Latest news with #MuckRack
Hamilton Spectator
30-07-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Generative Pulse is Here: At Last Brands Can Take Control of AI Narratives
Miami, July 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Generative Pulse , a groundbreaking new solution for shaping brand visibility in generative AI responses, is now available, providing brands with the insights and tools they need to understand and guide how they appear in AI answers. Developed by Muck Rack, the leader in PR software, Generative Pulse empowers communicators to identify the sources shaping AI responses, engage key voices, steer the narrative, and measure impact, all in one platform. As tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini increasingly become the first stop for information-seekers, how these AI models describe brands is transforming customer perception, purchase behavior and even reputation. Generative Pulse is the first PR-specific tool built to address this shift, revealing which journalists, outlets, and sources are driving how AI talks about a brand, and enabling communications teams to influence the conversation directly. 'Brands that aren't showing up in AI-generated answers aren't showing up at all,' said Greg Galant, cofounder and CEO of Muck Rack. 'This is a turning point for PR. With Generative Pulse, we're giving comms teams the insight and actionability they need to lead in the era of generative search.' New Research: AI Trusts Earned Media The launch follows the release of Muck Rack's new, benchmark-setting research report, What Is AI Reading? , which analyzed over 1 million links cited by AI platforms. The findings show that over 95% of links cited by AI are from non-paid media, and 89% are earned media. Journalistic content makes up 27% of all citations, rising to 49% for recent or time-sensitive queries. High-authority outlets like Reuters , Axios , Financial Times and AP dominate citations, but industry-specific sources are frequently pulled depending on the query type and topic. From Insight to Action: Inside Generative Pulse Generative Pulse delivers a unique dashboard experience built around Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)—a new framework for AI-era brand visibility. Muck Rack users can input brand names, competitors and prompts, and get a full report including: 'No other platform connects insight to action like Generative Pulse,' added Galant. 'You're not just seeing who's influencing AI, you can actually reach them, influence the outcome and measure your impact all within the same workflow.' Platform Integration and Availability GEO functionality must be integrated into a complete PR workflow and earned media suite so teams can actively shape how LLMs respond; not just passively monitor the results. Muck Rack integrates these insights into its end-to-end PR workflow, enabling users to instantly pitch the most influential journalists, add top-cited outlets to media lists and analyze the news and social media for stories that will impact how they show up in LLM answers. Generative Pulse is available now as part of Muck Rack Premier. It uses the same interface trusted by more than 5,000 companies globally and builds on Muck Rack's fully integrated platform for media relations, including its global media monitoring tools, industry-leading media database, and integrated pitching, press release and social listening tools. Ready to see Generative Pulse in action? Request a demo . # # # About Generative Pulse Generative Pulse is a tool that helps PR and communications teams monitor and define how their brands appear in AI-generated search results. Built around the concept of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), which is also referred to as Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), or Artificial Intelligence for Search Engine Optimization (AI SEO), it reveals which journalists, outlets, and sources influence large language models like ChatGPT—so teams can shape brand visibility in the age of AI. Integrated into Muck Rack's PR platform and backed by a $180M Series A financing, Generative Pulse gives comms professionals the insights and tools to lead in an AI-native search landscape. Learn more at About Muck Rack Muck Rack is the leading provider of award-winning PR software built for how brands and agencies work. The only public relations software powered by intuitive technology and the most accurate, comprehensive data provided by journalists themselves, Muck Rack combines media database, monitoring and reporting for seamless team collaboration, pitching and measurement. Purpose-built for communications and public relations, Muck Rack helps more than 5,000 companies worldwide analyze and report on the impact of their media relations. Thousands of journalists use Muck Rack's free tools to showcase their portfolios, analyze news about any topic and measure the impact of their stories. Learn more at . We're Hiring !
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Muck Rack Study: Generative AI Relies Heavily on Earned Media and Journalism
More than 95% of Cited Links in AI Responses Come from Non-Paid Sources, Of Which 85% are Earned Media; 27% are Journalistic Miami, July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a groundbreaking study analyzing millions of AI-cited links from hundreds of thousands of prompts, Muck Rack, the leading provider of the award-winning PR software, has revealed how generative AI prioritizes which sources to cite, and why this shift is critical for communicators looking to shape brand perception, influence buyers, and lead in the future of marketing. The research, titled 'What is AI Reading?' set out to answer a fundamental question: Does media coverage materially affect what AI says? The answer, unequivocally, is yes. 'This study is an eye-opener for PR and communications teams aiming to understand how media mentions influence AI-generated content,' said Greg Galant, cofounder and CEO of Muck Rack. 'Until now, we've had theories and early signals—but now we've got solid evidence that earned media directly influences AI-generated output. This changes the stakes for PR. The way businesses are represented by AI now ties directly to the media coverage they earn.' Study Findings Citations actively influence AI output: Controlled prompt testing showed that when citations are enabled, LLM (large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Gemini) outputs meaningfully change. Earned media doesn't just show up—it affects what is said. This proves that cited content is not decorative. It materially grounds outputs in real-time, dynamic inputs. Earned media is a foundational input: More than 95% of citations come from unpaid media sources and 85% of those come from earned sources, while another quarter are from journalistic sources. Half of total AI responses included at least one earned media citation. These figures highlight the critical role that earned media strategies play in GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization) Determines Whether a Brand is CitedThree key variables drive citation inclusion: Recency: Particularly in OpenAI models, fresh content–especially on topical, opinion-based, or event-driven queries–is prioritized. Query framing: Advice-seeking or opinion-based prompts trigger more dynamic citations, while encyclopedic queries tend to fall back on older, static training data. Outlet authority: High-domain authority outlets such as Reuters, Axios, Financial Times, AP, TIME, Forbes, NPR and CNN are frequently cited—but even among these, performance varies. In addition, more niche sites, such as Good Housekeeping and Investopedia, are also frequently referenced. Strategic Implications for Communications Teams Communications strategies must evolve to account for this new layer of visibility: New KPIs: Success now includes whether your brand is cited in AI responses—not just traditional media placements or backlinks. New tactics: PR teams should prioritize high-authority outlets and align publishing cadence with the recency preferences of generative AI models. As AI increasingly mediates how information is accessed and consumed, it's clear that PR strategy must expand beyond human readers to include algorithmic interpreters. The study confirms what many in the industry have suspected: the stories you place—and where and when you place them—can now shape AI understanding at added, 'Generative AI is reshaping itself at an unprecedented pace, with new patterns emerging constantly, so the brands that thrive will be those that proactively track their position and adapt in real time to stay ahead.' To access the full report, visit MethodologyThis study explores how modern generative AI systems cite sources in response to realistic user prompts. The objective was to quantify and characterize the nature of AI-generated citations across different use cases and vendor models. This includes their frequency, source types, and the prominence of earned and owned media. To accomplish this, Generative Pulse and Muck Rack constructed a large, diverse prompt set and executed it across several web-enabled language models, followed by systematic analysis of the responses and the cited links. The prompts span all industries and subject matter. Sometimes they specifically mention companies by name, sometimes they do not. The following specific models were used to execute hundreds of thousands of queries, during the month of July 2025:Chat GPT (both '4o' and '4o-mini'), Gemini ('flash' and 'pro') and Claude ('sonnet' and 'haiku'). # # # About Generative Pulse Generative Pulse is a tool that helps PR and communications teams monitor and define how their brands appear in AI-generated search results. Built around the concept of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), it reveals which journalists, outlets, and sources influence large language models like ChatGPT—so teams can shape brand visibility in the age of AI. Integrated into Muck Rack's PR platform and backed by a $180M Series A financing, Generative Pulse gives comms professionals the insights and tools to lead in an AI-native search landscape. Learn more at About Muck Rack Muck Rack is the leading provider of award-winning PR software built for how brands and agencies work. The only public relations software powered by intuitive technology and the most accurate, comprehensive data provided by journalists themselves, Muck Rack combines media database, monitoring and reporting for seamless team collaboration, pitching and measurement. Purpose-built for communications and public relations, Muck Rack helps more than 5,000 companies worldwide analyze and report on the impact of their media relations. Thousands of journalists use Muck Rack's free tools to showcase their portfolios, analyze news about any topic and measure the impact of their stories. Learn more at We're Hiring! CONTACT: Linda Zebian VP of Communications, Muck Rack linda@
Axios
23-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
What news sources AI chat bots read
News stories or content generated by external sources like journalists, influencers, customers, or the general public are the top sources for AI bots like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, a new Muck Rack report finds. Why it matters: AI is increasingly being used for search, and how a brand, company or public figure shows up in AI-generated responses could impact their ability to attract customers, investors and talent. By the numbers: Muck Rack input more than 1 million realistic user prompts into ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude and analyzed the citations. 96% of links cited by AI sit squarely within the purview of communications and corporate affairs, per the report. 37% of inquiries cite external blogs or content (those not owned by the company or product targeted in the query) and 27% cite news stories produced by journalistic entities. 9% cite owned content and government or NGO websites, 7% cite aggregators and 6% cite academic research. Social media and marketing content each make up 2% of the results, while press releases make up 1%. Between the lines: A key difference between AI-generated search results and traditional SEO is that paid marketing and sponsored links rarely populate. "Based on the data, we can see that the models are pretty clearly avoiding marketing materials," says Matt Dzugan, senior director of data at Muck Rack. "Essentially, the models are trying to earn the trust of [their] audience and don't want to regurgitate salesy materials." Instead of paid marketing, owned content like thought leadership, fact sheets or corporate blogs "seem to be the sweet spot for for getting your content cited by these models," he added. State of play: Fact-based queries and prompts are more likely to cite news outlets in the responses, the report found. The outlets most cited include Reuters, the Financial Times, Time, Axios, Forbes and the Associated Press. Of note, most of these outlets have publisher partnerships with OpenAI, however many are also cited regularly across other LLMs. Yes, but: New media, like Substack newsletters and podcasts, are showing up too, but in more indirect ways. As of now, this content is populating through social citations. For example, if "the podcast is on YouTube, and then YouTube generates a transcription file, then Google, in particular, will cite it," says Dzugan. "If you're a PR person evaluating which podcasts to go on, it's important to know that if you go on one that also publishes on YouTube, you have a better shot at influencing Google Gemini than you would with an [audio only] podcast," Muck Rack CEO Greg Galant added. LinkedIn, Reddit and Glassdoor — places where user-generated content and reviews can be found — can also influence an LLM's response, he added. Driving the news: To handle this new reality, Muck Rack will launch Generative Pulse, a tool the monitors how brands are represented in generative AI platforms, says Galant. "In this new GEO [generative engine optimization] world, recent content or news stories are what's driving the answers," says Galant. "Journalism and [third-party] articles really affect the outcome, and that impacts the work of the PR function much more than marketing," he added. Zoom out: Citations can change based on how the query is asked and each LLM has its own habits when responding, says Dzugan. For example, the report found that Claude uses media outlets the least and is more likely to pull from academic, federal and technical sources. ChatGPT is the heaviest user of news citations, pulling from mainstream publications like Reuters, AP, FT, Time and Axios. Zoom in: Niche websites, trade publications and web encyclopedias are also permeating AI-generated responses, the report finds. Wikipedia is cited most across all industry-specific inquiries, according to the Muck Rack report. Scientific and medical databases are frequently cited in AI-generated responses relating to health care and education, while government sites are most likely to inform responses related to energy. Inquiries about government will see federal agencies cited in responses from Claude and Gemini, while ChatGPT incorporates news sources as well. The bottom line: These citations are not random, says Dzugan. "If you study it, you can find the patterns and identify [the] niche journalists, publications or even which Wikipedia pages to prioritize within your industry." "It's on the comms professionals to learn the patterns and then take action on them," he added.
Axios
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Here's how many journalists cover your town
About two-thirds of U.S. counties have a below-average number of local journalists, per an ambitious new project aiming to illustrate "the stunning collapse in local reporting" as old business models falter and newsrooms scramble for sustainability. Why it matters: Many American neighborhoods lack adequate news coverage for everything from school board meetings and elections to local sports and cultural events. Driving the news: The U.S. now has 8.2 "local journalist equivalents" (LJEs) for every 100,000 people, down 75% from 2002 on average. That's according to the Local Journalist Index 2025 from Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News, a local journalism nonprofit. How it works: The findings are based on Muck Rack's data about journalists and media outlets nationwide as of Q1 2025, used to show reporters "most likely covering local communities." Among other steps, the authors adjusted the number of overall journalists in each county to account for part-timers, plus those who work for big-city outlets but sometimes cover suburban affairs. The result is the "local journalist equivalent" — a metric similar to "full-time equivalent," which accounts for part-time employees when measuring the size of a workforce. (Read more about the methodology.) Zoom in: While newsrooms in shrinking towns are certainly hurting, even some growing areas have a below-average number of local journalists. "For example, Fort Bend County, a suburb of Houston, and Washington County, a suburb of Portland, Oregon — both areas with rapidly growing populations — have about five LJEs per 100,000 people," per the report. Between the lines: This isn't a purely rural phenomenon, either. "If you're in a big city like Los Angeles, which has a mere 3.6 LJEs per 100,000 people, your neighborhood might be covered if there's a serious crime but not much else," per the report. "You may get little reliable information on local candidates in many of L.A. County's cities, whether the schools in your neighborhood are improving, whether the hospital nearby has a bad mortality rate, or how inspiring people might be working to repair your playground." The other side: The report highlights a few communities running against the trend — like Hooker County, Nebraska, where "one intrepid journalist, Gerri Peterson, covers her community so deeply that, in a county of 679 people, the Hooker County Tribune has 726 paying subscribers."
Business Wire
21-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
The Power of Localization in Global PR and News Strategy
As an organization grows, its public relations and marketing leaders will, of course, want to raise awareness in countries other than the home market. That requires an international PR strategy, and one important aspect of that strategy is how you deal with news. You're unlikely to know those markets as well as you do your own, and there is certainly an art to getting it right. A successful international strategy is far more than just translating and sending out your press releases in multiple markets. The key things to think about are relevance and localization. The Case for Localization If you think about it as a consumer or reader of news (rather than a marketer or PR person), hopefully the relevance point becomes somewhat obvious. If you want a journalist in another market to cover your story, that story has to be relevant to the people who are going to read it. And I mean really, obviously, clearly relevant in the way it aligns with things those readers care about and things going on in their country. That might sound like a no-brainer, but according to Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2025 report, 86% of journalists will ignore a pitch if it's irrelevant to their coverage area. So, make something locally relevant and you're halfway there… Localization, though, is not the same as translation. Translation is literal and seeks to convert content from one language into another as closely as possible. It does not address cultural nuances, market-specific terminology, and audience expectations. Localization is more complex. It adjusts content to be culturally relevant; adapts language, tone, and references to match audience expectations; and incorporates local data, market insights, and regulatory considerations. Localization is what can make or break the success and impact a piece of content has with the audience. Good localization should also take into account differences in how the media operate in different markets, from the type of content they accept to the way they work with press releases and earned media. These things vary significantly between countries, even ones in the same region. Without localization, you risk investing time and money in news which won't land. Localization is the best approach to any international strategy because it significantly increases the value of your content and ensures a greater return on investment. Regional Differences in Action Let's take the United States as a baseline against which to highlight local market nuances. The US media is fast-paced and competitive. Journalists are data-driven, niche-focused, and beat-specific. Hard news works (e.g., funding rounds, M&A), as do household brands and strong metrics. While journalists around the world surely enjoy brevity, it still seems ok for US press releases to run to two or three pages. Looking to EMEA, let's use Germany as a comparison. Not only should the content be in German, but also the press release needs to follow a different structure. All major info needs to be in the first paragraph. There are to be no surprises further down, only clarification or more detail on what was already stated. An image will definitely be required, and marketing jargon such as 'world-leading' is an absolute no. Finally, German press releases should be one and a half pages maximum. The United Kingdom sits somewhere in between. At the most basic level, localization for the UK means ensuring that arguments are backed up with local stats and data points (the same goes for Germany or any market you are localizing for). You also want to make sure you're not using references that local readers won't relate to. For instance, a US audience may understand what is meant by a 'Monday morning quarterback,' but a British audience will be at a loss. It's also worth being aware that the UK has a strong tech trade media sector; it is often where pan-European publications are based; and journalists can be very discerning, tough, and even sarcastic in tone. These cultural and stylistic nuances abound. French journalists favor what other markets might consider a very intellectual tone of storytelling. They also won't accept byline concepts in pitches. You must pitch the finished article. The Dutch, on the other hand, are more like Germans. They are known to be blunt; marketing-speak is an absolute no-no, and journalists are driven by a long and important history of press freedom. In smaller markets such as Spain or Sweden, journalist networks are more intimate, and relationships and connections still really matter. Calendars differ, too. You'll struggle to get a response from journalists in Southern Europe during the holiday months of July and August. The same is true for APAC. Different holidays, different languages, different drivers of news. Practical Strategies The extent of the local nuances and things to consider might sound complex, but there are things which help. Getting the help of local agencies with on-the-ground expertise can often make a big difference. As can developing a central toolkit which allows for local market tailoring. Clarification of aims and objectives across multiple markets is vital, as is consistency of key messaging and FAQs. Confirming those centrally can then enable your press release to differ country-by-country. Building this kind of flexibility into your international strategy will pay off. Timing and Distribution Considerations Once your content is ready, timing and distribution need careful thought through. If you're issuing in multiple markets, must you do so at the exact same time, for example? And what time of day is right? Issuing at 10 am in San Francisco might be perfect, but not great for the London journalist, for whom that is 6 pm. Even worse for the German journalist, for whom that is 7 pm. Here are some guidelines to help decision-making: Simultaneous release if the content and data points are exactly the same (otherwise, whoever gets the news last will see that it's already out and won't be interested). With non-English language content, you have a bit more time freedom (as someone writing in French will be less concerned if it was published in English in the US the day before, for example). Choose a priority market (where do you need coverage most?) and let that dictate your timings. Decide whether you are most concerned about print or online coverage, as that also has a bearing on release time (for online, late in the day is not such a problem because of an increase in evening online activity). Consider whether you want to pre-pitch the news, under embargo, to trusted contacts. Be very careful agreeing to 'exclusives' if you are working across multiple markets. Be very clear what the exclusive allows! Final Tips for Global PR Success Working across multiple markets is brilliant and opens so many opportunities. However, don't underestimate the cultural and procedural differences. Plan, plan, and plan a bit more. Aiming for relevance is your best starting point. Quite simply, if you can't make it relevant, don't pitch it. Once you've got a strong story, activating news in multiple markets can be really exciting. Remember though - the press release need only be the starting point. Global consistency of messaging is vital, so your press release is the vehicle through which to get that straight. Your key messaging should be evident and the same in all markets. From there, you should allow flexibility to tailor the content and the approach to what works locally. That means building out a wider content and PR plan, which could include everything from blog posts and byline articles, to video content, visual graphics, and more creative executions to help cement your messages and build awareness in these new markets over time.
