5 Ways to AI-Optimize Your PR Strategy
December 4, 2025
By: Lauren Stewart
Remember the days of SEO — when flooding the Internet with keyword-laced content helped boost your organization in Google search?
Those days are over.
AI has efficiently eliminated SEO, replacing it with what can best be described as generative AI that rewards timely, meaningful content by including it in its search summaries.
And the change has dramatically elevated the value of PR, making earned media placements more important than ever.
Turns out when formulating answers, AI prioritizes credible, recent information. Generative AI doesn’t comb the entire internet evenly – it skews heavily toward trusted sources and up-to-date content.
One industry analysis by Muckrack found more than 95% of links cited by AI chatbots come from non-paid, organic content (not ads, sponsored posts) – with nearly 90% of those being earned media coverage. In other words, the content that AI most often “reads” and shares comes from news articles, press releases, and authoritative blog posts published in reputable outlets.
This is a massive opportunity and a warning: if your organization isn’t generating news or getting mentioned in the media, AI is far less likely to talk about you.
To truly harness the power of AI for your brand’s reputation, you need to blend classic PR savvy with new AI-oriented tactics.
Think of it as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) – a term industry leaders use for ensuring your message is surfaced accurately by generative AI, not just traditional SEO for Google.
Here are 5 of the best AI-age practices to integrate into your media relations strategy.
1. Keep a Steady Drumbeat of News
Consistency is king. Generative engines favor a frequent flow of fresh content.
So instead of one or two big announcements a year, focus on a regular cadence of news releases, announcements, case studies, or op-eds. Regular mentions in the press (even small ones) keep your organization swimming in the waters that AI fishes in.
2. Craft AI-Friendly News Releases
An AI-friendly release is clear, factual, and easy to parse. Lead with a crisp, succinct summary of the news – many AI tools (and rushed journalists) will literally quote the first paragraph directly.
Use consistent names and titles for your organization and initiatives (so AI doesn’t get confused). Include specific data points, names, and dates to boost the perceived authority of your release.
And very importantly, link to reputable sources or supporting information – AI models give more weight to content with verifiable citations, which in turn boosts your credibility. In short, write releases for human readers AND machine readers.
3. Leverage the Full Media Ecosystem
Don’t just aim for one major media hit – diversify. Yes, national newspapers and major networks carry considerable weight and are heavily cited by AI.
But niche trade publications, industry blogs, and online local media can also punch above their weight, especially for sector-specific queries. AI models like Google’s Gemini are known to scoop up content from YouTube transcripts, Reddit discussions, Substack newsletters, and Wikipedia in addition to traditional news.
A robust media relations strategy in 2026 means pitching your story across a spectrum of outlets – from the big names to the specialty platforms and even podcasts. The more credible touchpoints you have online, the more likely an AI system will view your brand as influential and well-established.
4. Distribute and Amplify Your News
Take advantage of newswire services and cross-posting to maximize your content’s footprint. Services like PR Newswire and Business Wire syndicate your press release across hundreds of outlets and databases.
This wide syndication increases the chances that generative AI will crawl and index your announcement in multiple places.
After publishing a release on your site, share it on social platforms, and consider a blog post or LinkedIn article that repackages the news.
Generative AI looks across the open web; a piece of news echoed on many sites is more likely to be picked up. Also, ensure your own website’s newsroom is up-to-date and optimized (clean URLs, proper metadata) because it all feeds the AI “visibility engine.”
5. Monitor Your AI Presence
Just as you track media hits and Google analytics, start tracking how your organization appears in AI-driven results. This is new territory, and tools are still emerging for “AI visibility” monitoring.
But you can also conduct simple queries on an AI platform to gain strategic insights.
For example, if you ask ChatGPT or Bing AI about your nonprofit’s area of expertise, does it mention your organization? If not, that’s a signal you need to generate more high-profile coverage or content on that topic.
Treat an AI query result as the new homepage – the summary that a donor, volunteer, or stakeholder might see first. Use those insights to adjust your media strategy (if AI is citing a competitor’s recent whitepaper on a topic, maybe it’s time you publish your own research or bylined article).
By weaving these tactics into your plan, you’re essentially doing both PR and GEO for AI – making sure that whether a human or an algorithmic assistant is the one asking “Who’s making an impact in education reform?” or “What’s this community foundation doing about climate change?”, your name rises to the top with authority.
No keywords required.
