Focus on earning a few high-quality links rather than chasing volume. Use tightly targeted outreach instead of mass emailing journalists. Lead every pitch with a clear, compelling story—not a link request. Tie campaigns to timely trends, news, or seasonal angles. Create original, data-driven Read more

Relationships drive results: prior replies lead to 1.5x more opens and 19x more responses A single reply isn’t just engagement—it’s a relationship trigger that compounds future outreach success Recency matters: journalist relationships decay significantly after ~90 days Even after Read more

Overall, about 3% of all news citations came from publishers with confirmed OpenAI or Google data partnerships. Less than 1% of citations from Gemini, AI Mode, and AI Overviews came from Google’s confirmed partner, the Associated Press. 28.5% of ChatGPT news citations came from OpenAI partners, Read more

Around 75% of sites blocking OpenAI or Google AI bots still appeared in AI citations. Roughly 95% of the cited pages blocked GPTBot or Google-Extended, the bots used for model training. About 70% of ChatGPT citations came from sites blocking ChatGPT-User or OAI-SearchBot, which power live Read more

News publications account for 14% of AI citations in the study. Citations from news publications primarily come from decision-making prompts. (18%) True news content beats out affiliate-driven news content in AI citations. Syndication (6%) and newswires (0.21%) deliver minimal AI visibility. Read more

Images don’t noticeably affect open and reply rates. Images can hinder deliverability if used inappropriately via the spray-and-pray technique and high volumes. Images are essential for product PR. Images can be a difference-maker for expert commentary as fake experts are at an all-time Read more

The UK builds digital PR around press releases, while the US relies more on newswires and avoids full releases in outreach emails. US PR pros personalize more often and more deeply than their UK counterparts. AI adoption in pitching is much higher in the US than in the UK. UK campaigns secure Read more

Digital PR places brands on sites and platforms where most Americans actually consume information. Digital PR–driven rankings and brand mentions correlate with AI citations and AI-generated answers. High-authority publisher links and brand mentions secured through digital PR likely influence Read more

Agency-sent email addresses have ~15% higher open rates, largely due to more effective subject lines and pitch content. Brand email addresses drive ~60% more replies, likely due to built-in authority and perceived credibility. Best performance came from agencies sending from brand domains. Read more

8–9 AM local time sees the highest journalist email engagement across most major media domains. Monday is the top-performing day for both opens and replies, especially among freelancers and UK-based journalists. Freelancers show broader engagement throughout the week but still peak around Read more