Corporate Reputation Through the Lens of Artificial Intelligence

The spread of assistants based on large language models (LLMs) is changing how customers, investors, candidates and other stakeholders access information about organisations. This working paper examines two distinct functions of artificial intelligence: as a diagnostic lens for identifying informational discrepancies that need to be verified, and as an intermediary that selects, summarises and sometimes recommends companies. Drawing on the literature on organisational reputation, AI-mediated communication and brand experience, and integrating the exploratory results of the Aurelian Watch 2026 Observatory (50 Italian companies; 2,450 responses), the paper proposes the concept of “Symphonic Reputation” as a strategic vision for Corporate Communication. It requires the coordination of behaviours, narratives, independent evidence, AI systems and human relationships, without confusing coherence with uniformity. The paper discusses the implications for governance, for the commercial consideration of products and services, and for events, distinguishing observations, inferences and recommendations. It expresses the perspective of Aurelian Lab; the Observatory data are descriptive and concern 50 Italian medium-sized companies.