THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE
The landscape of digital communications is undergoing a profound shift, transformed by the integration of artificial intelligence. Search is no longer a simple list of ranked links: AI-driven summaries, conversational interfaces, and personalised results are dictating corporate visibility and authority. This rapid evolution is reshaping content strategies and defining how information is discovered, interpreted, and consumed.
As a result, corporate communicators must strike a delicate balance: delivering concise, high-impact messaging while maintaining authenticity and depth. In this environment, success depends not only on adopting new tools, but on building resilient strategies that cut through noise, reinforce credibility, and respond to evolving user expectations in a rapidly shifting digital ecosystem.
THE FRAMEWORK
Three lenses on corporate digital performance — how well a site addresses stakeholder content needs, how effectively it engages those audiences, and how well it is geared to deliver AI discoverability.
01
How well companies deliver curated content required by their stakeholders?
02
Do companies deliver an experience that encourages stakeholders to engage further?
03
How effectively are companies leveraging AI to enhance the experience and ensure AI discoverability?
How well companies deliver curated content required by their stakeholders?
Corporate storytelling is becoming more purposeful and structured, moving beyond statements of purpose to stakeholder‑focused narratives that clearly articulate strategy, priorities, and value creation. Content is increasingly concise and “at‑a‑glance,” designed to support both time‑pressed audiences and AI‑driven discovery.
Leading organisations are raising the bar by clearly communicating their competitive advantage, putting innovation at the heart of their story, and showing how they create value in their chosen markets. By coherently linking strategy, opportunity, and differentiation, they strengthen understanding and reinforce credibility in a complex and fast‑moving digital landscape.
Purpose
Corporate Story
Value Creation
Governance
KEY TAKEOUTS
communication of purpose
Communicate strategic objectives
Provide at a glance summaries
TOP PERFORMERS
Investors continue to focus on performance, results, and a clear rationale for investment decisions. While financial disclosures remain a baseline expectation, digital reporting is becoming richer and more structured, with enhanced online performance data designed to support transparency and AI‑driven discovery.
Leading organisations go further by adding clarity and coherence to their investment story. They anchor their investment case in purpose, closely linking it to strategy and the business model, with sustainability embedded throughout rather than treated in isolation. By providing deeper insight—such as analyst coverage, market consensus, and historical dividend data—they give investors a clearer view of long‑term value creation and strengthen confidence in their proposition.
Investor Narrative
Investment Proposition
Performance
ESG
Shareholder Information
KEY TAKEOUTS
share an investment case
share financial highlights & KPIs
deliver online reports
TOP PERFORMERS
Sustainability continues to evolve from broad commitments to a stronger focus on evidencing real‑world impact. While the vast majority of organisations clearly articulate their approach and focus areas, there has been a marked increase in companies publishing specific targets and reporting progress against them. Many are also strengthening their narrative through regular sustainability news and case studies that demonstrate outcomes rather than intent.
Leading organisations are pushing this further by adding greater depth and transparency. They clearly explain their material issues and the process used to identify them, helping stakeholders understand what truly matters and why. At the same time, they are moving beyond static PDF reports to make more detailed, structured sustainability data available directly on their websites, improving accessibility, usability, and visibility in an increasingly AI‑driven information landscape.
Sustainability Narrative
Focus Areas
Sustainability Governance
Reporting
Impact
KEY TAKEOUTS
give targets for focus areas
increase in online data
increase in sustainability news
TOP PERFORMERS
With prospective employees among the most frequent visitors to corporate websites, and with shifting generational expectations, there has been a notable change in how companies approach careers content. Organisations are placing greater emphasis on bringing their culture and values to life, using employee stories, tailoring content for specific roles or talent segments, and more clearly articulating development opportunities and career progression. This reflects a move away from purely informational content towards more engaging, experience‑led storytelling.
Leading organisations are going further by embedding careers content within a broader, purpose‑led narrative. They connect roles to the organisation’s wider mission, highlighting sustainability commitments and societal impact to appeal to increasingly values‑driven audiences. In doing so, they position employment not just as a job opportunity, but as a chance to contribute to something more meaningful.
Career Narrative
Attracting Talent
Working Life
Opportunity
Application
KEY TAKEOUTS
improvement in sharing culture & values
increase in people profiles
increase in role targeted content
TOP PERFORMERS
Do companies deliver an experience that encourages stakeholders to engage further?
Human visitors have not been left behind in our latest evaluation. Indeed companies seem to be investing in creating more distinctive and engaging experiences for their audiences. We are also seeing continued use of video, the use of animations loading content and micro-animations to aid users and encourage engagement.
Leading organisations are also providing interactive features – usually aligned to reinforcing their purpose or points of differentiation.
use video across the site
have dynamic loading of content
have interactive features
TOP PERFORMERS
One of the core usability features of the website is the ability of users to find the content they are looking for quickly and easily, and to enable all users to be able to consume the content.
We are seeing a prevalence of dropdown menus to access lower pages in one click; consideration of accessibility standards; and providing quality search functions – although it is astonishing so many site searches do not index PDFs!
have a site search
have a more advanced search
provide 'related content' teasers
have an accessibility statement
TOP PERFORMERS
How effectively are companies leveraging AI to enhance the experience and ensure AI discoverability?
With AI dramatically rising up the agenda we have assessed how well companies are communicating their AI advantage – this consists of explaining the impact of AI on their business, and sharing articles promoting their use of AI and the benefit it delivers. We also look at transparency – such as sharing AI policies, leadership in AI and AI risks.
This an emerging narrative, but leading organisations are communicating their approach to AI and adopting a transparent approach to its use and governance.
describe the impact of ai
share articles on ai
disclose ai leadership
TOP PERFORMERS
AI is also starting to transform the experiences available through the website – whether that be AI Chats or AI search overviews to mirror wider search experiences.
Leading organisations are embarking on this journey – although very much in its infancy.
have ai chats
have ai search overviews
TOP PERFORMERS
One of the challenges in an AI world is how to ensure your content is discoverable. Whilst we haven’t assessed all of the technical aspects applied for GEO, we have assessed how well content is published in HTML versus PDFs and AI friendly content such as financials and AI summaries.
There is a long way to go – given the recency of these developments. But companies are now publishing more HTML content and starting to add AI friendly content.
Publish results in HTML, not just pdf
provide some financials in HTML
provide summaries for ai
TOP PERFORMERS
GLOBAL BENCHMARK
Our Digital Index is built on over a decade of analysing how organisations adapt to the evolving demands of digital corporate communication. The methodology goes beyond assessing content quality, evaluating how effectively organisations engage stakeholders across digital channels at the intersection of content, usability, and strategy.
Our analysis spans around 200 variables across a broad range of leading organisations, including the FTSE 100, a representative sample of the FTSE 250, Hang Seng HK35 and the STI 30. We assess how well corporate websites meet the needs of key stakeholder groups, including investors, employees, customers, job seekers, the media and wider society, with a strong focus on the coherence of the corporate narrative.
We also evaluate usability, findability, interactive features, and opportunities for meaningful engagement, alongside clear contact and feedback pathways. Our latest AI-focused analysis extends this framework to assess how organisations communicate the impact of AI, position it as a competitive advantage, and ensure visibility in an AI‑driven search and discovery landscape.
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WHAT'S NEXT
Our Digital Index helps clients identify where they stand — and what steps to take next. We are your end-to-end digital partner, from strategy and design to development and analytics.
Let us know how we can help you, contact:
Abbie Dixon
adixon@blacksun-global.com.
DIGITAL BENCHMARK
Get in touch with Black Sun Global to receive a personalised benchmark of your digital communications and discover how to build stronger, more meaningful relationships with your stakeholders.
AUTHORS
Richard leads Black Sun Global's digital practice, partnering with FTSE 350 and international companies to shape strategies that bridge investor, sustainability and corporate audiences across every digital channel.
Nadya directs the research and analytics behind the Digital Index, translating complex stakeholder behaviour into actionable recommendations for corporate communications teams.