For decades, press releases have been the primary communication tool for businesses and organizations. Of course, they still retain their value, as they provide potential free publicity, prestige, and broad reach. Many factors play a decisive role in the successful publication of a press release. These factors include the way it is written—it must speak the language of journalists—the word count, and its targeted promotion to the right editors at the right time.

Today, fewer and fewer press releases are published in their entirety in newspapers, mainly due to space constraints, and when they are published, they are usually limited to the more commercial pages. Only those that have a strong news or current affairs element and are less promotional manage to find a place in extensive news reports, which gives the company particular prestige. In online media, the situation is different, as there are no strict word limits and the constant need for new material makes it much easier to publish even unedited press releases.

What is Changing: The Transition to the Algorithm

The explosion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms, such as Gemini and ChatGPT, has added a new, dominant factor, another audience that must be taken into account: the algorithm. As more people turn to chatbots and AI voice assistants for information, it is no longer enough for press releases to be written in a journalistic style. They must, in other words, be adapted to the content with which AI models are trained. In other words, they must “speak” to AI.

The traditional press release, as we knew it, is “dead.” The updated and modernized press release, now optimized for AI (AI-Optimized PR), has taken its place with an upgraded role, as its publication in reputable media outlets enhances its visibility and recognition on AI platforms.

Today, news is not only disseminated by journalists. It is shaped, summarized, translated, and restructured by AI systems. These systems scan thousands of sources to create daily news summaries (News Aggregation). When a journalist or user asks an AI model to provide a “summary of the latest developments in industry X,” the AI’s response will be based, among other things, on the quality and clarity of the press releases it has processed. AI responds directly to user questions, drawing information from the best sources. In order for content to be considered a “trusted source,” it must meet certain specifications. If your press release does not provide clear, structured data, the AI model will ignore it.

The 4 Rules of the New Press Release

To ensure that your text “speaks” to the algorithm, you must adopt a structural discipline, which, among other things, should incorporate the following:

1. Clarity in the Central Message

The AI model needs to identify the “central event” in a single sentence. Overly lyrical introductions and vagueness should be avoided. As in news articles, the important information (the news) must be found in the title and at the beginning of the text (lead). It is also essential to use the active voice and to keep quotations as short as possible, using quotation marks.

2. Structured and Numerical Data

Algorithms love structured data because it allows them to create accurate comparative reports. For this reason, avoid incorporating critical statistics into long paragraphs. Instead, these figures should be highlighted in bullet points or lists. Lists are crucial for AI, as it recognizes them as immediately extractable answers. If you mention numbers, measurements, or currencies, use the correct symbol and formatting (e.g., “€5 million”) and be consistent throughout the text.

3. Use Standard Terminology

AI is excellent at recognizing established terms, but it struggles to process specialized corporate jargon or internal abbreviations. Specialized terms and complex technical expressions that are not widely understood should be avoided. If you use recognizable terminology, you make AI processing much easier. If you introduce a new term, be sure to define it clearly when it first appears.

4. The Importance of the Boilerplate

The final paragraph (Boilerplate), which describes your company, is no longer just a mandatory text, but the final identification tag for the PR. It is particularly important that this text is consistent and unchanged in every announcement, comprehensive, concise, and clear. This helps the AI connect the new news with your consistent profile and the identity of your organization.

Novelty Media World’s AI Visibility service focuses on ensuring your business is prominently featured in the results generated by AI platforms. This service acts as a crucial bridge, using specialized strategies to get your products and services into the content that AI models are trained on. By optimizing AI visibility, your business can directly influence what these platforms say about you, ensuring you are part of the conversation and recommendations that are shaping decisions today.