Strategic communications practice is constantly evolving, thanks to the rapid pace of digital and social media disruption and new technologies like artificial intelligence seeing widespread adoption in organisations.

For communication professionals tasked with assessing trends and adding new tools to their toolkit, the new year is an opportunity to explore what’s emerging and assess how the new landscape might shape their strategic communications function in the year ahead.

In the Asia-Pacific, many senior communicators and leading PR agencies have already weighed in on the greatest trends to shape communications in 2026, and how our industry should respond to them.

Here we explore four trends APAC agency leaders have recently put forward on the communication trends that will shape businesses in 2026.

AI as a partner, not a replacement

In Thailand, integrated communication agency Midas PR Group says in a recent article that AI promises significant productivity gains for communication professionals, but its outputs are only effective under close human guidance.

“Its role is most effective when it supports human judgement and context, rather than replacing them,” writes the agency.

“AI-generated drafts often struggle with tone and relevance, which are critical for media engagement. A 2025 survey by Global Results Communications found that 43% of journalists expressed negative views toward AI-generated pitches.

“For communicators, this supports a simple truth. AI can save time, but trust, relevance and human connection still determine success. When used wisely, technology acts as a powerful tool that brings speed and efficiency to human communication.”

The rising influence of dark social

Large agency PRecious Communications, which has offices in six countries across Asia, recently wrote that it expects Dark Social to continue playing an important role for communicators. Dark Social typically refers to online brand engagement that occurs through private messenger channels that are harder to track. This is in contrast to traditional social media, where posts and analytics are readily available to brands.

“Today’s real influence often lives inside Discord servers, Reddit threads, Telegram channels, and private WhatsApp groups. A few hundred deeply engaged community members can drive more action than half a million passive scrollers,” the firm writes.

“Welcome to dark social, the quiet conversion engine. This reframes media relations entirely because it’s no longer just about journalists. It’s about ecosystems, communities, and subcultures, each with their own codes and rhythms.”

Shifting focus from SEO to GEO

In a recent article, Australian firm Icon Agency said that with more external stakeholders replacing search engines with AI to seek recommendations, organisations must to focus on optimising their websites and digital content for AI.

Icon Agency says, “SEO is evolving from visibility in search results to presence in knowledge systems. Success isn’t measured by your rank on a search page but by how accurately and frequently you’re referenced in an AI’s answer.

“For communications professionals, this is a chance to lead. By thinking like publishers, strategists, and information architects, PR agencies can help clients stay visible to people, and the algorithms that now interpret the world for them.”

Knowing when not to pitch a story

In India, Equations Media said in an era of AI-generated noise and leaner newsrooms, it is seeing an over-pitching problem in modern PR, and the most underrated skill for both agencies and media relations functions this year is knowing when not to pitch.

“Journalists today remember agencies that pitch irrelevant stories, force brand mentions into unrelated narratives, follow up aggressively without adding value, and ignore editorial calendars and news cycles.

“Once credibility is lost, even genuinely newsworthy stories struggle to land. Strategic PR isn’t about filling inboxes - it’s about earning editorial trust.

“Knowing when not to pitch reflects confidence, strategic clarity, and respect for the media ecosystem. It’s the skill that journalists instantly recognize and reward.”

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