New York – September 15, 2026 -- Global Communication Works (GCW) has opened its proprietary AI Signaling practice, SignlLabs, for license to public relations firms, advertising agencies, web development shops and in-house communications teams, giving them a ready-built methodology for tracking how ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and Perplexity describe and recommend client brands.
GCW turns a year-long internal framework into a licensable product
The license package includes the Maturity Method, GCW's proprietary scoring framework, along with the Intent Category Framework, query protocols, reporting templates and team training. The methodology was calibrated over one year across five industries before being tested internally on GCW's own client campaigns, according to the company.
A single score of 0 to 100 tracks six weighted dimensions across five AI engines
The core output is the Signaling Maturity Score, which rates a brand from 0 to 100 across six weighted dimensions: Foundation, Endorsement, Alignment, Presence, Warmth and Constancy. Each of the five answer engines is scored separately rather than blended into an average, a design choice GCW says prevents one underperforming platform from being masked by strong results elsewhere. Scores map to a five-stage maturity ladder running from "Unseen" to "The Answer."
GCW frames the practice as distinct from SEO and answer engine optimization
Brad Ginsburg, Partner and President at GCW, said any agency, consultancy or in-house department can now license SignlLabs to give clients a measurable path to being recommended by AI rather than reverse-engineering an answer. Erika Hanafin Austria, who leads SignlLabs, said licensees receive a number, the six variables that move it, and a re-score to confirm whether remediation work succeeded.
GCW positions the shift as mechanical: search engine optimization earns rankings, answer engine optimization earns snippets, and AI Signaling earns the recommendation itself. The company says the sources driving that recommendation are overwhelmingly earned media rather than owned content, a distinction that changes which levers agencies need to pull for clients.
License terms are open to firms of any size across any category
GCW says the license is available to organizations regardless of size or sector, with interested firms directed to contact the company directly to negotiate terms. GCW will continue supporting licensees as AI platform behavior evolves, updating the methodology to keep pace with changes in how the five engines compose answers.