The 5 Questions Every PR Pro Should Ask Before Trusting a Research Partner
Wed, Jul. 15, 2026
By Nathan Richter
Research has always been a “black box,” but with the adoption of new technologies and reduced budgets, less rigorous and even fraudulent methods have proliferated at the hands of inexperienced vendors.

If you want to reduce the stress of media outreach and bring more creativity into your storytelling, an editorial calendar is your best bet.
Fresh off receiving her PhD at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Lea-Ann Germinder has introduced AELHA™, an original model for keeping humans at the center of AI adoption.
CEOs are increasingly being expected to serve as the face of their organization, but the strategies used to implement that increased visibility vary, according to a new report from V2 Communications.
The inaugural list maps the figures — most of whom are not in the PR profession — whose decisions now influence whether the work the profession produces gets surfaced when AI engines answer questions about a category.
The expertise-driven content that earns media coverage is increasingly shaping how AI search engines discover and recommend brands.
AI visibility is becoming a top priority for corporate executives, leaving CMOs and VP-level marketers to scramble for the right way to ensure that brands stand out in AI-driven search and LLMs.
Your buyers are asking AI about you. And what AI says about your brand depends on what you’ve earned.
The instinct behind every great pitch is the same needed to win the AI answer box.
A growing sense of fragmentation when it comes to health issues is leading to greater distrust of both the healthcare industry and the media that reports on it, according to the newly released 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer.
The philanthropy sector appears to be losing its position on the moral high ground, according to the Global Risk Advisory Council’s Reputation Risk Index for Q1 2026.
Younger employees are more likely to receive AI training in the workplace as well as guidance for using AI tools, according to a recent report.
Continuing a trend that began last year, purpose-driven messaging is falling out of favor among communications pros working in our politically polarized environment, with many now also anticipating fewer future corporate investments in DEI, sustainability and other CSR initiatives.
Even though a majority of consumers are turning to social media as their preferred source of breaking news, issues surrounding trust and the quality of social media content remain a concern for many of them.
The way some are creating AI-optimized content farms feels quite Moneyball-esque. The difference is the basic principles of baseball don't change between seasons.
Thanks to artificial intelligence, nearly half of Americans said they no longer trust the information they encounter online. As a result, according to a survey, brands are increasingly becoming de facto sources of truth verification.



















