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.

Influencing AI results isn't about traditional SEO tactics. It's about getting your brand mentioned in the sources AI models are trained on, like Reddit, industry publications, and news articles. The most effective way to achieve this is through modern PR and consistent social media activity, as journalists and writers use these platforms for discovery.

The ROI of a viral moment is difficult to link to direct sales. Instead, its value lies in increasing 'share of voice' and creating positive brand associations. This influences future purchasing decisions, making the brand top-of-mind when a customer is ready to buy.

Brand campaigns reach the 95% of buyers not currently in-market. Instead of relying on vanity metrics, Square ties this investment to business outcomes by tracking the subsequent lift in organic traffic, which they've found converts better than paid channels.

A viral social media post is visible for about 48 hours, while a blog post or podcast episode can bring in leads for years. Focusing on search-optimized content creates assets that compound in value over time, providing more sustainable results than chasing fleeting attention on social platforms.

Early SEO involved trading content for blog links. When bloggers began demanding payment, a practice against Google's rules, Search Laboratory pivoted. They started creating high-value content on client sites to earn links via outreach, effectively inventing a digital PR model out of necessity before it became a mainstream practice.

AI models heavily weigh earned media from credible publications when determining brand authority. With 61% of AI brand mentions coming from editorial sources, PR is no longer just a brand-building exercise but a critical technical lever for GEO, directly influencing discoverability.

The founder pivoted from ineffective guest posting to creating evergreen content that journalists naturally want to cite. By compiling crucial industry statistics into a single, well-sourced page, they created a "linkable asset" that organically attracted over 335 referring domains from major news and industry sites without any outreach.

When launching creative campaigns, Wiz uses unique domains (e.g., Cisotopia.com) rather than company subdomains. This makes the project feel like an independent, fun creation, not a direct marketing play. The intentional disconnect from the corporate brand piques interest and makes people more willing to engage and share.