AI Has a Thing for Earned Media. Just Like Us.
The big (albeit not surprising) reveal of Muck Rack’s 2025 Generative Pulse report? Generative AI tools overwhelmingly cite earned media.
TL;DR
AI prioritizes earned media. According to MuckRack’s 2025 Generative Pulse report, over 95% of links cited by leading AI models come from non-paid sources—nearly 30% from journalism.
Credibility and recency matter. AI favors high-authority outlets and fresh, relevant stories, especially for news- and trend-based queries.
Affiliate PR strengthens AI performance. Editorial coverage that drives clicks and conversions is more likely to stay visible and impactful over time.
Dadascope combines strategy with results. We deliver high-quality placements and layer on affiliate optimization—so our clients show up in the places that matter most, including AI-generated search.
What AI Is Quoting—And Why That Matters
Muck Rack just rocked the PR world with its release of the 2025 Generative Pulse report. The big (albeit not surprising) reveal? Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini overwhelmingly cite earned media—aka PR’s raison d’être.
Of more than one million citations analyzed:
✔ 95% came from non-paid sources
✔ 27% were from journalistic outlets
✔ And for timely, news-driven queries, nearly half were news stories
MuckRack’s 2025 Generative Pulse Report confirms that strong, recent editorial coverage plays a direct role in how AI summarizes your brand, your industry, and your relevance.
This confirms what we’ve long believed: strong editorial coverage shapes brand awareness while directly influencing how AI summarizes your brand, your industry, and your relevance.
AI Values the Same Media Coverage We Do
“AI rewards niche-specific content: While overall, large news organizations like Reuters and Associated Press do ‘top the charts’ of citation frequency, the AI systems tend to select niche-appropriate outlets frequently when queried about specific industries.”
The Generative Pulse report also found that AI citations skew toward:
Recent content (especially from the last 12 months)
High-authority publications like Reuters, Axios, and Financial Times
Industry-relevant sources with clear, factual reporting
For brands, this means that securing strategic placements in respected outlets is no longer just about PR wins. It’s now essential for digital visibility in an AI-powered world.
Where reputation, reach and relevance converge: At Dadascope, we focus on placing our clients in the kinds of publications that both humans and machines trust. Data courtesy of MuckRack’s 2025 Generative Pulse Report.
Discoverability in a Post-SEO World
As generative search tools like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) become the new front door to the internet, causing significant drops in referral traffic, we’re seeing an increasingly strategic and critical role for PR.
“As some media outlets experience 20–40% declines in search-driven visits due to Google’s Search Generative Experience, PR’s role must evolve.”
What This Means for Brands
The key takeaway? AI is reading your press—and using it to surface the summaries that are quickly replacing traditional search.
The best way to shape what it sees (and says) is to be featured in the places it pulls from most.
“At Dadascope, we focus on reputation, reach, and relevance, which means showing up in the publications that both humans and machines trust.”
That’s why our media strategies are designed to:
Secure high-quality, high-impact editorial coverage
Ensure that coverage is discoverable, credible, and recent
Bridge PR and performance through affiliate integration
Reinforce authority on owned content channels, which are also being sourced by LLM’s
In short, we help brands lead the conversation, whether it’s in a headline, a podcast, or a chatbot.
Final Thought
Earned media has always been essential for credibility and connection. Now, data shows that it’s also your pathway to visibility inside AI-generated results. As generative platforms increasingly influence how people find, evaluate, and engage with brands, PR is becoming indispensable.
What’s Next?
There’s never been a more exciting—and fast-evolving—time to be in PR. At Dadascope, we’re investing in tools, talent, and strategy to stay ahead of the curve, including:
New Powerful Tools to help us monitor and shape how our clients appear in AI-generated search results.
An AI-centric framework that expands our strategy and content services to align with how AI tools surface and interpret brand narratives.
Continued focus on affiliate-powered Performance PR: Because when your stories perform, they stick around longer in the AI ecosystem.