Four ways to nail AI PR and how to steal media mindshare

It’s no secret that the AI sector is one of the most competitive industries to date, with thousands of promising companies all fighting for a slice of the pie. It’s an exciting yet complex industry that is pivoting at speed in response to ever-evolving regulatory frameworks and new developments, including those that take fellow industry players by surprise. DeepSeek launching into the market by stealth reaffirmed the need for AI players to be agile, innovative and quick thinking - and the same goes for their PR efforts too.

So what are the crucial elements of a successful PR strategy that will help your company cut through the noise and establish itself as a key industry player?‍

Have a clear product point of difference‍

Without mulling too much on the obvious, you need to know your company and/or product’s point of difference in one or two succinct lines. How can you articulate what makes your AI tech special in a short, compelling way? Is it faster than others on the market, more ethical, or able to solve a previously unsolvable problem? The AI market is incredibly crowded, and journalists are overwhelmed with pitches from companies claiming to be the next big thing.

Having a compelling stat that communicates the effectiveness of your product is impactful, as is a line that neatly addresses how your company is addressing a critical issue or gap in the market. Of course, how to communicate this point of difference can be worked through with your PR agency partner, but having an idea of how to quantify this uniqueness - where possible - is a strong starting point.

Offer strong media soundbites

For those companies and individuals with little experience talking to the media, being public with a controversial or hot take on an industry development can seem daunting. But the reality is, cutting through the media noise is going to take one of two things: a groundbreaking new AI technology, or a viewpoint that feels a little like placing your head above the parapet. Take a look at some of the interviews with industry behemoths like OpenAI and Anthropic. It’s not too uncommon to see strongly worded statements or warnings from their spokespeople make headline news.

The nuance is in both the message and the delivery of it, but being prepared to comment on wider industry developments as they relate to the AI industry is an important part of any successful media relations programme. However, it isn’t about being reckless, but showing an appetite to discuss difficult or polarising industry topics that you can accurately back up with research or examples. A PR agency partner can help you to shape out the right topic buckets and unique media position, and guide you through the appropriate media training, but a willingness to put a company spokesperson forward into the debate - often at short notice - is essential.

Tap into technical backgrounds

Ensuring your spokespeople are qualified is one thing, but being able to offer up spokespeople with deep technical knowledge and industry experience and recognition is important.

That isn’t to say that journalists are to be fed complex technical lines. The important part is around the positioning of the spokesperson as a qualified expert. Someone with a technical background or title that is able to boil down complex technical terms and commentary into simple soundbites is an incredible asset.

It’s not uncommon for AI companies to wonder whether they have anyone who fits this criteria, but the chances are you do. Helping to identify, nurture and media train these spokespeople is one aspect of a PR agency’s role when formulating your communications strategy. In the meantime however, it doesn’t hurt to begin scouring your workforce for individuals with specialist credentials or memberships. These qualified experts are incredibly valuable to journalists, and at times more so than senior C-level individuals with commercial titles.

Customer case studies

Nothing validates an AI company’s success more than a real-world example of its technology in action, so customer voices are incredibly powerful for securing that stellar media coverage. However, it’s important to keep in mind that journalists typically need to speak with the customer themselves to hear a testimonial first hand. In the tech trade press, offering your company spokesperson to chat through a customer case study without the customer available to interview is a total no-go.

It’s all about offering that all-important third-party validation that carries weight, with a customer able to talk through tangible results that showcase the impact of your AI technology, whether via efficiency savings, cost savings, improved levels of accuracy, or similar. Having a pipeline of these ‘approved’ customer case studies to hand (i.e. you’ve secured written agreement that they’re happy to speak with press) is one of the most critically important parts of a successful communications programme.

Playing the media relations long game

Achieving success with key journalists in the AI space comes from nurturing relationships with them over the course of a strategic communications programme. Consistently feeding them information of value, at the right time, and in the right way, is a time investment, but having the right partner on hand to identify and help navigate those relationships of value is the key to unlocking fruitful press coverage in a crowded market.