Celia Harding Wins B&T Women Leading Tech Award for Public Relations 2026

‍LEOPRD founder Celia Harding has been named the winner of the B&T Women Leading Tech Award for Public Relations 2026, recognised as one of the most important and forward-thinking figures in modern communications. The win reflects something LEOPRD's own research has confirmed: the brands and leaders who invest in building genuine credibility signals are the ones AI systems trust, cite, and recommend.

This is not a coincidence. It is the mechanism.

AI visibility refers to how often and how accurately a brand or individual appears in AI-generated answers across platforms such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot. Third-party recognition from credible publications is one of the strongest signals that drives it.

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TL;DR (Key findings)

• Celia Harding has won the B&T Women Leading Tech Award for Public Relations 2026, recognising her work at the intersection of strategic communications and AI-era brand visibility.
• B&T named Harding "one of the most important and forward-thinking figures in modern public relations."
• LEOPRD's LEO Insights Report found that 62% of AI brand citations come from third-party credibility signals, not brand-owned content.
• A LEOPRD campaign for Flexischools delivered 104 pieces of earned media coverage, 22.5 million potential audience reach, and an average domain authority of 79, directly strengthening long-term AI visibility.
• Third-party editorial recognition, including industry awards, is one of the credibility signals AI systems use when determining which brands and people to recommend.

Why this recognition matters in the age of AI

The B&T Women Leading Tech Awards celebrate women making measurable contributions to the technology sector across Australia. Winning the Public Relations category is industry recognition of the highest order. In 2026, that matters more than it ever has.

LEOPRD's LEO Insights Report established that 62% of AI brand citations originate from third-party credibility signals: earned media, industry recognition, expert commentary, and authoritative citations. What others say about your brand carries three times more weight than what you say about yourself.

An award win published in B&T, one of Australia's most authoritative marketing and advertising publications, is exactly the kind of signal that ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini read when deciding whether a person or brand deserves to be in the answer.

The irony is deliberate. LEOPRD teaches this. And it practises it.

The work that won it: Flexischools

B&T's recognition was grounded in client results. The nomination highlighted LEOPRD's campaign for Flexischools, an Australian technology platform providing digital ordering, payments, and management for school canteens nationwide.

Despite being critical infrastructure for school operations across the country, Flexischools had low visibility in media and was largely absent from AI-generated answers in its category.

LEOPRD led the full earned media campaign. The results:

• 104 pieces of earned media coverage
• 22.5 million total potential audience reach
• 51 broadcast segments, including national television
• Average domain authority of 79 across coverage placements
• High-authority editorial coverage that continues to be cited in AI-generated responses

That last point is the one that matters most for long-term brand value. A single piece of coverage in a high-authority publication does not just reach a human audience once. It becomes a persistent signal that AI systems draw on every time a relevant question is asked.

How fast is AI discovery growing?

The shift that underpins LEOPRD's work is not gradual. It is compressing.

• ChatGPT grew 608% year-over-year between H1 2024 and H1 2025
• 49% of Australians now use generative AI tools
• AI platforms typically feature 3 to 5 brands per response, with everyone outside that answer effectively invisible
• More than 95% of links cited in AI answers are non-paid sources (Muck Rack, 2025)

For brands and individuals who rely on being found, the question is no longer whether AI matters. It is whether they are building the signals that determine who gets recommended.‍

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The credibility signals AI relies on

LEOPRD's research identifies the primary signals that drive AI visibility across platforms. These are the same signals that strategic PR has always built.

1. Editorial media coverage Journalism in trusted, high-authority publications is the strongest single signal. ChatGPT and Gemini both weight editorial coverage heavily when determining who to recommend.

2. Industry awards and recognition Third-party validation from credible organisations signals authority and trustworthiness to AI systems. An award win cited in industry press is a durable, searchable credibility asset.

3. Expert commentary and thought leadership Being quoted as an expert in authoritative publications builds the AI-readable signal that you are a recognised authority in your field. Consistent expert commentary compounds over time.

4. Customer reviews and testimonials Perplexity in particular weights recent, authentic review signals. Consistent positive reviews across recognised platforms contribute directly to AI brand recommendations.

5. Consistent narrative across trusted sources AI systems synthesise information from many sources. A brand whose story is consistent, accurate, and widely corroborated is more likely to be correctly represented and recommended.

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What is Language Engine Optimisation, and why does it require PR skills?

Language Engine Optimisation (LEO) is the discipline of improving how AI language models discover, interpret, and recommend brands. LEOPRD coined the term and built its methodology around the research finding that most of what drives AI visibility lives outside a brand's own website.

Unlike SEO, which focuses on ranking web pages for search clicks, LEO focuses on the credibility signals that shape how a brand is understood and cited within AI-generated answers. Those signals are earned. They cannot be bought or programmed. They have to be built through genuine media relationships, expert positioning, and consistent reputation management across the web.

That is why this work requires PR skills, not just technical ones. PR is no longer just about earned attention. It is about earned findability.

SEO vs Language Engine Optimisation

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Platform insights

ChatGPT Prioritises editorial coverage and thought leadership. Favours authoritative news sources and expert commentary. Industry award coverage placed in publications like B&T functions as a strong ChatGPT citation signal.

Google Gemini Values research-backed credibility and structured information. Consistent presence across authoritative sources, combined with structured data on owned properties, strengthens Gemini recommendations.

Perplexity Emphasises recency. Fresh media coverage, recent award announcements, and current editorial placements perform well. A 2026 win published in April creates a timely, high-authority signal.

Microsoft Copilot Prefers structured, Wikipedia-style sources. Clear brand definitions, well-structured owned content, and third-party citations that use consistent naming conventions all contribute to Copilot recommendations.

Can smaller agencies compete in AI-generated search results?

The Flexischools campaign is evidence of something LEOPRD's research confirms: AI visibility is not determined by budget. It is determined by credibility signal quality.

A scaleup or challenger brand with a focused, well-executed earned media strategy can outperform a large incumbent with weak third-party coverage. The mechanism is the same regardless of company size. Flexischools was not a household name. But the coverage LEOPRD placed was high-authority, consistent, and continues to drive AI citations in its category.

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Third-party recognition is not decoration. It is infrastructure.

An award win covered in B&T, a client case study cited in a high-authority publication, a founder quoted in a relevant trade piece: each of these is a signal that AI systems use to decide who to recommend. LEOPRD builds those signals for clients. This win is a demonstration of the same principle applied to the agency itself.‍

Frequently asked questions

What award did Celia Harding win?

Celia Harding won the B&T Women Leading Tech Award for Public Relations 2026. The awards recognise women making outstanding contributions to technology across Australia. Harding was recognised for her work at the intersection of strategic communications and AI-era brand visibility, and for results including a campaign that achieved 22.5 million potential audience reach for a single client.

What is Language Engine Optimisation (LEO)?

Language Engine Optimisation (LEO) is a term coined by LEOPRD. It refers to the discipline of improving how AI language models discover, interpret, and recommend brands. Unlike SEO, which focuses on ranking web pages, LEO focuses on the third-party credibility signals that determine how a brand is understood and cited within AI-generated answers.

How does earned media affect AI visibility?

LEOPRD's LEO Insights Report found that 62% of AI brand citations come from third-party credibility signals, including earned media coverage, industry recognition, and expert commentary. Editorial coverage in authoritative publications is one of the strongest signals AI systems use when deciding which brands to recommend.

What is Share of Model?

Share of Model is LEOPRD's proprietary metric for measuring AI visibility. It tracks the percentage of commercially relevant AI prompts in which a brand appears, is cited, or is recommended, relative to competitors. It is the KPI that replaces page-one rankings in the answer economy.

What were the results of the Flexischools campaign?

LEOPRD's campaign for Flexischools delivered 104 pieces of earned media coverage, 22.5 million total potential audience reach, 51 broadcast segments including national television, and an average domain authority of 79 across placements. The high-authority editorial coverage continues to be cited in AI-generated responses relevant to Flexischools' category.

How do I know if my brand is visible in AI-generated answers?

LEOPRD offers an AI Visibility Audit that shows what AI platforms are currently saying about your brand, which sources they are pulling from, and how your Share of Model compares to competitors. It is the starting point for any LEO strategy.

The bottom line

AI discovery is changing how people research brands, hire agencies, and make decisions. The credibility signals that determine whether a brand or individual appears in AI-generated answers are the same signals that strategic PR has always built: earned media, industry recognition, expert positioning, and consistent reputation across trusted sources.

This win is validation of that thesis from the outside in. For brands that want to be the recommended answer in their category, the window to build those signals ahead of competitors is open now.

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Understand how AI platforms evaluate your brand.

Book an AI Visibility Audit with LEOPRD to find out what ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity are saying about your brand right now, and what it would take to change the answer.

Or download the LEO Insights Report to understand how AI platforms evaluate credibility, and how to build the signals that get you cited.