The Impact Of AI On PR: Adapting To Industry Changes

Forbes

2 days ago

Dan Lotzof is the Chief Revenue Officer at Notified.
Just a few years ago, PR professionals feared artificial intelligence (AI) would replace them. A lot can change in a few short years. The most effective communicators today are those who have learned to collaborate with it while recognizing that the human element remains a priority and nonnegotiable.
As AI transforms communications, PR professionals are finding powerful new ways to enhance their work. AI has become an invaluable ally, helping communicators save time on routine tasks, tackle complex challenges more efficiently and deliver better results for their clients. What makes it particularly valuable is the sheer amount of data and content it can sift through in seconds, handling research, monitoring and analysis tasks that would otherwise take hours of manual work.
The Reality Of The New Communications Landscape
Today's PR pros must navigate an information ecosystem that's increasingly shaped by AI algorithms. The traditional approaches that once guaranteed media coverage and audience engagement now deliver diminishing returns.
Social media algorithms have fundamentally altered content distribution, requiring PR pros to rethink promotional strategies. Platforms now prioritize authentic engagement and posts that spark genuine discussions over polished corporate messaging. This means that conversational, expert-driven content often outperforms traditional thought leadership pieces, demanding a more nuanced understanding of how algorithmic preferences shape audience reach.
AI Overviews now dominate search results across most verticals, but only a fraction of traditional web results appear as sources. This creates 'zero-click' experiences where users get answers without visiting websites, fundamentally changing how brands achieve and maintain search visibility.
In this new terrain, maintaining message integrity becomes exponentially more complex. As AI systems filter, prioritize and even generate content, PR strategies must account for both human and machine audiences. Success metrics have evolved accordingly, moving beyond simple impressions and coverage counts to more sophisticated measurements of algorithmic impact, engagement quality and data-led audience reach.
The Two Phases Of AI In PR
We currently exist in AI's first widespread phase: the efficiency revolution. Today's AI tools excel at automating routine tasks that once consumed valuable strategic thinking time. Things like content generation, media monitoring and share-of-voice analysis now operate at unprecedented speed and scale.
Perhaps the most compelling advantage is the ability to rapidly generate multiple options for key program components like pitches, press releases or campaign approaches. In this way, AI allows PR folks to compare and contrast strategies quickly rather than laboring over a single version. This abundance of options enhances decision making while saving countless hours.
The future holds the even more transformative second phase: predictive intelligence. AI systems will move beyond efficiency to foresight, enabling PR teams to anticipate stakeholder reactions and identify potential crises before they materialize. Communications will become personalized at scale, tailoring messages to individual needs while maintaining strategic cohesion, dramatically enhancing engagement without the historically prohibitive time investment.
We're already seeing this start to break down the walls between PR and investor relations. AI tools are making it possible to craft messaging that speaks to media, customers and investors all at once—something that would have required separate teams and strategies just a few years ago.
Critically, this next AI iteration still demands human guidance. AI alone can't and shouldn't drive communications strategy, and thinking otherwise is incredibly risky. A machine can suggest and implement, but human judgment remains the essential filter for decorum, ethical scrutiny and brand messaging direction.
The Hybrid PR Professional
Today's PR practitioners must master both traditional and AI-powered skills. Success demands technical capabilities, like value-driven prompt engineering for AI tools and an updated paid media strategy to cut through algorithms, while maintaining core strengths in relationship building and tactical thinking.
This hybrid approach requires a clear understanding of AI capabilities and limitations, strategic application skills, understanding of distinctly human abilities like creativity and empathy, and ethical deployment standards.
AI empowers PR professionals rather than replacing them. As machines handle routine tasks and generate options, the premium on insightful analysis, creative problem-solving and moral judgment grows exponentially. Without the human layer to guide it, AI can't do the full job of public relations.
Preparing For The AI-Powered Future
Organizations looking to thrive must build flexible technology stacks that can adapt to emerging capabilities while maximizing current efficiencies. The most successful PR programs treat AI integration as an ongoing evolution rather than a one-time transformation, establishing adaptable processes. This means regularly evaluating new AI tools and upskilling PR teams on the latest capabilities like prompt building and automated reporting. Success in the AI era requires a culture of continuous learning.
The Human Element Persists
Despite this technological revolution, the fundamental truth remains unchanged and nonnegotiable: Effective communication is inherently human. AI tools serve to amplify human strategy rather than replace it. The human layer of expertise, intuition and ethical judgment remains key. Thinking AI can do it all alone is a risk too big to take.
The time has come to revamp communications strategies for an AI-led industry shift. Organizations that embrace today's AI capabilities while building tomorrow's hybrid skills will discover that AI isn't a threat to public relations but rather the new competitive edge. Don't believe me that AI won't replace humans? Go ahead and ask AI yourself because we did—and the answer was a resounding 'No.'
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