Will Reese and Theresa Dolge of Inizio Evoke, along with Doug Simon of D S Simon Media, outlined how AI is reshaping earned media and why local outlets, content freshness, and authentic communication are now central to public relations success. In a "PR's Top Pros Talk…" podcast episode released Wednesday, they argued that AI-driven search and large language models (LLMs) demand a shift from big campaign moments to consistent, high-quality visibility.
The renewed pull of local media
"When you think about healthcare, so much of the healthcare decisions are local and very personal, tied to your community," said Will Reese, Chief Innovation Officer at Inizio Evoke, explaining why local media is gaining significance in pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Doug Simon, CEO of D S Simon Media, pointed to national survey data showing that across party lines, 85% of respondents trusted local TV news more than social media. "Republicans and Democrats actually were within a half a percentage point 85% to 15%," he said.
Theresa Dolge, Chief Media Relations Officer at Inizio Evoke, noted that this trust opens doors for both PR practitioners and journalists. "I think for a long time in PR, we were strong advocates of doing local market outreach. That kind of changed over time, people wanted to be more national," she said. Now, as AI-driven platforms increasingly pull local content into their answers, Dolge sees a surge in local market campaigns and a rise in journalist hiring. She cited Axios's work bartering with LLMs to build local newsrooms as an example of the growing appetite for community-level content. Simon added that PR professionals are effectively becoming "a staff extension of the TV newsroom," helping under-resourced outlets meet content demands. For communicators tasked with media outreach in this environment, an AI Learning Path for Media Relations Specialists provides practical strategies for building relationships and content that resonate locally.
Fresh content outranks big brands
A recurring message was the importance of freshness. "You have to be out there consistently because otherwise somebody else is going to come out and be fresher, and then their content is going to rise higher," Dolge said. Reese added that this AI behavior levels the playing field: "I could be a smaller brand, but because somebody put now or today, I show up higher, even over a bigger brand, because my content is fresher." In fields like healthcare, where new research can quickly alter standards of care, timely information can be life-changing.
Discoverability and the weight of words
As search behavior shifts-fewer Google clicks, more direct answers from LLMs-brand visibility inside AI-generated results has become a critical metric. Simon noted that a much smaller percentage of Google searches now result in clicks. Reese stressed that simply appearing in results isn't enough. "The other big piece is the quality of the citations and quality of the language," he said. The adjectives brands use, he explained, should reflect how they demonstrate their values in practice. With more people relying on LLMs for direct answers, how a brand is described can significantly shape public perception.
Dolge predicted that the same factors that built credibility in earned media-consistent messaging, trustworthy sources-will increasingly drive visibility in AI-powered search. "We need the message that we're putting out there to be spread across all of those things in different places in order to be optimized in the rankings when we go in there and people are doing their searches," she said. The discussion made clear that PR professionals remain essential to GEO (generative engine optimization), because they create the kind of valuable, accurate content AI systems need to deliver reliable information.
Why this matters for PR and communications professionals
The podcast underscored that AI does not erase foundational communication skills-it heightens their importance. "Quality communication and authenticity matters in the AI world, so it is the mastery of both," Reese said. For communicators, that means shifting from sporadic, big-budget campaigns to a steady drumbeat of relevant, localizable, and ethically sound content. Staying informed through resources like AI for PR & Communications can help teams align their daily practices with these new search realities. The takeaway: practitioners who combine authentic storytelling with a keen understanding of how AI selects and ranks content will be the ones who secure visibility for their brands and clients.
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