Why Brands Can’t Ignore AI and the New Era of Media

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept hovering at the edges of communications strategy. It’s here, fully integrated into the way people search, consume, verify, and share information. And whether brands are ready for it or not, AI has become one of the most influential forces shaping reputation, media narratives, and public perception. This is not just another technological shift: it’s the next era of media. For years, brands invested heavily in SEO, social media, influencer partnerships and content strategy. Now, they must think about something new: what does AI say about you? How does it summarize your brand? Who does it compare you to? Does it surface your latest news? Does it trust your sources? Does it even recognize you? Whether we like it or not, AI engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude are quickly becoming the “front door” to information. As Gartner’s Emerging Technologies research notes, generative AI is one of the fastest-adopted tools ever recorded — and it is now reshaping search behavior on a global scale. At the same time, public trust dynamics continue to shift. Edelman’s Trust Barometer shows deepening distrust in traditional institutions and a growing reliance on alternative information sources. AI and public relations now intersect in a way that can drastically influence how a brand is understood before a journalist calls, before a customer visits your website and even before someone clicks a Google result. (If they even click or use Google at all, that is.) This is why brands cannot ignore AI: and why the role of a strategic communications partner has never been more important. At LaRue PR, we see AI not as a threat but as an opportunity to elevate storytelling, strengthen brand credibility, and protect reputation in a world that is moving faster than ever. AI Is Transforming Discovery & Brands Must Adapt The first fundamental shift is how people discover information. Increasingly, they aren’t “Googling”… they’re asking AI: What’s the best skincare brand for sensitive skin? Which wellness brands are worth the splurge? Who are the top founders in sustainable fashion?   Generative engines respond with synthesized answers pulled from across the internet, often shaping opinions before a user ever lands on a website. PR Daily cites this shift as one of the defining trends of 2026, noting that brands must prepare for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): the practice of optimizing messaging for AI-driven search. If AI can’t understand your brand clearly, or if your digital footprint is inconsistent, AI tools will either misrepresent your story or skip over you entirely. That’s the new reality. Journalists Are Using AI Every Day & Expect More from Brands AI isn’t only shaping public behavior, it’s transforming journalism. Reporters now rely on AI to research, verify facts, analyze documents, and scan press releases. The Cision State of the Media Report confirms that journalists want cleaner, clearer, more structured information because they’re using AI to help them parse large amounts of content quickly. This means that messy messaging, overly promotional language, or inconsistent facts are no longer minor annoyances—they’re dealbreakers. If AI can’t interpret your content accurately, journalists won’t either. For brands, this raises the bar significantly. Messaging has to be sharp, structured, credible, and consistent across every channel. It must be intuitive not only for humans but also for the AI systems journalists rely on. That’s a new skillset and a new opportunity. AI Is Changing How Stories Spread Across Media & Social Platforms AI doesn’t just influence what people search, it drives what they see. Social platforms use AI to recommend posts and determine which content reaches audiences. Media outlets now depend on AI to analyze performance and shape editorial priorities. Hootsuite’s Social Trends Report underscores that AI-powered distribution increasingly dictates reach, visibility, and engagement. This creates a new dynamic: the best story doesn’t always win. The most optimized one does. Brands who understand how AI interprets tone, structure, authority, and engagement can dramatically improve the spread of their earned media, thought leadership, and brand narratives. But brands who ignore AI risk creating content that performs quietly, even when the story itself is strong. AI Raises the Stakes of Reputation Management Perhaps the most urgent reason brands cannot ignore AI is the rise of synthetic media: AI-generated content that looks real, sounds real and spreads fast. According to the Brookings Institution, the proliferation of deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation poses significant strategic and reputational risks. A single piece of synthetic content can damage years of brand equity in minutes. And once misinformation spreads, retracting it becomes immensely difficult. Monitoring reputation is no longer something brands can do weekly or monthly, it must be continuous, cross-platform, and AI-augmented. This is where narrative intelligence matters: tracking sentiment, mapping narratives, identifying misinformation, and anticipating shifts before they become crises. It’s also where a strategic PR partner becomes essential. AI Has Changed What Audiences Expect from Brands AI has conditioned consumers to expect instant answers, personalized recommendations, and contextually relevant communication. The Deloitte Global Marketing Trends Report highlights that modern customers expect more precision, more speed, and more utility from brand communications than ever. In the world of AI and public relations, this translates to: more authentic storytelling more transparent messaging more humanized brand communication more consistency across touchpoints Audiences no longer respond to generic corporate language. They want specificity, vulnerability, purpose, and clarity. AI simply accelerates the pressure to deliver all four. AI Is Transforming Thought Leadership & Executive Visibility Executives who embrace AI are already producing more content, contributing to more conversations, and building stronger digital footprints. HubSpot’s Marketing Trends Report reveals that leaders who use AI thoughtfully see higher engagement and recognition across digital channels. Thought leadership is no longer about publishing occasionally: it’s about creating a consistent drumbeat of insights that are backed by clarity, originality, and authority. This is where strategic PR and AI intersect powerfully. LaRue PR works with executives to strengthen their POV, structure their messaging for generative engines, and create visibility that

The Agency’s Checklist: How to Audit an Influencer Profile Like a Pro

More than 80% of surveyed brands identify influencer marketing as an effective brand strategy. While influencer marketing may be a lasting trend, not every campaign is created equally. The best partnerships start with choosing the right influencer for your brand. Failing to do your due diligence when selecting an influencer partner can result in a waste of your allocated budget, low engagement, or damage to your reputation. Influencer audits are a simple but essential step that separate successful partnerships from costly mistakes. LaRue has a proven 10-minute framework to audit an influencer profile quickly and effectively. Why Influencer Audits Matter Auditing is a crucial first step, before there’s even an offer on the table or a contract to sign. Influencer audits are a great opportunity to:  Prevent fake followers and inflated engagement: A comprehensive audit takes any potential inflation out of the equation. You can verify whether or not an influencer’s follower count is genuine or padded. Bot-generated engagement can drive false engagement numbers, making it seem like an influencer is getting more likes, comments, and shares on their posts than they really are. Ensure alignment with brand values and voice: The influencer you choose should align well with your brand values, identity, and community. Your brand’s first responsibility is to your customers. It’s important that an influencer partnership never feels like a betrayal of your values or like you’re selling out for the prospect of new followers or increased impressions. Protect against compliance risks (FTC guidelines, brand safety): FTC guidelines aim to ensure customers are not exposed to deceptive advertisements. To comply, influencers are typically required to disclose paid partnerships, offer unbiased opinions, and avoid misleading statements and claims. Clearly defined guidelines for influencer/brand partnerships with these compliance risks in mind help maintain brand transparency and avoid any potential issues from the get-go. Step-by-Step Framework: How to Audit an Influencer Profile Audience Analysis When it comes to analyzing an influencer’s audience, a quick check for follower count is not enough. Dive into follower demographics with a focus on key attributes such as age, location, and interests. This will let you know whether or not your two audiences align well. Don’t forget to verify authenticity as well. Watch out for bots or duplicate accounts, sudden spikes in followers that suggest inflated metrics, and mismatched engagement. You should have two goals for this step: ensure audience overlap with your brand’s target market, and feel confident that the influencer’s follower count and engagement is genuine.  Content Consistency Take a look at the influencer’s backlog of content. Look for a clear niche, consistent message, and cohesive values. It’s also important to assess the quality of visuals, captions, and posting cadence. Verify that previous branded collaborations blend naturally with organic content and posting patterns. You’re looking for a partner who prioritizes consistency and credibility, maintains a well-defined identity, and has built a meaningful online community.  Engagement & Performance Metrics Analyze engagement and performance metrics over time, not just for one or two specific posts. Measure average likes, comments, saves, and shares to get an idea of how much interaction this influencer gets from a typical post. Look beyond vanity metrics: evaluate conversation quality in the comments and clock the tone of the chatter. Rely on both qualitative and quantitative measure when considering how well content tends to perform on this account. Compare the influencer’s engagement rate to industry benchmarks.  Compliance & Transparency To avoid any compliance headaches going forward, see how this influencer has handled previous branded partnerships. In particular, look for the proper use of #ad, #sponsored, and disclosure tags. Monitor branded content for any misleading statements or false impressions, especially in the health and fitness space. Review the influencer’s history for any controversies, offensive content, or guideline violations. Alignment with Brand Values Look for compatibility between the influencer’s content and your own by analyzing tone, aesthetics, and messaging. Take a look at topics covered, types of content posted, and influencer/audience interaction. Consider any past partnerships to see whether the influencer has teamed up with competitors in your space or complementary brands. Ensure the influencer reflects the values and lifestyle your brand wants to project, and that your audience expects to see from your content. The Quick-Check Checklist (10 Minutes or Less) Before you dive into an intensive audit, you can run down a quick checklist in 10 minutes or less. This initial run-through can help you weed out unfit candidates, and identify potential matches that are worth auditing more closely. Before you spend time on in-depth vetting, follow this simple checklist: Scan engagement quality on three recent posts: Take a quick look at how the influencer’s last three posts have performed via audience interaction. Observe likes, shares, comments, and how many times it has been saved. Consider the tone of the comments, and whether it has generated positive conversation. Check follower growth patterns: Check out trends in follower growth over time, paying close attention to drastic peaks that could indicate inflated metrics or sudden drops that could hint at an unstable following or past controversies.  Confirm disclosure practices: Sift through previous branded posts and see if paid partnerships have been disclosed. Look for hashtags indicating an ad, and screen the content for both authenticity and credibility. Review top 9 posts for tone and brand fit: The top 9 best-performing posts on any influencer’s account can be very telling in what kind of content they get the most success with and what their audience responds to. A brief analysis of these top posts can give you a crash course in the influencer’s typical tone, messaging, and values. Consider whether or not it is compatible with your brand. How LaRue Turns Audits Into Strong Partnerships LaRue has years of expertise in facilitating successful influencer marketing campaigns. We are dedicated to promoting strong partnerships that benefit both parties. LaRue utilizes advanced tools for detecting fake followers, preventing any missteps over inflation or false engagement.  Our team is skilled at managing influencer/brand relationships every step

Here Are the PR & Media Trends We Predict for 2026

As the communications landscape accelerates toward 2026, one truth is becoming impossible to ignore: PR is no longer what it used to be. Love it or hate it, the industry is evolving faster than any other era in modern communications, shaped by rapid advancements in AI, shifts in how audiences discover information, the collapse of traditional media gatekeeping and the rise of new types of influence. Brands today are navigating a world where search, storytelling, credibility, and reputation are being rewritten in real time. The PR function has always hinged on relationships and narratives, but 2026 introduces a new set of pressures: executives expect measurable ROI, audiences expect transparency, journalists expect precision and algorithms expect structure. Meanwhile, misinformation spreads faster, attention spans shrink, and brands have to show not only what they do, but what they stand for. The discipline of PR is widening, integrating, and becoming more central to how organizations grow, protect themselves, and show up in culture. At LaRue PR, we see 2026 not as a period of disruption, but as a period of expansion. The brands and agencies that succeed won’t simply adopt new tools: they’ll rethink the role of PR entirely, treating it as a strategic growth engine rather than a visibility function.  PR Trends for 2026 Below are the PR trends for 2026 that will shape the future of communications and how forward-thinking brands can prepare. 1. ROI & Impact Measurement Will Define PR’s Value One of the clearest findings from recent industry research is that measurement will make or break PR teams in 2026. Where PR has often been evaluated on “mentions,” “impressions,” or vanity metrics, the new standard is business impact: conversion, sales lift, pipeline growth and long-term revenue implications. Communications leaders are being asked to explain — in executive language — how PR contributes to the bottom line rather than just brand awareness or media buzz.  For brands and agencies alike, this means building correlation models, tracking referrals from earned coverage, and integrating PR performance data with sales and marketing metrics. At LaRue PR, that means designing campaigns with measurement built in from the start and reporting not just on coverage, but on tangible outcomes. 2. AI, GEO & Optimization for Generative Engines AI isn’t just a buzzword anymore. It is now deeply embedded in how PR is practiced. Experts predict that brands will need to optimize for how AI and large-language models (LLMs) surface information, not just how humans consume it. This shift has been dubbed “Generative Engine Optimization” (GEO).  What that means in practice: press releases, bylines, and earned content should be structured not only for human readability but for machine parsing, all with clear headlines, concise paragraphs, and authoritative citations.  Meanwhile, AI will evolve from a tool for drafting or media-monitoring into a strategic partner:  helping forecast reputation risks, analyze audience sentiment, and even suggest which narratives are likely to appear in AI-generated search responses.  For PR practitioners and brands, mastering GEO and adopting ethical, data-backed AI workflows will become a baseline skill. Agencies that ignore this shift risk becoming invisible in “zero-click” information ecosystems. 3. Authentic, Hyper-Personalized Storytelling & Audience Engagement As audiences become more savvy — and skeptical — generic PR campaigns are losing power. According to recent forecasts, 2026 will bring a renewed emphasis on hyper-personalization, authenticity, and relationship-building.  This means tailoring messages not just by channel, but by audience segment, too: crafting stories that reflect shared values, purpose and cultural context. Niche or micro-media (think newsletters, independent blogs, small but engaged podcasts) will continue to gain value because they offer authenticity and focus that large outlets often can’t match.  Brands should treat communications as community-building — not just broadcast. For agencies like LaRue PR, this means helping clients invest in storytelling that feels human, grounded, and aligned with their core identity. 4. Integration of PR + Marketing + Brand + Activations In 2026, the boundaries between PR, marketing, content and brand strategy will blur even more. As one firm puts it, the most successful communicators will function as “community architects,” building ecosystems of influence rather than one-off campaigns.  In practical terms, that means PR strategies integrated with content marketing, social media, influencer and brand partnerships, experiential activations (events, pop-ups), and long-term brand-building initiatives. The core shift: PR stops being an afterthought and becomes central to brand growth — tightly woven into every channel that touches audiences.  For agencies, it means offering broader services, building interdisciplinary teams, and designing campaigns that drive not just awareness — but engagement, loyalty, and revenue. 5. Rise of Real-World Experiences & Events Amid Digital Saturation As digital noise increases, AI-generated content skyrockets, social media algorithms shift and everyone competes for limited attention, physical presence becomes more valuable. Several forecasts expect a rebound in investment in in-person events, experiential activations, and real-world brand moments in 2026.  These aren’t just “party” events. They’re strategic touchpoints: press previews, immersive activations, community meet-ups, live storytelling, product launches, or cause-based gatherings. Events offer intimacy, sensory engagement, and the chance to have deeper conversations — qualities harder to replicate online. For PR agencies, these activations serve as both brand-building and performance tools; they create content, drive word-of-mouth, and generate media coverage in a way that aligns with deeper brand values. 6. Reputation Risk, Narrative Intelligence and Crisis Management in a Fragmented Landscape 2026 will likely bring new challenges, from increased misinformation and disinformation to increased scrutiny and audience polarization. Experts expect narrative intelligence, like real-time monitoring and analysis of how narratives evolve, to become a core function of PR teams.  As audiences become more scattered across platforms (social, niche media, newsletters, forums), and as AI-generated content becomes harder to distinguish from human-created narratives, brands will need to be even more vigilant. Crisis management will have to evolve accordingly: from reactive statements to preemptive monitoring, scenario planning, and swift response capabilities. Transparency, clarity, and ethical storytelling will define whether brands survive or thrive under scrutiny.  For PR agencies, this means investing in tools and teams