University of Kwazulu-Natal

Pr Key Insights From Muck Rack S 2025 State Of Pr Ai Earned Media

Bonisiwe Shabane
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pr key insights from muck rack s 2025 state of pr ai earned media

As public relations professionals navigate an increasingly complex media landscape while preparing for upcoming budget cycles, Muck Rack’s 2025 State of PR report provides critical insights into the industry’s current trajectory and emerging challenges. The comprehensive study examines how PR teams are adapting to rapid technological change, particularly in AI adoption, while grappling with evolving earned media strategies and shifting social media dynamics that are reshaping how communications... AI usage is a trend that is increasing in the PR space. Muck Rack revealed that 59% of PR pros believe that AI would become more important in five years, highlighting it as a future priority. With AI tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E already being incorporated into over three-quarters of PR pros’ workflows, AI has showcased itself to be a tool that can be used as an assistant that... However, the most successful AI implementation in PR requires strategic human oversight and sophisticated prompt engineering.

While AI excels at generating ideas, drafting initial content and automating routine tasks, the nuanced understanding of brand voice, audience psychology and strategic messaging still demands a human touch. The professionals leading the pack aren’t just using AI – they’re directing it through precise prompts and maintaining quality control that ensures AI-generated content aligns with brand standards and communications objectives. This hybrid approach maximizes AI’s efficiency gains while preserving the authenticity and strategic thinking that define exceptional PR work. Securing earned coverage has become significantly more difficult for PR professionals, with an overwhelming 98% reporting that earned media is harder to obtain than before. One of the primary culprits is plummeting journalist response rates, cited by 72% of PR pros as a major obstacle, while 62% point to shrinking media lists in their relevant beats as coverage opportunities... The traditional pathways to coverage are becoming increasingly narrow and competitive.

The combination of reduced newsroom staff, overwhelmed journalists and fewer specialized beat reporters creates a perfect storm that requires PR professionals to fundamentally rethink their earned media strategies. The near-universal acknowledgment of these challenges underscores the critical need for more personalized and strategic approaches to media outreach in today’s constrained landscape. July 23, 2025 06:45 ET | Source: Muck Rack Muck Rack Miami, July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a groundbreaking study analyzing millions of AI-cited links from hundreds of thousands of prompts, Muck Rack, the leading provider of the award-winning PR software, has revealed... The research, titled “What is AI Reading?” set out to answer a fundamental question: Does media coverage materially affect what AI says? The answer, unequivocally, is yes.

“This study is an eye-opener for PR and communications teams aiming to understand how media mentions influence AI-generated content,” said Greg Galant, cofounder and CEO of Muck Rack. “Until now, we’ve had theories and early signals—but now we’ve got solid evidence that earned media directly influences AI-generated output. This changes the stakes for PR. The way businesses are represented by AI now ties directly to the media coverage they earn.” Citations actively influence AI output: Controlled prompt testing showed that when citations are enabled, LLM (large language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini) outputs meaningfully change. Earned media doesn’t just show up—it affects what is said.

This proves that cited content is not decorative. It materially grounds outputs in real-time, dynamic inputs. Earned media is a foundational input: More than 95% of citations come from unpaid media sources and 85% of those come from earned sources, while another quarter are from journalistic sources. Half of total AI responses included at least one earned media citation. These figures highlight the critical role that earned media strategies play in GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization) visibility.What Determines Whether a Brand is CitedThree key variables drive citation inclusion: In 2024 artificial intelligence investment and innovation exploded with $240 billion in total United States market capital spent.

While the numbers and new advancements were impressive, 2025 is set to continue that growth trend with the largest tech companies expected to spend north of $300 billion on new technologies and datacenter buildouts. In the PR and marketing world, 2024 brought a rapid integration of these technologies into team workflows, helping streamline media relations, research, writing, data collection and more. To better understand AI’s real-world impact on PR pros, Muck Rack released a State of AI in PR Report, which dove into how teams are (and are not) using AI, the ethics of using... As an agency owner with more than 25 years of experience creating and running PR and content programs for B2B tech brands, here’s what stood out in the report to me, what feels a... Muck Rack’s report highlights that three out of four PR pros use generative AI at work, nearly triple the amount compared to 2023. Yet, 55% of agencies still lack clear guidelines on how AI should (or shouldn’t) be used.

We saw employees embrace AI tools early on (and encouraged it), which is why we implemented an AI Guidelines Policy in early 2023. We want employees to use these tools to enhance the work they do, but also make it clear that AI-generated content is NOT a replacement for doing actual work. Some key elements to consider in a policy include general usage principles, acceptable use of specific AI tools, a “do-not use” list (and why), best practices for prompts, and an approved tools list. One of the most common AI use cases shown in the report is brainstorming. When it comes to ideation, looking at a blank page can be intimidating and using AI can help spark ideas. That’s fantastic, but don’t let AI be a crutch for all of your creative ideas.

Building and learning your own creative process and applying that to PR is incredibly valuable. Encourage your teams to find a balance. On the flip side, it’s surprising that only 21% of PR pros use AI for journalist research. When used properly, AI can help find previous coverage from reporters, identify their interests, and recognize patterns in their articles. And tools like Muck Rack, Cision, Propel and others are rapidly rolling out tools that apply AI to media relations workflows, trends and research. Teams can lean into these features, while still validating the results.

Miami, Aug. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fifty-nine percent of PR professionals reported that AI and automation will grow in importance over the next five years, with 77% already using tools like ChatGPT in their workflow,... When asked how to improve PR’s perceived value, 67% of respondents pointed to producing measurable results. Other strategies, such as creative solutions (12%) and executive visibility (11%) lagged far behind. “For years, PR teams have struggled to prove their direct impact on business outcomes, but AI is changing that,” said Gregory Galant, cofounder and CEO of Muck Rack. “It’s not just a tool for writing faster or working smarter; it's becoming the attribution engine PR has never had.

With solutions like GEO, communicators can finally connect earned media to real results. That’s a fundamental shift for the industry.” Media relations remains a core responsibility, with 84% citing it as a top job function. Yet, securing media coverage is becoming increasingly difficult. Seventy-two percent of respondents cited low journalist response rates, and 62% pointed to shrinking media lists within relevant beats. Nearly half pitch more than 20 journalists per campaign, but 36% noted limited relationships with their contacts.

While 70% say they personalize pitches to some extent, most only update a few lines to tailor the message. Just 11% say they fully customize each pitch. As public relations professionals navigate an increasingly complex media landscape while preparing for upcoming budget cycles, Muck Rack’s 2025 State of PR report provides critical insights into the industry’s current trajectory and emerging challenges. The comprehensive study examines how PR teams are adapting to rapid technological change, particularly in AI adoption, while grappling with evolving earned media strategies and shifting social media dynamics that are reshaping how communications... AI usage is a trend that is increasing in the PR space. Muck Rack revealed that 59% of PR pros believe that AI would become more important in five years, highlighting it as a future priority.

With AI tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E already being incorporated into over three-quarters of PR pros’ workflows, AI has showcased itself to be a tool that can be used as an assistant that... However, the most successful AI implementation in PR requires strategic human oversight and sophisticated prompt engineering. While AI excels at generating ideas, drafting initial content and automating routine tasks, the nuanced understanding of brand voice, audience psychology and strategic messaging still demands a human touch. The professionals leading the pack aren’t just using AI – they’re directing it through precise prompts and maintaining quality control that ensures AI-generated content aligns with brand standards and communications objectives. This hybrid approach maximizes AI’s efficiency gains while preserving the authenticity and strategic thinking that define exceptional PR work. Securing earned coverage has become significantly more difficult for PR professionals, with an overwhelming 98% reporting that earned media is harder to obtain than before.

One of the primary culprits is plummeting journalist response rates, cited by 72% of PR pros as a major obstacle, while 62% point to shrinking media lists in their relevant beats as coverage opportunities... The traditional pathways to coverage are becoming increasingly narrow and competitive. The combination of reduced newsroom staff, overwhelmed journalists and fewer specialized beat reporters creates a perfect storm that requires PR professionals to fundamentally rethink their earned media strategies. The near-universal acknowledgment of these challenges underscores the critical need for more personalized and strategic approaches to media outreach in today’s constrained landscape. Muck Rack’s The State of PR 2025 survey paints a picture of a profession in rapid transformation, where technology is reshaping workflows, media relations is under pressure, and deep cultural divides persist within organizations. Based on insights gleaned from 1,089 PR professionals, followed are some of the trends reshaping the industry in 2025:

AI adoption in PR has been swift, with 77% of practitioners using tools like ChatGPT to assist with tasks like pitching, content creation, analytics, and reporting. Nearly six in ten rank AI and automation as their top strategic priority for the next five years. Seventy-two percent of PR pros report declining journalist response rates, and 62% say their media lists are shrinking. Only 2% believe the work hasn’t become more challenging. The reasons are familiar: heightened competition for coverage, faster news cycles, smaller newsrooms, and broader economic and political pressures. In this environment, strong relationships, relevant pitches, and compelling, data-driven narratives offer the best chance of breaking through.

Nearly half of practitioners surveyed said they pitched “more than 20” journalists for a single campaign (and 25% pitch over 50). Yet more than a third admit they have only a few prior relationships with the reporters they contact. While most claim to personalize their outreach, three-quarters say personalization amounts to only tweaking a few sentences, and 13% change nothing but the greeting. This approach rarely delivers as journalists have made their desires for exclusivity and thoughtful curation clear. The media landscape is shifting fast, and the newly released State of Journalism 2025 report from Muck Rack confirms what we at Proof are already seeing: relevance, personalization, and trust are everything. Based on insights from nearly 2,000 journalists across the globe, here are some key takeaways and why they matter for our clients and the future of earned media.

More than 75% of journalists now use AI tools like ChatGPT in their workflow, yet most newsrooms don’t have a formal AI policy in place. For PR pros, that means being transparent about AI use in content creation and pitches is essential. It also means fact-checking, sourcing, and accuracy matter more than ever. An overwhelming 86% of journalists say they’ll ignore pitches that aren’t relevant to their beat. At Proof, we’ve always believed in relationship-driven media outreach. This data proves the power of personalization.

Generic blasts? They’re dead. Strategic targeting? That’s how stories get told. LinkedIn was ranked the most trusted social platform by journalists this year, beating out X (FKA Twitter). Our takeaway: PR pros should double down on using LinkedIn as both a pitching tool and a visibility platform.

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