The Public Relations Blog

As search evolves from links to language, the humble press release is experiencing a powerful resurgence. Not as a tool for vanity metrics or mass wire spam, but as a strategic asset that feeds both generative AI models and answer-based search engines. Smart brands are rediscovering how to use news releases to shape how they’re understood, quoted, and recommended by machines.

SEO for PR helps connect your brand’s content, media, and message with the real audiences searching for relevance — not just automation.

In this solocast episode, On Top of PR host Jason Mudd discusses why 95% of AI citations come from PR content and how brands can lead with media relations in the age of AI.

Tune in to learn more!

In this episode, Serena Ehrlich joins On Top of PR host Jason Mudd to discuss how AI-powered search engines take data from press releases, and how they decide on what to show their users.

Tune in to learn more!

1. AI is shaping brand visibility through media coverage
2. Taylor Swift’s Orange Wave sparks brand buzz
3. 60-second close: The power of earned media and visibility

How AI is shaping brand visibility through media coverage

AI is no longer just a technological buzzword. You’re using AI, whether you realize it or not, to shape your brand’s reputation. It’s now a central part of how companies shape their public image and manage their brand's reputation.

From the way people search for companies to how those companies are represented in search results, AI plays a growing role. As AI tools evolve, they’re pulling content from media sources to inform answers, fuel conversations, and even frame public perception across digital channels.

You need your brand to show up when artificial intelligence delivers the answers. As AI changes how people find information online, earned media has become more important than ever. When AI tools like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini pull data to generate responses, they often rely on trusted third-party sources like news articles, podcasts, and interviews.

That means your visibility now depends less on ads or owned content and more on how others talk about you. If you're not already prioritizing earned media, you're missing a key piece of the AI-driven discovery puzzle.

We asked ChatGPT directly how it uses earned media and news releases to shape its responses. Its answer reveals exactly why PR is now central to AI-powered discovery. If your brand isn’t showing up in trusted coverage, you’re invisible to the algorithms shaping today’s conversations.

Explore the full exchange and its implications for your PR strategy regarding AI relations.

AI isn’t pulling from your ad copy or blog posts.

It’s citing your earned media.

As generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google SGE reshape how people search, public relations — not SEO or paid media — is powering brand discovery. In fact, 95% of citations in AI-generated answers come from PR-driven content. If your company isn’t earning credible coverage, it’s getting left out of the conversation.

Here’s why PR is now the front door to AI-powered discovery and how to make sure your brand shows up.

1. Baseball + Oscar Mayer + AI = a PR home run
2. Hostess rolls out “Munchie Mobile” on 4/20 to reach millennials and Gen Z
3. 60-second close: PR strategy in a transforming experience economy