Help a Reporter Out (HARO), the platform connecting journalists with expert sources, today released a report titled “What is PR in 2026?” based on interviews with 39 public relations practitioners. The report identifies 38 distinct practices organized across eight themes, highlighting a fundamental shift: PR now serves two audiences—the people who read a story and the AI systems that summarize it.
Practitioners described an emerging discipline of “machine relations” alongside traditional media relations. They conduct prompt research, reverse engineer AI answer summaries across models, and optimize content for citations. One practitioner’s 16-month analysis of 166 media placements found that 84% landed in outlets with measurable AI visibility in large language models. Another agency’s client research revealed that 30-45% of AI prompt answers draw on editorial and earned media.
“HARO has sat at the intersection of journalists and sources since 2008, so we hear how the job is changing from both sides,” said Brett Farmiloe, CEO of Featured, which owns and operates HARO. “The biggest shift in 2026 is that every placement now has two audiences: the readers who see the story, and the machines that cite it. The practitioners in this report are mastering both.”
The report notes that the press landscape has fragmented into a longer tail. Op-eds, industry trade publications, independent Substacks, and source-request platforms have replaced the single big-splash placement. Creators now function as media outlets, with PR teams researching influencers like journalists, commissioning editorial-style content, and brokering non-paid YouTube collaborations.
Despite the rise of AI, the human layer remains the differentiator. As AI-generated pitches flood journalist inboxes, practitioners are returning to phone calls, in-person events, and long-term journalist relationships. The report opens with Devon Blaine, who has owned and operated The Blaine Group for 51 years. “PR has always been about delivering a timely and honest message in an interesting way,” Blaine said.
The full report—including all 38 practices, eight themes, and a practitioner FAQ on AI, GEO, and measurement—is available at https://blog.helpareporter.com/what-is-pr/.
For business services professionals, this report underscores the need to adapt PR strategies to a dual-audience world. Companies that optimize their earned media for AI visibility may gain a competitive edge, as AI answer engines increasingly influence customer and stakeholder perceptions. The findings also suggest that relationship-building with journalists and creators remains critical, even as machine relations become a necessary new skill.
