Consider a spatially homogeneous and temporally stationary random pressure field exciting a spatially homogeneous structure. It is well known that when the power exchange between the pressure field and the structure results from a ’’surface interaction’’ rather than from a scattering‐induced ’’edge interaction,’’ it is immaterial whether a finite or infinitely extended model of the structure is used to calculate this power exchange. This equivalence is discussed and used to estimate vibration response of fluid‐loaded structures when excited by a low‐speed turbulent boundary‐layer flow. Connections, established previously for structuresinvacuo, between group velocity, modal density, and point and line conductances, are also generalized to apply to fluid‐loaded structures. Finally, an approximate but simple method is suggested for estimating vibration characteristics of spatially nonhomogeneous structures excited by surface interactions.