In our latest webinar Are you aiming high or failing fast in your investor section?, Richard Dixon, Chief Digital Officer and Sue Lawrence-Jones, Client Services Director at Black Sun Global, explored key findings from our Digital Index 2026 research and what they reveal about the future of investor communications.
The session examined how AI is changing investor behaviour and analysis capabilities and what this means for IR teams, followed by how organisations are adapting their investor relations content and structure to meet these evolving needs. Drawing on the Digital Index 2026 research and examples of emerging best practice, the webinar explored how companies can strengthen their investment proposition, improve AI discoverability and create investor experiences that work for both people and machines.
AI is enabling investors to conduct deeper and more specific analysis across a much broader universe of companies.
Rather than relying solely on traditional sector classifications or predetermined questions, investors can now use AI to create highly specific investment criteria and apply them consistently across thousands of organisations. As a result, investors are able to investigate themes, opportunities and risks in far greater depth than ever before – and adjust their investment decisions accordingly.
This creates new challenges for investor relations teams. Companies are having to respond to the challenge. Ensuring that they clearly articulate their narrative, communicate the material topics effectively and publish the content in a form that is discoverable by AI.
Investors are also becoming increasingly focused on how organisations are using AI themselves and the impact it is having on the business. They increasingly want to understand:
For investor relations teams, this reinforces the need for clear, accessible and verifiable information that can be readily surfaced by both investors and AI systems.
At the same time, direct engagement remains critically important. While AI is changing how information is discovered and analysed, strong relationships and human interaction continue to play a fundamental role in investor communications.
The UK's Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation points towards a greater use of digital reporting and communication. As annual reports potentially become shorter and more streamlined, organisations need to consider what information should sit on the corporate website and how stakeholders should access it.
This raises important questions for investor relations teams. Are companies creating information solely for people reading annual reports, or are they also publishing content in formats that can be found, interpreted and surfaced by AI?
Many organisations have already begun considering this shift. A recent Black Sun poll found that 95% of respondents were either evaluating or already planning to publish more content online in formats that are more visible to AI than traditional PDFs.
As digital reporting continues to evolve, the investor section is becoming an increasingly important destination for narrative, performance and evergreen information.
AI is changing how users discover information online.
Around 60% of searches are now clickless, meaning users receive answers directly within a search experience without visiting the source website. At the same time, Black Sun's analysis of FTSE 100 websites shows that organisations are experiencing significant levels of AI crawling and scraping activity, with some sites receiving around 200,000 AI scrapes each month.
This means that websites are increasingly acting as authoritative sources of information for AI systems, even when users never visit the site itself.
However, while overall human traffic may be declining, the visitors who do reach corporate websites are becoming more engaged. Session duration and pages viewed have increased significantly, suggesting that website visitors are more intentional, seeking validation, context and deeper information.
This reinforces the continued importance of the corporate website, not only as a source of truth for AI but also as a destination for highly engaged stakeholders.
The modern investor section must now serve two audiences simultaneously:
Organisations therefore need to think about how content is published, structured and presented.
Haleon demonstrates how organisations can create content that works effectively for both human visitors and AI systems. Key pages contain introductory summaries, publication dates and contextual information that help AI understand and surface content more effectively. At the same time, information remains intuitive and engaging for human visitors. Visual presentations are often supported by structured content formats that AI systems can retrieve and interpret more easily.
To improve discoverability, organisations should consider:
Lloyds Banking Group incorporates FAQs within its online reporting experience. This helps users navigate key information more efficiently while also creating content structures that AI systems can associate with common stakeholder questions. The webinar also explored the growing use of AI-powered functionality within corporate websites.
Capita has implemented an AI chatbot trained on website content, allowing users to query information directly from the site. Visitors can ask questions about information published on the site and receive relevant responses. Beyond improving the user experience, this approach provides organisations with valuable insight into stakeholder intent by revealing the questions people are asking and the information they are seeking.
These insights can then be used to refine website content, improve metadata and strengthen wider AI search performance.
Black Sun's Digital Index assesses how effectively organisations deliver stakeholder content, create effective digital experiences and respond to emerging trends such as AI.
Within investor relations, the research evaluates:
One of the strongest findings this year is a renewed focus on communicating the investment case.
There has been a 10% year-on-year increase in organisations explaining their investment proposition online, with 59% now providing a dedicated investment case. Companies are also communicating more financial highlights and KPIs while increasing their use of online reporting.
The organisations performing most effectively are creating stronger links between their purpose, strategy, business model and investment proposition. Sustainability is also becoming more integrated into the wider corporate narrative.
Burberry brings together its investment case, financial performance and sustainability narrative within a single, connected story. Financial highlights, KPIs and broader business information are presented alongside the company's long-term value creation narrative, helping investors understand how strategy and performance connect
Informa provides an interesting example of how reporting experiences are evolving.. Alongside a concise investment case, the company has created an annual review experience that enables users to choose between a simplified overview and more detailed content depending on their needs. The experience also incorporates an AI-powered feature that allows users to query content directly.
These approaches help investors better understand the corporate story while making key information easier to find, navigate and interpret.
Alongside broader changes in investor behaviour, organisations are beginning to communicate more clearly about the role AI is playing within their own businesses.
The Digital Index shows that:
This reflects a broader trend towards making important corporate information more accessible, discoverable and visible across AI-driven search environments.
Companies are also beginning to communicate who is responsible for AI within the organisation while implementing AI-powered features and search experiences across their websites.
Intertek provides a strong example of this trend, with a dedicated AI hub, AI-focused content and information on the responsible use and governance of AI. As investor interest in AI continues to grow, this type of content is likely to become increasingly important as stakeholders seek evidence of how organisations are adopting and managing the technology.
The rise of AI means that traditional website metrics no longer provide a complete picture of digital performance.
Organisations increasingly need to measure both human engagement and the broader impact their content is having across AI ecosystems.
An evolving analytics approach should consider:
Combining these perspectives provides a more complete understanding of how investor communications are performing in an AI-influenced environment and helps organisations identify opportunities for improvement.
Black Sun supports organisations in evaluating and enhancing their investor communications through:
As investor expectations and digital behaviours continue to evolve, organisations that make their content more discoverable, accessible and authoritative will be better positioned to communicate their story effectively to both investors and AI-enabled audiences.
If you would like to discuss your investor section, understand how it compares against emerging best practice, or learn more about our AI authority analysis and stakeholder intelligence services, please contact:
Abbie Dixon, Relationship Marketing Executive
adixon@blacksun-global.com
About Black Sun
Black Sun Global is a stakeholder advisory and engagement agency that's been driving transformation and positive change for ambitious brands for more than 20 years. With deep expertise in disclosure and reporting, ESG, sustainability, and digital engagement, we reshape how organisations connect with customers, investors, employees, and the wider world.
We are trusted partners to some of the most influential global organisations, sparking innovation and sustainable performance through our strategic insights, partnerships, and proprietary technologies.
As founders of the Positive Change Group, we are on a mission to create a new kind of stakeholder relations partner. Our world-class specialists work closely with executive leadership teams to protect reputations, inspire trust, and promote responsible business practices - building resilience and long-term value in a rapidly changing world.
For more information, please visit: www.blacksun-global.com
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