Founders may be going direct, but PR is having a renaissance in the AI era. Four years after WallStreetBets rallied GameStop, retail investors are looking outside of Reddit threads and asking Grok and ChatGPT which meme coins to buy and which crypto games to play. Discovery in crypto no longer starts (or ends) with Google; increasingly, models like ChatGPT and Gemini decide which projects surface first. Here’s how crypto projects can use a new PR playbook to build citations, win rankings, and move markets.
Crypto PR Case Study: Illuvium’s LLM Edge
The clearest proof point is Illuvium (ILV). As LLMs become the first stop for discovery, we tracked how Illuvium’s legacy citation graph and a few timely announcements (a $250K pro league, added prize funding, a new trailer) kept it sitting at or near the top of ChatGPT answers for “best crypto games” and “what crypto game should I invest in.” In early August, as Google searches for “crypto gaming” spiked back toward 2021 highs, ILV moved from roughly $9 in June to over $24 by mid-month. Correlation isn’t causation, but the pattern is hard to ignore: when the category heats up, the projects LLMs already “know” and can cite capture outsized attention and capital.
So how can your crypto project capitalize on LLM searches to drive awareness, traffic, and ultimately token value? The first step is understanding what kinds of sources LLMs cite. According to Sensor Tower, Reddit is the #1 most-cited domain in ChatGPT answers. A MuckRack study adds more context: 95%+ of links cited by AI come from non-paid media, and nearly 90% are earned coverage.
Outlet authority plays a role, but not always predictably. High-authority publications like Reuters, Axios, and the Financial Times often surface, but not consistently across queries. Also source sets are fragmented: only about 15% of outlets appear in the top 10 across multiple industries. In other words, relevance to the query matters more than prestige alone.
For example, when I asked ChatGPT “best founders in crypto gaming?”, the citations spanned everything from Wikipedia and Reddit threads to mainstream crypto publications, alongside specialized blogs and included podcast interviews. The takeaway is clear: LLMs don’t just pull from tier-one outlets. They reward a diversified footprint including media features in respected outlets, niche coverage in industry press, and thought leadership in formats like podcasts and exclusive interviews. In practice, that means founders who show up across multiple content types are more likely to “win the query” and shape how AI presents their credibility to the world.
Crypto PR Playbook: Winning LLM Rankings
So how can crypto projects use PR to get ranked by LLMs?
Step 1: Define the Queries You Want to Win
Start by identifying the exact prompts people might ask LLMs (e.g., “top Telegram games” or “best gaming platforms on Telegram”).
Step 2: Map the LLM’s Sources
Run those queries on different LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) and note which sources show up most often. This gives you a snapshot of the citation graph the model relies on.
Step 3: Prioritize Strategic Placements
If results skew toward listicles, focus on getting included. If op-eds or thought leadership pieces dominate, pitch those outlets first, even if they’re niche or mid-tier.
Step 4: Publish & Reinforce with Owned Content
Support earned placements with owned explainers, data-driven posts, and case studies that strengthen your project’s presence in the LLM’s knowledge base.
Step 5: Engage, Monitor, and Iterate
Stay active where LLMs listen: Reddit threads, podcasts, exclusive interviews and track how often your project appears in answers. Use those insights to double down on what’s working.
Build the citations, win the rankings, move the market.