Public relations professionals are celebrating recent news that Large Language Model (LLM) AI systems are supercharging the industry. After years of PR supposedly being mostly dead—since anyone can draft something with AI and post it online—the branding gods are suddenly changing their tune.
There’s only one question remaining: how should the industry use this good news to serve our clients?
That was what Proven Media Solutions founder Dustin Siggins discussed with The Colab CEO Lizzy Harris and Notably co-founder Carly Martinetti earlier this month. Harris and Martinetti both run tech PR firms and have been on the leading edge of how to apply LLM realities to serving clients.
Three Key Takeaways
First, and most importantly, firms need to show clients that AI is shifting earned media priorities. For example, the value of big-name legacy media placements will continue to diminish because LLMs can’t scrape content that’s behind a paywall. This weakness is on top of legacy media becoming continually less relevant to many organizations because:
- Their audiences are more general
- They are difficult to get into
- They don’t drive the same sales value as more niche outlets.
Second, while timeliness will always be a factor, it’s no longer all about having new stories in the media. LLMs aren’t just looking at what’s most recent—they’re looking at what’s impactful, and that means those who have more content that sets them up as the authority in their field will rise to the top in searches. As Carly pointed out, the media may forget, but the model remembers. So clients who start sooner will have a huge running start in their niches.
Third, the communications principle of repurposing content continues to be critical. It was always a digital era fundamental to turn earned media into social media posts, newsletter content, and company blog posts. But with potential customers often turning to LLM-powered AI platforms to find potential solutions – effectively the 2025 version of a Google search – brands need to be out in front on social and owned media more then ever.
And as a PR bonus: The panel concluded that LLMs also may lead to a new age for blogs and press releases, on top of increasingly popular Substack columns by journalists and influencers. But don’t forget about your own website’s content, either.
A Big Caveat
LLMs often look at credible sources. They also scan Reddit and—unlike journalists, who look to Reddit to examine trends—LLMs see those conversations as credible sourcing. Since you can’t patrol everyone who’s criticizing your brand, getting good spread at the credible digital locations a) improves the downstream impact for Reddit and social media, and b) ensures that those who dig past the threads will find your good content.
In this new media landscape of LLM optimization, a comprehensive media strategy has to capture attention—not just of a company’s target customer, but of the AI systems people are using to find brands they can trust. And that means PR is far from dead. It’s going to prove more critical than ever before for keeping brands visible and relevant.
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Dustin Siggins is the founder of Proven Media Solutions. A former Capitol Hill journalist, Dustin got into PR to help people’s great ideas get into the press. After six years as a freelancer, Dustin led communications for a trade association and started his company in 2018. Since then, he’s built a team that specializes in the nuts and bolts of earned media, supporting marketing, public relations, and public affairs teams and consultants who need help securing press for their clients and principals. With over 4,000 pieces of media coverage under his belt, at outlets ranging from HuffPost and National Review to USA TODAY and PR Week, Dustin has developed a method to the PR madness.
