A media hit is the bullseye of the AI era

Waiting is hard. It’s especially hard for a client who has hired a consultant to pitch a story angle to the media without any guaranteed return. And even if the story eventually gets written, the journey from first outreach to journalist to finished piece can take months, and even in the best case, usually a few weeks. Along the way, there may be dozens upon dozens of emails, phone calls, and WhatsApp messages.

The reason lies primarily in the long‑running transformation of the media industry, a shift that began decades ago and is still ongoing. It has led to collapsing business models, shrinking newsroom resources, the pursuit of clicks and especially a shift in news criteria: interest and emotional impact are increasingly what help journalists capture audiences whose attention is constantly pulled in multiple directions. Human, societal, or economic relevance alone is no longer guaranteed to be enough.

So, is chasing earned media visibility a thing of the past?

AI‑powered search has changed the rules fast and contrary to expectations, it has made journalistic visibility more valuable to companies than ever.

According to Statistics Finland, the share of 16–89‑year‑olds using generative AI in the previous three months rose from 23% to 41% in 2025. The biggest growth area was information retrieval: as many as one third of the population had used generative AI to look things up. The global trend mirrors this, and it is safe to assume that these numbers have likely leaped to new levels, given the speed at which AI tools evolve and are adopted.

A recent University of Toronto study analyzed more than a thousand consumer searches across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google. The results were clear: AI search results leaned heavily on earned media and independent third‑party sources.

The same is supported by a late‑2025 study by US‑based Muck Rack, which found that earned media accounts for 95% of AI references, and that in topical searches, journalism dominates results.

Gartner – one of the world’s leading technology research and advisory firms – predicts that by 2027, global PR and earned media budgets will nearly double. The explanation is simple: communication and marketing decision‑makers need to ensure their organization remains visible in the age of AI. Investing in earned visibility is now more justified than ever.

Media work does not produce quick wins. Strong media relationships require deep understanding of the media landscape and society, along with genuine respect for journalistic work. When these are combined with skilled and persistent execution, the real ROI of earned media becomes clear:

• higher conversion, because people already trust your company and are familiar with your topic
• increased demand for your services
• more inbound interest
• a stronger competitive position
• greater brand loyalty
• improved reputation

From an AI‑visibility perspective, the best results come from a mix of strong technological readiness in a brand’s own channels, re‑thinking how content is structured, creating repetition, testing AI prompts, monitoring visibility — and yes, you guessed it — high‑quality earned media hits, which are currently the key factor. It is also significant that AI discoverability has the potential to dramatically expand the reach of every single media hit, including into audiences traditional media might not reach at all.

So next time you’re frustrated by a slow media pipeline, remember: in the AI world, every single hit is a diamond. And as we work toward those hits, we are more than happy to strengthen all the other essential components of your AI visibility as well.