Your crisis plan needs an AI chapter

For years, organisations have focused their communications and crisis plans on traditional stakeholders: customers, fans, employees, media, regulators, and activists. Today, the rise of AI is fundamentally changing the relationship between organisations and the people they serve.

The latest example comes from the 2026 FIFA World Cup - according to WIRED, frustrated football fans on Reddit have begun using AI tools to monitor ticket inventories, analyse pricing fluctuations, and identify opportunities to avoid inflated resale costs. Some users are even leveraging Claude to build custom software that tracks ticket availability in near real time, creating a grassroots intelligence network designed to counter what they view as unfair pricing practices.  

However, this is about far more than sports tickets and unfair pricing. It offers a glimpse into how consumers, fans and online communities are increasingly leveraging AI to analyse, scrutinise and challenge organisations in ways that were previously out of reach.

Historically, brands held a significant information advantage. Companies had access to pricing data, operational insights and tools that customers couldn't easily access. AI is rapidly changing that dynamic. Communities can now use AI to analyse policies, compare organisation structures, identify inconsistencies, summarise complex disclosures and coordinate responses faster than ever before.

We're already seeing signs of this shift across industries: fans are using AI-powered tools to expose ticket price volatility and identify opportunities to bypass reseller mark-ups. Meanwhile, consumers increasingly rely on AI assistants to evaluate brands, products and services before making decisions, reducing organisations' control over the customer journey. And online communities are using AI to aggregate complaints, compare experiences and build collective narratives around perceived unfairness or lack of transparency.

The communications implications are significant. A pricing decision, policy change, customer service issue or operational misstep can now be dissected by thousands of people armed with AI tools capable of processing information far more quickly than traditional social media conversations. What once took days to gain traction can now become a fully formed narrative within hours.

For communicators, the lesson is not to fear AI, it's to prepare for audiences that are increasingly AI enabled. Crisis plans should account for scenarios where consumers use AI to audit company claims, challenge pricing models, uncover inconsistencies or organise around shared grievances. Monitoring strategies should extend beyond social listening to include AI-driven conversations and emerging online communities. Most importantly, organisations should assume that transparency gaps will be identified faster than ever.

The next generation of reputation risk may not come from a journalist, activist or competitor. It may come from a community of highly motivated stakeholders using AI to level the information playing field.

For organisations and brands, the question is no longer whether stakeholders will use AI to scrutinise decisions. The question is whether communications and crisis preparedness plans are evolving quickly enough to keep pace.