers and laggards. Which are you? 

A few years ago, an author I admired asked me to drop him a note the next time I was in London. So, I invented a spurious reason and met him.

We had connected on Twitter and the author was interested in what was happening with social media in the public sector.

We met in the South Bank Centre cafe a stone’s throw from the London Eye.

At that point in time, I was in the wave of militant optimists who were looking to make the social web work for social good. We chatted over a cup of coffee and the conversation turned to bringing people along.

Back then, I thought that you should spend time with everyone because anyone could see the possibility of those tools.

The author didn’t.

At the time, I was surprised. It took me several years to see he was right.

His argument was that in a room of 10 people you can see a lightbulb go on over maybe two or three people. They are the enthusiasts. Fired with enthusiasm, they will scheme and experiment and take things forward. A further two or three may do similar between 9am and 5pm. They are the followers.

Then there were the rest.

The author said he didn’t bother with them because they would probably never see the light. They are the laggards. 

A few weeks ago, I thought of this conversation. In the last 20 years there has been the financial crash, two significant changes of Government, an energy crisis, war in Ukraine, war in the Middle East, Brexit, COVID institutional reorganisation and the rise of AI.

Working in the public sector over the last 20 years has seen pay freezes and a loss of earning power. On a good day, you get called an idiot twice an hour online.

There is no question that ever more change is coming.

Should we expect everyone to be enthusiastic?

Not really.

We can hope people are in the first group of enthusiasts. 

We can maybe bring people along to be in the second group.

But we don’t have any right to expect this to happen.

There will be people in the third group who have had enough.

I’m always keen to show them the door to a better path. I’m realistic enough to know that some people have just had enough. 

Which group are you in? 

Picture credit: Penzance Railway Station by Andy F, CC BY-SA 2.0.

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape. 

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LONG READ: As a public sector communicator, should you be bothered about inaccurate AI summaries?

This week, a piece of writing on LinkedIn caught my eye and like pulling on a piece of thread took me on an excursion.

Like you I’ll bet, I’m aware of AI summaries but I’ve not really devoted much time to them.

But then this post on LinkedIn caught my eye.

“Communicators used to write for journalists. Now we also have to write for machines that summarise us.”

As a former journo who has spent time as a press officer this made me stop. It made me look into what AI summaries are and how much I should actually be bothered.

What is an AI summary?

Of Course, I asked Google.

And Google gave me an AI summary of what an AI summary is. 

“Google AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries at the top of search results that provide quick answers, combining information from multiple web sources using generative AI.”

So far, so good.

But all this did remind me of some BBC research on the wild inaccuracies that can be found in AI summaries. 

“Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45 per cent of the time – regardless of language or territory.”

So, if the BBC says almost half of AI summaries had at least one problem , what does that mean for public sector comms?

Pondering, I asked ChatGPT Deep Research to come up with a reading list.

Deep Research is the functionality that allows deeper research with links. A snap answer comes in seconds. Deep Research comes in maybe five or six minutes but when I’ve used it its been worth it.

Incidentally, while I used ChatGPT some models of Copilot also have Deep Research functionality on many of their models.

How widespread are AI summaries?

After waiting six minutes for the Deep Research, I started to read over the next few days about the role that AI summaries are playing. 

In summer 2025, AI summaries in Google search accounted for 15 cent of all UK search results, research shows. Pew research from the US also shows the figure rises to more than 50 per cent for a search term of ten words or more. 

People click less to a webpage when they see an AI summary. Data from Pew says that there’s a 40 per cent reduction in the people who click to around nine per cent of all search users. 

News site The Daily Mail report a 90 per cent drop in traffic with the blame on AI summaries. People would rather glance at the summary than head to a news page with the attendant advertising.

Even UK Government’s own tests of its GovChat AI tool only shows a 90 per cent accuracy rate. Impressive. But still one in ten wrong.

Inaccurate information is an issue.

So what are we to do about writing for AI summaries?

Google themselves insist there is no special set of tricks that can help get your content into an AI summary.

I’m a communicator not an SEO expert. But as a communicator I’m always keen to reach an audience.

But we can follow Google’s own advice around search. That includes:

“Create helpful, reliable, people-first content. Use words that people would use to look for your content, and place those words in prominent locations on the page, such as the title and main heading of a page, and other descriptive locations such as alt text and link text.”

But can we summarise ourselves for AI summaries?

I went back to the original LinkedIn post that suggests this prompt so you can see what a summary would look like.

“Assume this content will be summarised by AI assistants for busy executives and decision makers. Rewrite it so the core message, positioning and credibility signals remain intact even when condensed to three sentences.”

The idea of this is that you can see how an AI summary might look.

So I did.

I used the last blog post I wrote on the type of content that works best in Facebook groups. 

Using Copilot and the prompt, the summary cameback:

Here’s a rewritten version that keeps the core message, positioning and credibility signals intact even when later compressed to three sentences:

Community‑group audiences respond best to practical, hyper‑local content that solves real problems, reflects everyday life, and feels genuinely rooted in the place it serves. New research from Public Sector Comms Headspace and Altrincham HQ shows that posts offering useful information, celebrating local people, and fostering belonging consistently outperform generic announcements or corporate messaging. The findings give comms teams clear, evidence‑based guidance on what to prioritise if they want to build trust, engagement and meaningful community connection.

Broadly, this works. Corporate messages don’t work as well. But quoting Public Sector Comms Headspace and Altrincham HQ? The first is a Facebook group I’m admin of. The second is a PR agency just outside Manchester I’ve not heard of. Neither are quoted in the blog.

Hello there, AI hallucinations. 

But this is one experiment so maybe I shouldn’t be too surprised.

What’s the guidance on AI summaries?

Original research and solutions to niche answers will not be so affected by AI summaries, according to SEO Journal.

Answers to simple questions will be up against AI, the piece says. That’s things like ‘how to change a bike chain,’ The answer to a more detailed and local problem is less likely to be summarised. That means specific public sector content may not be affected. 

But wait, a plot twist

Researching more, I found that AI summaries can cause problems not just in outbound communications but across the organisation as a whole. Errors may creep in where AI tools are used. More than 100 councils have social workers using notetaking tools. The NHS has approved 19 note-taking tools despite concerns. 

So these may see inaccurate AI summaries rebound on the organisation as a media query.

So what? 

There is some good guidance on using AI in the public sector from tools like the UK Government AI Playbook. But there is nothing I could find on advice on inaccurate AI summaries.

Maybe its to the BBC research that we need to look. When they looked at inaccurate news summaries they discovered that the audience blamed the tool and the platform that was mis-quoted. 

“Audiences look for signs that responsibility is being taken in practice: provenance that travels with the summary, working links back to the reporting, timestamps and update notes, and timely corrections where the summary is actually encountered. They also expect the fix to be reflected wherever the summary appears, not just in one place.”

But if text cannot always be relied upon, would video also work to communicate the right information?

Or an infographic with alt text?

Or telling the story direct on the platform?

Or good media relations?

Or swift rebuttal to inaccurate information?

Picture credit: By Newspaper box on Tavern Street by Hamish Griffin, CC BY-SA 2.0.

AI disclaimer: I used ChatGPT Deep Research to explore the subject and provide links for further reading. I used Copilot to test the prompt to summarise a blog post and Google search to give me a definition of AI summaries.

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape. 

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RESEARCH: This step can increase the reach of your content by 23 times in a Facebook group

I’ve not done much lately on what content works in Facebook groups.

So, I thought I’d take a look.

But first a recap.

  • Two thirds of the UK population use Facebook.
  • Half the population are members of Facebook groups.
  • Facebook groups are the most important single source of local government news for 25 to 64-year-olds un the UK, say Ofcom. 
  • It’s down to the admin whether or not they let pages into a group.
  • Just 1.9 per cent of Facebook timelines are posts with links, say Meta.

All these bullet-points mean your Facebook page which was once a go-to destination is marginalised and struggling for attention.

One way to get people back to your page is to take out Facebook ads. But that’s expensive.

I’m suggesting that its cheaper to take your content yourself to where the eyeballs are.

I know from training that some comms people really hate the idea of sharing content to a Facebook group. I get why. It takes time and can be messy.

But it works.

What was the plan?

For this research, I looked at the Quarry Bank and Saltwells News Network Facebook group. This is a community group in the Black Country with 2,200 members.

There are two broad types of content I looked at.

  1. Original content posted directly into the group.
  2. Content shared from a Facebook group into the page.

What Facebook group content works best?

It’s not even close.

Content posted directly into a group without a link works best.

This type of content received 23 times more reach than that posted onto a Facebook page then shared into a group.

On average, in the research an original post got 6,400 views. For a Facebook group pf 2,200 that’s not bad. That compares with 300 when a page cross-posts into the group.

Here’s a top five of each type of content

Top five original content posts

These posts were added directly to the Quarry Bank and Saltwells News Network Facebook group.

  1. Abnornal tests led to the death of Quarry Bank man – 89,000 reach. Images from the BBC news story posted to the group with a summary with the link in the comments.
  2. Old coach companies of Quarry Bank – 13,000 reach. A carousel of historic images. No link.
  3. Disgust at Trump’s comments denigrating British veterans – 10,000. An image of the Remembrance Sunday event at Quarry Bank park. No link.
  4. Bank of trees being marketed for a drive through restaurant – 8,800 reach. A carousel of images from the site. Link to the estate agents’ post in the comments.
  5. Release of sewage to a Quarry Bank stream – 7,800 reach. A summary of a news story and image. Link in the comments.

Top 10 Facebook page posts shared into the group

These posts were shared into the group from other Facebook pages.

  1. Appeal for NHS equipment – 600 reach. A cross post from a Dudley NHS page.
  2. Fire fighter recognised – 500 reach. A cross post from West Midlands Fire Service.
  3. Indoor car boot sale in Quarry Bank – 500 reach. A cross post from a community group.
  4. Grit bins dumped by Dudley Council – 500 reach. A cross post from Alex Ballinger MP.
  5. Bike charity – 500 reach. A cross post from a Quarry Bank charity.

So, the moral of the story is to join Facebook groups where you can and share content directly.

One impediment may be the idea that you use an expensive social media management tool to schedule things. Hey, it may even be able to post into groups if you pay extra. The lesson from this snapshot is not to bother.

You can find the Quarry Bank and Saltwells News Network Facebook group here.

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape. 

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