PR has shifted from a primary source of customer acquisition to a crucial mid-funnel tool for building credibility. Its main value is providing social proof that validates a brand for consumers and supports other channels like paid media and affiliate marketing.

The current economic climate is so challenging that many PR agency leaders have adopted the mindset that simply maintaining their current position—without layoffs or revenue decline—constitutes a successful year. Growth is no longer the default benchmark for success.

Agencies can no longer rely on billable hours for tasks AI can automate. Their future lies in strategic consulting, helping clients navigate AI adoption, manage change, and develop custom AI agents and applications, which are currently unmet needs for most brands.

An effective PR strategy today isn't about pitching company announcements. Instead, it's about generating unique, original data that positions your company as an indispensable source for journalists. By providing valuable stats and insights, you build relationships and earn coverage that traditional pitches can't secure.

Since AI has commoditized tactical "how-to" information, human experts must evolve their content strategy. Focus on creating content that shapes clients' strategic thinking, clarifies their beliefs by separating myth from truth, and prepares them for future trends they haven't seen coming.

With fewer journalists and newspapers to tell stories about companies, brands are building in-house "storytelling" teams to control their own narrative. This shift from earned media to owned media (podcasts, blogs, social channels) is driving the demand for corporate storytellers to act as brand journalists.

Historically, PR owned credibility and marketing owned pipeline. AI and LLMs have forced these functions to converge completely. The credibility built by PR through earned media and thought leadership is now the primary fuel for AI-driven discoverability, which in turn feeds the marketing pipeline. The functions are no longer complementary; they are inseparable.

Instead of paying a continuous high retainer for PR, brands should deploy it in focused 'sprints' around specific story-worthy moments. This includes new product launches, funding announcements, or major partnerships, maximizing impact and ROI for the brand.

The rise of AI and Large Language Models, which scrape vast amounts of data, creates a critical new role for PR. Companies must now proactively correct misinformation and ensure content accuracy, as this data will be used to train models and generate future content.