Why is sustainability reporting shifting to digital-first?

Improving reporting for everyone (including AI)

A digital-first report allows investors and other stakeholders to find the information that matters to them quickly, explore data more easily and engage with content on any device.

It also makes trusted company information easier for search engines and AI tools to discover, understand and cite. Stakeholders can choose from the online or PDF format at any time.

Analytics data shows that 85% of visitors arriving through search choose the digital report first, while around 30% also still download the PDF. The formats are complementary, but the greater visibility of the digital report to crawlers attracts more engagement via search and AI.

The impossible is now possible.

We create digital-first reports in Reportl, a next generation design platform purpose built to deliver both PDF and digital reporting in one workflow. This was previously impossible, but now makes reporting simpler and more efficient than ever.

It enables us to design and produce a mobile friendly, searchable and AI-readable online report alongside the PDF, all from the one content source – in a click.

Digital-first reporting in action... 

Oakley Capital Responsible Investment Report

Oakley’s multi-award winning reporting has been digital first since 2023, and the sustainability report made the shift in 2024. This has streamlined how Oakley creates its reporting, while also transforming its engagement with stakeholders.

Corteva Impact Report

An award winning interactive and accessible global Impact Report, designed to make complex sustainability information clearer and easier to explore. Bringing Corteva’s sustainability story to life across all channels is a vital part of its stakeholder engagement.

Airtel Africa Sustainability Report

A fully digital-first annual and sustainability Reporting suite, published simultaneously and enriched with video, animation, intuitive navigation, search and translation. This whole suite has been recognised with multiple major awards for reporting and innovation in 2025 and 2026.

Mitie Group plc Sustainability Report

In 2026, Mitie’s sustainability reporting made the shift to a multi-format digital-first process, streamlining many manual tasks and enhancing how the story is told to stakeholders.

Future-proof reporting

AI tools will still be analysing the data you publish today for years to come, and PDF-based data results in many errors and hallucinations. Digital-first reporting software, like Reportl, now provides more accurate and reliable reports, reducing the risks of errors in AI analysis.

The leading software also prepares your reporting for evolving regulations which require digital formatting, such as CSRD and the UK SRS. Reportl is a fully certificated XBRL tagging system, enabling reports to be tagged and reviewed whenever required. This solves many of the data quality and process challenges of older conversion software.

If you would like to discuss the opportunity to streamline your processes and deliver higher quality digital reporting fit for the AI age, we would love to hear from you.

Find out more, give us a call and reportl.com