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| Erik Carlson |
Press releases have quickly shifted from being a notice for journalists, investors and consumers into a primary source AI uses to build its understanding of the world.
My position as CEO of Notified has given me a front-row seat for PR’s pivot to the Answer Engine Economy. This change doesn't diminish the value hundreds of thousands of corporate announcements that are distributed via GlobeNewswire each year. In fact, it raises the importance of a PR tool many said was “dying” or “dead.”
The question now is not just whether your news reaches your audience —it’s whether AI selects your content and incorporates it into an answer that’s generated at the top of each search engine or chatbot response.
Why Newswire-Distributed Releases Influence AI Answers
The core value of the newswire has always been its ability to give corporate news credibility and extend its reach, beyond just living on a company website.
Today, it serves another purpose: providing large language models (LLMs) with structured, trusted and timestamped information distributed through an authoritative channel – exactly the signals AI looks for when trying to understand a company. And we’re seeing that reflected in the data.
When GlobeNewswire released a study in June 2026 of more than 8,000 published press releases, it found that 99.3% of them were cited by ChatGPT or Claude. The average time to first citation was less than eight hours after the release crossed the wire.
The significance isn't simply that AI cites releases. It's what those citations tell us. They suggest AI systems are relying on these trusted, official announcements to establish the facts before synthesizing information from other sources.
For communications teams, this reinforces the value of publishing a clear, authoritative version of the story, because that version often becomes the foundation AI uses.
How to Boost AI Visibility: Focus on Structure and Originality
As PR teams look to improve AI visibility, one question keeps coming up in my conversations with clients: Why do some announcements earn more citations than others? The answer: structure matters far more than many practitioners assume.
In fact, our study found that content optimized for structure generated two-times more AI citations on average than content that wasn't. The finding isn't surprising, as AI systems perform best when information is organized logically, with key facts that are easy to identify and important details presented without ambiguity.
But as more organizations adopt those practices, structure alone won't be the differentiator. Originality becomes equally important, and whether the content contributes something meaningful. To achieve this, think proprietary data, customer stories and distinctive executive perspectives that give both journalists and AI systems a fresh source to reference.
These are also the elements that can increase the likelihood of media pickup. Distribution makes an announcement discoverable, but the substance of the story determines whether others consider it worth repeating.
With this, a better question for communications teams is no longer, "Do we have something to announce?" It's, "Are we sharing something only we can say?"
Multi-Language Releases Matter More in the Answer Engine Economy
AI operates across languages, just as the world does. And now, it’s becoming part of a broader visibility strategy, as our research found that multilingual, GlobeNewswire-distributed releases generated twice as many AI citations in the first 30 days as English-only ones.
This finding suggests that language directly influences how readily an organization’s information can be discovered, understood and referenced across global and regional markets. As AI responds to questions from people around the world, it draws on information published in different dialects.
Organizations that communicate only in English may be limiting both their regional reach and how widely their announcements are surfaced and understood.
Why AI Search Rewards a Strong Information Ecosystem
AI develops a narrative around your company by comparing information across multiple authoritative sources, such as earned media and Reddit, and looking for consistency. That means a press release doesn't just operate in isolation. It’s part of a broader body of information that helps establish what is accurate, credible and worth repeating.
We saw this reflected in our research. Owned content, including newsroom articles, blogs and campaign pages, was twice as likely to be cited within the first 30 days when it was supported by a newswire-distributed release.
The implication is straightforward. Every piece of content shouldn't be treated as its own campaign. A release, newsroom story and executive commentary should reinforce the same core narrative while each contributing something valuable on its own.
Consistency doesn't mean repetition. It means making sure the central facts, context and message remain aligned wherever your story appears.
Where Public Relations Goes from Here
It’s truly an exciting time to be in PR. Today, the work of in-house and agency pros is expanding to include knowledge curation and creating the trusted library that AI draws from when it needs to understand an organization. This changes how PR creates value inside the business.
Moving forward, communications teams won't just be measured by the attention they generate. They'll be judged by the quality, credibility and originality of the information that informs LLMs.
The press release is no longer just a formality that’s drafted for the official record - it’s the foundational building block of a powerful communications campaign.
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Erik Carlson is the Chief Executive Officer of Market Engagement globally at Equiniti, leading across PR, IR and advisory services. He is also President and Chief Executive Officer of Notified. Prior to leading the Notified business, Erik served a variety of executive roles at Notified and West Corporation over 7+ years, including CFO, CPO, and Chief Operating Officer. Erik is a seasoned private equity-backed executive with a track record of leading complex transformations, driving operational scale, and delivering successful outcomes across multiple exits. As a former consultant for PwC’s M&A practice, Erik brings deep expertise across the investment lifecycle—from M&A and post-close integration to operational turnaround and value creation.
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