# Are PR Teams Doing Earned Media Wrong in the AI Era? [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/are-pr-teams-doing-earned-media-wrong-in-the-ai-era-4c7da78f) Spin Sucks’ article argues that PR teams may be overlooking publications AI engines cite when they build media lists around reach, authority, and prestige. Featured analyzed more than 22,000 AI citations across more than 400 generative engine optimization (GEO) audits; the article reports that approximately 34% came from websites with a domain authority below 40, while 76% of cited domains appeared exactly once. The article does not recommend abandoning Tier 1 media or pitching every niche publication. Instead, Brett Farmiloe recommends auditing which sources AI engines cite in an industry, then measuring whether specific efforts work. The article also reports Farmiloe’s claim that human-written HARO pitches are three times more successful than AI-written pitches, and connects that difference to firsthand experience and original insight. The practical argument is that earned media may help people discover a brand through AI answers as well as through publications directly. But citations vary across engines, and visibility tools can estimate what customers ask rather than reflect their actual queries. The article therefore recommends manual spot-checks and asking customers how they heard about a company. It leaves open how much a citation contributes to customer discovery or business outcomes, and argues that uncertainty is not a reason for PR teams to sit out measurement and. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source Spin Sucks · Article Original source date: Oct 15, 2026 (2026-10-15T11:45:00+00:00). Date basis: Date stated by the publisher. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-05T04:09:53.703Z. First observed: 2026-11-04T12:36:27.200Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-05T04:09:07.692Z. - [Are PR Teams Doing Earned Media Wrong in the AI Era?](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Limits The citation figures are findings attributed to Featured; the article does not provide the underlying audit data or methodology in the supplied text. The article says a niche publication cited by AI could be another pathway for potential customers to discover a brand, but does not establish how often citations lead to customer discovery or business outcomes. The article notes that AI visibility tools may generate prompts to estimate what users might ask, so their results may not reflect actual customer queries. ## Open question How much does appearing in an AI engine’s citations contribute to customer discovery or business outcomes, compared with people reading the publication directly? ## Source-stated Featured’s analysis found that approximately 34% of AI citations came from websites with a domain authority below 40. > Featured’s research found that approximately 34% of AI citations came from websites with a domain authority below 40. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Source-stated Featured found that 76% of cited domains appeared exactly once. > Featured found that the top 100 domains accounted for approximately 25% of citations, while 76% of cited domains appeared exactly once. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Source-stated Brett Farmiloe said human-written HARO pitches were three times more successful than AI-written pitches. > According to Brett, human-written HARO pitches are three times more successful than AI-written pitches. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Escape Meridian interpretation The article argues that communicators should audit AI-cited sources and measure their efforts, without abandoning Tier 1 media. > It means understanding which sources AI already cites before deciding where to focus. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Source-stated The article says citation patterns can differ across AI engines, and visibility tools may estimate rather than capture customers’ actual queries. > AI visibility tools don’t necessarily know what actual customers type into ChatGPT or Claude. Many generate prompts to estimate what users might ask. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Source and contributor context Alejandro Arango · Article author These are credits stated by the source; they do not establish a profile match or authorship of every passage. ## Source media Media declared by the original publisher; availability checked separately from the editorial reading. - [video · Spin Sucks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXMJTCDlA_w) - [Are PR Teams Pitching the Wrong Publications for the AI Era? · Spin Sucks](https://spinsucks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Are-PR-Teams-Pitching-the-Wrong-Publications-for-the-AI-Era.webp) ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Spin Sucks Spin Sucks is Gini Dietrich's publication on public relations, marketing communications and the PESO media model. - [Explore this context](/entities/spin-sucks) - [Reference](https://spinsucks.com/) - [Reference](https://spinsucks.com/feed/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: e21fb955-e1bd-4586-80a6-955ae76ec826. Prepared by gpt-6-luna; grounding review by gpt-6-luna. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-05T04:09:53.703Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: useful\_perspective. Observation: 16a105c5c2e110352db2d313a7f6102f43a640819a1da2e5cf892ec568cf7bdd. Source text hash: a0f6edcd0449d4ae8bf04d41e94812c40ebd6e1b01cab046cbc94f6906d01f34. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-05T04:09:53.703Z Spin Sucks’ article argues that PR teams may be overlooking publications AI engines cite when they build media lists around reach, authority, and prestige. Featured analyzed more than 22,000 AI citations across more than 400 generative engine optimization (GEO) audits; the article reports that approximately 34% came from websites with a domain authority below 40, while 76% of cited domains appeared exactly once. The article does not recommend abandoning Tier 1 media or pitching every niche publication. Instead, Brett Farmiloe recommends auditing which sources AI engines cite in an industry, then measuring whether specific efforts work. The article also reports Farmiloe’s claim that human-written HARO pitches are three times more successful than AI-written pitches, and connects that difference to firsthand experience and original insight. The practical argument is that earned media may help people discover a brand through AI answers as well as through publications directly. But citations vary across engines, and visibility tools can estimate what customers ask rather than reflect their actual queries. The article therefore recommends manual spot-checks and asking customers how they heard about a company. It leaves open how much a citation contributes to customer discovery or business outcomes, and argues that uncertainty is not a reason for PR teams to sit out measurement and. ## Original source Spin Sucks · Article Original source date: Oct 15, 2026 (2026-10-15T11:45:00+00:00). Date basis: Date stated by the publisher. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-05T04:09:53.703Z. First observed: 2026-11-04T12:36:27.200Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-05T04:09:07.692Z. - [Are PR Teams Doing Earned Media Wrong in the AI Era?](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Limits The citation figures are findings attributed to Featured; the article does not provide the underlying audit data or methodology in the supplied text. The article says a niche publication cited by AI could be another pathway for potential customers to discover a brand, but does not establish how often citations lead to customer discovery or business outcomes. The article notes that AI visibility tools may generate prompts to estimate what users might ask, so their results may not reflect actual customer queries. ## Open question How much does appearing in an AI engine’s citations contribute to customer discovery or business outcomes, compared with people reading the publication directly? ## Source-stated Featured’s analysis found that approximately 34% of AI citations came from websites with a domain authority below 40. > Featured’s research found that approximately 34% of AI citations came from websites with a domain authority below 40. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Source-stated Featured found that 76% of cited domains appeared exactly once. > Featured found that the top 100 domains accounted for approximately 25% of citations, while 76% of cited domains appeared exactly once. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Source-stated Brett Farmiloe said human-written HARO pitches were three times more successful than AI-written pitches. > According to Brett, human-written HARO pitches are three times more successful than AI-written pitches. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Escape Meridian interpretation The article argues that communicators should audit AI-cited sources and measure their efforts, without abandoning Tier 1 media. > It means understanding which sources AI already cites before deciding where to focus. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Source-stated The article says citation patterns can differ across AI engines, and visibility tools may estimate rather than capture customers’ actual queries. > AI visibility tools don’t necessarily know what actual customers type into ChatGPT or Claude. Many generate prompts to estimate what users might ask. - [Supporting source](https://spinsucks.com/communication/ai-visibility-earned-media/) ## Source and contributor context Alejandro Arango · Article author These are credits stated by the source; they do not establish a profile match or authorship of every passage. ## Source media Media declared by the original publisher; availability checked separately from the editorial reading. - [video · Spin Sucks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXMJTCDlA_w) - [Are PR Teams Pitching the Wrong Publications for the AI Era? · Spin Sucks](https://spinsucks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Are-PR-Teams-Pitching-the-Wrong-Publications-for-the-AI-Era.webp) ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Spin Sucks Spin Sucks is Gini Dietrich's publication on public relations, marketing communications and the PESO media model. - [Explore this context](/entities/spin-sucks) - [Reference](https://spinsucks.com/) - [Reference](https://spinsucks.com/feed/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: e21fb955-e1bd-4586-80a6-955ae76ec826. Prepared by gpt-6-luna; grounding review by gpt-6-luna. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-05T04:09:53.703Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: useful\_perspective. Observation: 16a105c5c2e110352db2d313a7f6102f43a640819a1da2e5cf892ec568cf7bdd. Source text hash: a0f6edcd0449d4ae8bf04d41e94812c40ebd6e1b01cab046cbc94f6906d01f34. ### uncertain — 2026-11-05T04:09:53.703Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: e21fb955-e1bd-4586-80a6-955ae76ec826 attribution — pass: Statistics are attributed to Featured's analysis. The pitch claim and audit recommendation are attributed to Brett Farmiloe. The broader argument is attributed to the Spin Sucks article. Small repair: Farmiloe could be identified as Featured's CEO, which the source states. > Gini Dietrich and Brett Farmiloe, CEO of Featured, the company behind Help A Reporter Out (HARO), recently discussed that very question. summary — uncertain: The final sentence is truncated: 'to sit out measurement and.' It also narrows the source's point, which is not to let uncertainty make teams wait on AI visibility generally. Repair: end with 'uncertainty is not a reason to wait.' Several central terms are not explained in plain language: domain authority, Tier 1 media, earned media, HARO and GEO. Without them, a general reader cannot readily see why a low domain authority score is notable. > But uncertainty isn’t a reason to wait. date — pass: The originalPublished value of 2026-10-15 comes from the publisher page and matches the feed entry. No earlier publication is indicated. support — pass: The figures for 34% below DA 40, 76% appearing once, and the 3x pitch success rate are all source-stated. The source supports the points that citations vary across engines and that tools estimate prompts. It also recommends spot-checks and asking customers. The question and limitations correctly flag the unestablished link between citations and business outcomes without asserting a benefit. > A niche publication may have limited reach compared with national media. But if AI engines use their content to answer relevant customer questions, it can become another pathway for potential customers to discover a brand. media — pass: The selected media is the verified direct link to the original Spin Sucks article. It is the most direct way to access the source. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/4c7da78f71535e22c8f63a7311586b93cbf7e889fa1a97a79a9defac2435bc0d/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/are-pr-teams-doing-earned-media-wrong-in-the-ai-era-4c7da78f.json)