 |
| Amanda Munroe |
For years, conversations about the future of public relations have centered on disruption. In 2026, though, we moved toward something more definitive: a breaking point.
It came as little surprise that PR professionals named “the changing media landscape” their top challenge in Cision’s “Inside PR 2026 Report.” Attention and influence shifted fundamentally this year as several long-building and new digital trends came to a head. Among them are media fragmentation, in-platform engagement, the rise of individual voices and, of course, generative AI search.
But rather than lose relevance, the PR and communications functions gained more. Succeeding, though, requires a new outlook and playbook for storytelling and—more critical—distribution.
The enduring core of PR
The core of PR remains intact. Clear positioning and a compelling narrative still determine whether a brand earns attention. So does the way that narrative is delivered to audiences through storytelling by real people with real perspectives and real proof points.
The importance of these fundamentals only grows in a landscape increasingly mediated and flooded by AI. What has changed is how and where they show up.
| This article is featured in O'Dwyer's May '26 PR Firm Rankings Magazine |
Broadening PR’s “surface area”
For decades, PR was synonymous with press coverage, but that model has been deteriorating for years. Still, despite new channels and formats emerging as traditional publishers’ reach declined, many brands kept PR’s mandate small, continuing to index heavily on earned media.
That’s what fueled a PR backlash that surfaced a few years ago, particularly in the technology sector. In the anti-PR movement, some business leaders—mainly founders—argued for abandoning PR in favor of going direct on platforms like LinkedIn. But the framing missed the mark.
What they were advocating for—direct storytelling, owned channels and audiences, executive visibility—isn’t a replacement for PR but rather a component of modern PR. Today, people encounter ideas and establish trust across a refreshed and disparate set of channels, communities, voices and search experiences. As a result, communications are expanding in three directions simultaneously:
Upward into leadership and corporate narratives.
Outward into creator, influencer and user ecosystems.
Downward into technical visibility layers, with AI answer engines as a focus.
When I think of our strongest programs over the past year, they were the ones that adapted to these shifts, collaborating across functions and partners to expand PR’s “surface area.”
In one example, we worked as part of an integrated team to elevate a regional McDonald’s sponsorship of the Buffalo Bills football team into deep cultural relevance and connection. We brought the broader strategy to life through a campaign of localized digital experiences, menu innovations and gameday offers, each an authentic fan touchpoint and storytelling moment promoted seamlessly across channels.
In another program that comes to mind, internal and agency teams’ 360° channel coordination built up new positioning with both buyer and machine audiences. Earned media storytelling, analyst relations, Times Square billboards, B2B creator partnerships, owned data, multi-channel executive thought leadership, awards and events jointly amplified Talkdesk’s Customer Experience Automation category creation and refreshed narrative.
I see both as embodying the new requirement for cohesive, multi-surface storytelling.
New PR principles to adopt
This new era of PR requires more than tweaks. The main stages and voices are different. As such, we believe modern PR programs must adapt to and build around these core principles:
From earned-first to engineered visibility. PR efficacy now demands a deeper understanding of what influences an audience and a disciplined presence across those channels. Earned media remains effective. However, creators drive targeted reach and engagement; communities shape perception in real time; owned and paid channels ensure consistency and control. Precision in what to prioritize, when and how to layer is non-negotiable.
From narrative-centric to narrative rigor. Repetition builds buy-in with human and machine audiences alike, making narrative governance increasingly essential. Scale matters too, which is where creative narrative rigor comes in. Brands that treat their narrative like a product, with flagship content that reinforces it with fresh hooks, angles and proof points, are creating compounding momentum.
From institutions to individuals. The “creator effect” has reshaped how people discover, consume and trust information. Executives, customers and employees no longer just play those roles. They’re media channels in their own right, now primary brand storytelling voices, infusing reach and authenticity that brands alone can’t achieve.
From earning coverage to earning attention. The anti-PR movement got one thing right: A brand can no longer rely on the press alone to carry its narrative. Brands must shape it themselves, through newsroom strategies, executive LinkedIn presence and alternative audience engagement vehicles.
From audience to discovery systems optimization. Search is everywhere, but AI answer engines, where 51 percent of B2B buyers now start research (G2), have surged in importance. While PR-driven authority is a top AI visibility lever, source variance is high—across industries, large language models and human vs. machine audiences—and doesn’t follow traditional “earned” parameters. Most PR programs should add a technical AI visibility track, guided by analytics on what influences answers, without losing sight of audience-first strategies.
From presence to proof. With distrust in brands, communications must be grounded in proof. Real substance through data, outcomes and validation is rewarded while inflated claims and opportunistic plays are ignored or exposed. By anchoring narratives in evidence and authenticity, PR builds trust, strengthens reputation and ensures messages stand up across human and machine evaluation.
A new era of opportunity
It’s easy to frame these changes as challenges. In reality, they represent one of the most significant opportunities PR has seen in years—one to expand PR’s purview and approach to shaping brand visibility and perception across today’s complex but rich landscape.
***
Amanda Munroe is Senior VP and agency lead at SHIFT Communications.
The holding company model is in structural decline. Here's what comes next.
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 traditional press had already lost much of its status as a gatekeeper of information before AI came on the scene—and now its position is even more tenuous. In this brave new world, brands and communicators increasingly need to tell their own stories.
If the work that once built foundational skills—creating content—is automated, where does the next generation of communicators develop judgment about what effective content looks like?
