In an age when AI seems to be taking over more basic PR functions, what should communicators focus on when it comes to media outreach efforts?
For years, many PR practitioners have pushed businesses and institutions to think of PR as being more than simply media relations. It has been an uphill battle, as the link between media and public relations is well-established in the minds of many—so much so that it is difficult to get people to see communications work as more than simply issuing a press release to get news coverage.
Developing a well-rounded skillset in public relations means understanding how to capitalise on owned properties such as company websites and blogs, developing social media channels to amplify coverage and reach audiences where they are, and breaking down the long-standing silos between communications, marketing, and advertising.
These broader aspects of public relations do more than expand communicators’ repertoires, they also improve measurement by providing more data points to examine.
Does the impact of AI in search functionality require a shift in PR focus?
A Gartner report offers several predictions about large language models (LLMs) and the impacts on the practise of communications. The report finds that:
- By 2027, the broad adoption of LLM search will lead to increases in PR/earned media budgets
- By 2028, internal communications will be dominated by chatbots
- Narrative intelligence technologies will make substantial inroads in reputation monitoring by 2029
- Communications will increase spending on data and analytics.
By now, virtually every PR practitioner and communicator realises that AI is a key component of our industry. However, much of the focus on AI’s benefits has focussed on how to use it to process information, rather than an exploration of the inputs it uses to generate results.
Earned media feeds AI results
AI relies on journalistic content for results. This is an incredibly important point for PR to zero in on, because it elevates the importance of earned media coverage.
How a LLM chooses to prioritise news matters as well. ChatGPT’s bots have been barred by the New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, The Guardian, and more, primarily because of unauthorised use of their material to train ChatGPT.
With AI providing answers to search queries, it is important to understand what information is fuelling those results. LLMs are trained to use sourcing that people trust, which means that earned media is important to surfacing mentions of your business, organisation, or brand.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is taking somewhat of a back seat to generative engine optimisation (GEO) as LLMs are deployed to provide responses to search queries. By prioritising third-party content, LLM results gravitate towards the type of content PR professionals strive to achieve for clients, such as journalists’ coverage and independent reviews. Essentially, it seeks out earned media.
In practise, here is what this looks like. Set two competitors side-by-side. One has invested in paid adverts and has a website well-optimised for SEO; their blog is routinely updated along with their social channels.
The second competitor has received positive write-ups for their product in several news outlets, coverage in trade publications, and has received generally positive comments on Reddit. Due to the larger balance of third-party validation, the second firm would be prioritised by GEO, and more likely to figure prominently in generative search results.
This is good news for firms that have invested in their PR departments and focussed on media outreach.
How does this focus on earned media play out in the current environment?
As newsrooms shrink, layoffs happen, and publications close, the opportunities to secure earned media coverage are becoming scarce. If AI depends heavily on earned media for trusted results but there are fewer outlets, the likelihood of homogenised results increases.
Gartner’s prediction that broad adoption of LLMs will lead to increases in earned media budgets is likely music to the ears of PR practitioners everywhere, but we all need to be asking the question of where (and to whom), exactly, we are going to be pitching if news outlets continue to close or reduce their footprints.
The competition to secure coverage in the outlets that remain is almost certain to increase as well. This means fewer outlets and more pitches to secure coverage in an effort to boost AI search results.
PR professionals with media relations skills and established connections with journalists and publications will have the advantage, but competition to secure coverage will be fierce. High-trust, well-established publications have long been the gold standard for PR coverage; that AI prioritises this content only makes it more valuable.
However, the fact that some of these outlets continue to block ChatGPT’s bots and are involved in ongoing litigation with OpenAI means that strategic thinking is necessary. Securing coverage in the New York Times for a client is an accomplishment, but it will not affect results in ChatGPT as long as its bots are barred from that (and other) publications.
Consistency in coverage over time matters to AI results, so an ongoing media relations programme is preferred over stop-start efforts that can happen when budgets are stretched thin.
It is too soon to say that a Golden Age of public relations is upon us, despite the obvious value of earned media coverage in GEO results. There remain some very high hurdles, particularly the industrywide contraction in the number of news outlets, reduction of reporting staff, and financial pressures.
PR is well-positioned to shine in an AI era
PR professionals are better equipped than most to understand the opportunity that AI’s preference for third-party validation represents. The days of keyword-stuffed blog posts are fading fast. A commitment to identifying and reaching out to high-authority outlets, analysis of which journalists AI prioritises, with a strong emphasis on securing earned media coverage is the likely path forward for PR.
It is, in a way, harkening back to how PR started. Are there differences? Yes, of course. Early PR practitioners did not need to consider how a product was faring on Reddit, or whether a viral moment by the CEO could render years of careful work ineffective. But cultivating earned media, working towards third-party validation, and securing coverage are core functions of PR, and are now the foundation of generative AI results.
It is up to us to make the case that solid, impactful PR work is critical to organisational success in this new, AI-powered environment.
