I went to London Tech Week 2026, and I was impressed by the buzz; there was a real, tangible and positive energy that I’ve not felt in a while. I spent a morning at the Transformation Stage listening to luminaries from the financial services sector discuss AI in finance.

Here are some observations and takeaways for financial sector communicators.

The value question hasn’t been answered yet

Despite the hype, according to the panels I listen to, it appears most financial institutions are still struggling to extract real returns from AI. One estimate from a major consultancy put the proportion of firms genuinely seeing value at just one in ten. Why? Many organisations treated AI as a technology problem rather than a business model question.

More than once, speakers used the analogy of an iceberg. Firms are so focused on the visible part that they often overlook what’s under the waterline, like the operating model, data strategy, and governance frameworks. The general consensus seemed to be to start with the outcome you want, not the technology you want to use.

Token costs are the new budget headache

A recurring practical concern was token inflation, the rising cost of running AI at scale. The question being asked internally is at what point does it make more sense to hire more people than burn through more tokens? Some banks have token deals with the big AI companies, but it’s still a cost-versus-return consideration.

Teams are having to prioritise where AI genuinely adds value. We’re still at the foothills of this technology, so it will be interesting to see how this influences decision-making.

Build or buy is the perennial question

There was a clear lean towards building in-house, particularly where data is the differentiator. The logic being that if your competitive advantage sits in proprietary data, you don’t want to hand it to a vendor.

That said, the consensus was less about build-versus-buy and more about staying modular. Lock yourself into a five-year contract, and you could be left behind as the tech changes so quickly. 

“If you’re going to buy, you need to be agile,” was one of the more quotable lines of the day.

AI as both an “antidote and poison” in modern fraud

The fraud session was blunt. Fraudsters are already using AI to attack at scale, and the industry is in a reactive position. One bank shared a specific example of a tool that flagged when a customer was simultaneously on a call and using the app, which cut bank impersonation scams significantly. Simple idea, serious result.

The broader frustration centred on liability. With over £1 billion in annual fraud losses across the sector in the UK per year, placing all responsibility on financial service providers is hampering innovation and redirecting capital that could go into prevention.

Regulation is less of a blocker than expected

There was cautious optimism around regulators. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was specifically called out as more encouraging of AI adoption than many of its international counterparts. The US was cited as a reference point for governance frameworks, particularly around predictive AI.

So, regulators are also finding their way, but they’re not standing in the way. Financial institutions must build governance models that enable innovation without losing control, and even as agentic systems advance, humans must always be in the loop.

What the autonomous bank actually means

The “path to a fully autonomous bank” framing generated the most debate. The honest answer from practitioners is that it doesn’t exist yet, and anyone claiming otherwise is ahead of the evidence.

The more useful framing was around what autonomy means at different levels:

• Customer-facing: Personalised, bespoke experiences replace traditional, linear workflows
• Internal operations: Agentic AI handling compliance prep, AML anomaly detection, and communications surveillance
• Workforce: Not fewer people, but humans bring critical thinking, judgment, and communications skills

According to Deloitte research cited on the day, only 11% of customers, according to Deloitte research, want to make a complaint to a machine, so the human element isn’t going away.

The bottom line

I got the impression that the financial sector sees AI as an enabler, not a standalone strategy. The most advanced firms are the ones with a clear business outcome in mind. They have built strong data foundations and keep a human in the loop for key judgement calls.

My takeaway for communicators: As your institution unrolls its adoption of AI throughout the business, you will need to be able to communicate to customers and the market what your goals are and where AI is involved in their interactions with the bank. How will it benefit them? Is their data secure? These are things that matter to consumers and different demographics will have different expectations.

If you work in financial services and need any help with your content to tell your AI transition story, please contact us.

The post AI in Financial Services: Thoughts from London Tech Week 2026 appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

‘Show, don’t tell’ is a vital concept when informing and persuading audiences. In an era when decision-makers are increasingly turning to large language models (LLMs) to discover and evaluate service providers, case studies have never been more important.

The PR value of case studies

People can spot spin a mile off. What they really want to see is people like them who face the same challenges and understand how they overcame their challenges. The customer’s endorsement is a key, neutral proof that you’re a trustworthy partner and that your service or product delivers on its promise.

Case studies, whether written or video, are key persuasive content assets in the decision journey. They’re ‘mid-funnel’, so a potential customer may have heard about your brand and is assessing your viability for their needs, so they will want to see evidence of the value you deliver in the form of a proof point, like a case study.

In the era of LLMs, customer case studies are essential owned content. LLMs and ‘traditional’ search engines alike look for ‘EEAT’ content: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Case studies straddle all these groups. Read this post for more on AI search and the role of PR content.

The challenge of getting customer case studies and how to solve it

I’ve been agency-side most of my career and have seen the frustrations that in-house comms leads face when trying to get hold of customer case studies. Sometimes, customers don’t want to talk or there are sensitivities (especially in cybersecurity).

Anonymous case studies are not ideal, but better than nothing. You can use ambiguous language to avoiding naming the customer directly, such as “a well-known insurance provider”.

So, who has access to customers? Sales teams and customer services. What really works is when the communications team educates sales teams about the value of PR and customer case studies and explains clearly what they need to open a pipeline of customer content.

Once you’ve got your customer case study out in the public domain, shout about it! Get it out there on LinkedIn and other social media. Empower sales teams to use them in their new business conversations.

The customer case study story arc

There is an art to brand storytelling, and customer case studies follow an arc:

1) Set the scene

What was the initial problem that needed solving? What was the existing process/technology, why wasn’t it working, and what was the cost to the business?

2) What was the customer selection process?

How did the customer come to hear of and select the service provider? What did they implement, what was the process?

3) What challenges did the customer face?

What challenges did the customer face during implementation, and how did the client help them overcome them?

4) What difference has the solution made?

What difference has the solution made to staff, productivity, efficiency and profitability (in that order)? Are there any stats you can use? (e.g. “we saved 25% on previous costs”, “we can now do this in half the time”, etc.)

5) What happens next?

What future plans does the customer have, and what advice would they give other people in their position? Most brands stop at step 4, but this extra step demonstrates the longevity and strength of the relationship.

Are you ready to discuss your customer case study requirements?

Case studies are essential marketing assets in the age of AI search (GEO/AEO), as LLMs become the main channel through which customers engage with brands.

At Eight Moon Media, we’ve written hundreds of customer case studies over the years that engage, inform, and persuade audiences. Whether intended for your website or for press use, we can craft expert customer case studies for you.

Please get in touch if you need help bringing your customer case studies to life.

The post Why customer case studies should be your priority right now appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

You are probably already using artificial intelligence (AI) in some context in your PR work. During my time training PR people to use AI, I’ve answered many questions about ‘Generative Engine Optimisation’ (GEO). 

I’ve summarised some of the key questions about GEO in this post.

What is ‘Generative Engine Optimisation’ (GEO)?

GEO, sometimes known as ‘AEO’ (Answer Engine Optimisation), is a term for helping your content stand the best chance of appearing when someone enters a specific, relevant query in the Large Language Model (LLM) that they use (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, etc.).

Its name was inspired by Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), the long-established practice of aiming to understand what the algorithms of search engines like Google or Bing prioritise when surfacing results to users.

The good news for PR people is that earned media (e.g. media coverage) and owned content (your website or LinkedIn articles, for example) are highly regarded by LLMs. PR is so well-positioned to benefit from GEO that Gartner recently observed that PR budgets were likely to increase. 

How does GEO differ from SEO?

Users’ questions on LLMs are far more specific and contextualised, and therefore are likely to address questions further down the sales funnel/customer journey than answers surfaced by search engine results pages (SERPs). (NB – most search engines now have an AI summary box, or ‘no-click’ search).

With GEO, your aim is to earn accurate and relevant citations in AI-generated answers within the most-used LLMs. With SEO, your aim is to rank highly on search engines.

LLMs want detailed, structured content, while search engines reward longer articles and take into account brand mentions. Once upon a time, links were really important, but less so now.

With GEO, you need to measure results not only with visibility and share of voice, but answer accuracy. With SEO, the key is to rank highly and measure traffic and click-through-rates (CTRs). From what I’ve seen and heard, appearing in LLMs is comparatively fickle, and your brand could be in and out of visibility, depending on the context, while it takes longer with SEO for sites to rank, gain authority and rise, then fall if not supported.

Read this research from Profound for more on AI search volatility.

As with SEO, it’s important to factor in branded versus non-branded searches. An easy starter is to ask your LLM for an honest assessment of what it understands about your brand. Factor what comes back into your messaging planning. Next, ask who the key players in your space are and see how your brand compares. You can ask lots of product- or sector-specific questions at this stage. See below for some tools that could help.

What do LLMs want from PR content?

Like search engines, LLMs look for content that is high in ‘EEAT’ content, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

You can demonstrate ‘Experience’ with case studies, customer tutorials, and FAQs (like this one). 

‘Expertise’ is more specific and in-depth, so think about how-to guides, whitepapers, step-by-step guides etc. 

What do LLMs class as ‘Authoritative’? Think about third-party endorsements and coverage, so media citations and backlinks to show that other content creators (especially in earned media) rate your brand.

‘Trustworthiness’ is demonstrated with clear sourcing, user reviews, and author biographies. It’s really important to build authority and trust in a specific area, which is why building executive profiles is essential.

Some LLMs have content tie-ins with specific media, so if your goal is to rank on LLMs, rather than solely secure high-profile coverage, consider targeting media that have arrangements with LLMs.

Another thing to consider is that recency matters. Keep your content up to date, and have a solid, useful, LLM-friendly content calendar to stand the best chance of ranking.

What does GEO mean for PR content?

LLMs love structured and contextualised information, so think about how to use listicles in blog posts, FAQs (per above), unique data studies (such as reports and white papers), customer case studies, step-by-step guides, and even press releases are coming into their own, as their structure is exactly what LLMs like.

Deploy a mix of both evergreen content and reactive content for in-the-moment marketing. Over the long term, continue to build a customer case study database for a wide range of service or product features. Build the profiles of your industry experts.

Also, when it comes to copywriting for LLMs, get the important stuff up front and structure pieces to be read by both humans and machines: use subheads, bullets etc.

Where should I start with GEO within my PR agency or in-house team?

It would be a great time to get some basic AI for PR training, which I offer, so everyone knows what they’re dealing with in the world of LLMs. 

I’d also recommend:

• Start with an audit of branded and unbranded searches on LLMs for 15-20 queries. Save your prompts for later, when you revisit to compare and contrast your progress.
• Understand prompting techniques. As above, build a database
• Identify company expert spokespeople
• Cover the technical basics of your website: data markup, ensure robot.txt files aren’t blocking LLMs, deploy a LLMs.txt file to help LLMs read your site
• Optimise/structure your content for readability. For example, here, I have used subheads and bullet points with common questions as the heading
• Create content hubs around relevant content to show your expertise. Create content that’s easy for LLMs to learn from
• Publish clear, fact-rich, accurate and well-structured information
• Explore AI tools to help you gauge how and where your brand or your clients appear on LLMs

AI visibility tools include:

• Profound
• Peec AI
• Otterly AI
• Ahrefs Brand Radar
• Similarweb AI Traffic Checker
• Similarweb AI Brand Visibility
• Semrush One
• Scrunch

Most importantly, be consistent across channels with your messaging. Monitor and iterate your progress and pivot your tactics accordingly. Be aware of the pitfalls of generative AI (they can hallucinate, so always double-check) and be transparent with how you use AI.

This field is fast-evolving, so keep up to date with the last thinking on LLMs. I will update this post when a major change happens. 

Finally, if you or your team needs AI training for PR, please drop me an email.

Disclosure: This piece was written entirely by me, a human! I used Grammarly to check for typos etc.

About me

I’m Chris Lee. I’ve worked in B2B technology PR and journalism since 1998. I have been tracking AI developments in PR since 2018, when I wrote this piece for City AM. Since 2024, I have been training PR teams how to use copywriting in the AI era. 

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn here if you are a PR professional. 

The post What is ‘GEO’ and how does it impact public relations? appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

Copywriting has changed in the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI). I find myself doing a lot more editing of AI-generated content now, for example, but I believe the comeback in brand storytelling is a sign that the essential human skill of written communication matters more than ever. And it all starts with a comprehensive brief.

When you brief your copywriter, whether they’re human or an AI*, your output will only be as strong as your brief. ‘Prompt literacy’ is an issue in PR (get in touch if you want to learn more on that and my AI for PR training). I would always argue for human copywriters, because they have trained judgement and understand culture. 

A solid brief saves you time and money in the long run, making sure you get as close to your intended goal the first time.

Your checklist for briefing a copywriter

Here is a checklist of things to consider when briefing a copywriter or content creator. It may look like a lot, but they’re worth following so you’re clear in your own mind what you want from the piece:

• What is the format of the content? (e.g. blog post, article, case study, white paper, report, ebook etc.)
• What’s your business objective for the content? What do you want the reader to understand?
• Where does the content fit into your sales funnel?
• What are your key messages, and what information can you provide to support them?  
• Who is the main audience (persona)? What is their level of understanding of the topic? What is their need? Why should they be interested?
• What is the brand’s tone of voice? Can you provide examples of your house style or a few links to some writing styles that you like?
• Should the post be written in the first or third person? If it is written in first person, provide their name and role. A biography can also be helpful if your copywriter is not familiar with their background.
• What are your key takeaways? What information do you want readers to understand and remember?
• Any research/data, supporting assets or third-party quotes to include?
• Any links to include?
• Any keywords or phrases to include?
• Have you researched any queries from large language models (LLMs) that you want to include for GEO (AI search) reasons?
• How many words do you need?
• What timeframes are you working to?
• Who are the stakeholders?

How we work on copywriting projects at Eight Moon Media

When we engage with you, having received the brief, the process would typically include:

• An initial briefing call to clarify the brief and address any questions
• Interviews conducted over Zoom or Teams. We prefer to record interviews and use Otter.ai to make a transcription
• We use Grammarly to check our final draft for quality, grammar, and originality
• We will create the first draft and share it with you for your feedback
• Depending on the size of the project, we usually include one round of edits in our copywriting service, or two for longer projects (like reports)

We provide a briefing checklist to help us nail down the copy within that scope without the need for extra rewriting costs. However, it is worth us sharing a bit of insight around rewriting needs, because in our experience, when clients request rewriting, it’s nearly always down to stakeholders wanting to add extra information or different messaging to the original brief. 

Your brand will probably already have a brand guide with tone of voice and messaging guidance, which you can also give to your copywriter. If you don’t have a brand guide, we can help you to develop one. Please get in touch if you’d like to find out more.

Are you ready to brief out a copywriting project and in need of an expert B2B technology copywriter? Please drop me an email.

*I am typically against using AI to create content intended for publication, because you run the risk of hallucination, plagiarism, and generating slop that a) requires a re-write or edit, and/or b) can be detected by AI bots as AI-generated and therefore marked down for SEO and AI search (GEO). However, I use it to summarise my own content (e.g. podcast transcripts) and understand that companies can save time on repeatable content, such as press releases.

The post How to brief a copywriter or content creator appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

You can’t help but notice the rise of ‘brand storyteller’ roles, some of which are paying high six-figure salaries. Also, you may have seen more chat around ‘personal branding’. Why now? For me, it’s all about differentiation in an age of AI slop and ‘comfortable sameness’ (my definition).

When you’ve been around the block as many times as I have, you get used to seeing things come around again. For example, all the boys seem to have the same curtains hair that I did at their age back in 1992; or explaining AI to the C-suite is just like describing social media to the same cohort in the late noughties. And so it is with two terms that are enjoying something of a moment, ‘brand storytelling’ and ‘personal branding’.

If you look at these Google Trends charts (screen-grabbed on 24 February 2026), you can see the recent explosion in comparative popularity of both in the last year. I remember ‘brand storytelling’ being a thing around 2014, although this chart doesn’t seem to imply it was as big a deal as I remember.

Differentiation in a sea of sameness is key

The challenge with AI-generated written content is that much of it looks the same. For B2B content strategy consultants and copywriters like me, the move towards generative AI has been a painful watch. Many brands and agencies believed they could generate the same quality of content via machines as they could with expert human copywriters. While some efficiencies can be found, often the result is samey-looking content, to the point where the media is sceptical of many PR approaches and associated content. 

And, given the many and diverse channels that brands must find/establish their voice on nowadays, it’s no surprise that many brands are looking for someone to lead that ‘brand storytelling’ in an era when there’s so much content out there, and so much of it feels the same.

I am hope we are either near, or over, the hype cycle when it comes to AI-generated written content.

What is ‘brand storytelling’ anyway? For me, it’s a handy (if Marmite/divisive, I’m not a fan personally) term to communicate a company’s core mission and showcase its value through human stories, in a way that resonates with audiences and drives engagement and sales while improving sentiment. The best device for brand storytelling, in my opinion, is the customer case study; show, don’t tell.

‘Personal branding’ is the other one that’s gaining traction. Again, promoting oneself has always been important, but more so now than ever, because of the reasons above (standing out) alongside the benefits of being perceived as an expert by large language models (LLMs) for AI search reasons.

We all have a personal brand. We’re all unique. We just need to get out there and tell that story in our own way.

The challenge for many B2B companies is that they don’t have the time or the resources to plan and create that brand storytelling content or develop personal branding in-house.

That’s where people like me come in… If you need a human expert to help you with your brand storytelling or to develop the personal brand of your senior executives, please drop me an email or DM me on LinkedIn.

The post ‘Brand Storytelling’ and ‘Personal Branding’ are making a comeback. Why now? appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

Did you see the CIPR and PRCA’s joint letter urging the media to verify the authenticity of their PR sources? Can you believe it’s come to this?

The use of AI in PR is, all too often, a lesson of the old adage, ‘just because you can, don’t mean you should.’

PR needs to get AI in perspective, use it for the right things, and stand out by refocusing on its core strength, building trust and authority through human-led communication.

“AI tools are changing our industry for the better in so many ways, but their power should only be harnessed in ways that play to our key objectives to inform and persuade, and build trust and authority.”

PR’s AI challenge

It’s been more than three years since publicly available generative AI tools first became available to PR professionals. The majority (two-thirds) of us are using AI to some degree, according to Muck Rack.

We should be using AI to help with our research, number crunching, reporting, and workflow improvements.

We should also be helping our clients to contextualise their AI search visibility, a huge growth opportunity for PR.

What we shouldn’t be doing as an industry is promoting fake experts or using AI to generate impersonal pitches to the media.

“The trustworthy PRs’ names stand out in the crowded email inbox. It’s their emails that journalists click.”

Get back to basics: Build trust and authority

As a former journalist, I can tell you that there are PR agencies and professionals whom you learn to trust over time; they only approach you when they have a story relevant to your audience, can provide a well-trained spokesperson, and don’t spam you with rubbish. The trustworthy PRs’ names stand out in the crowded email inbox. It’s their emails that journalists click.

The AI era drives home what should have always been PR best practice: only approach the media when you have a relevant story to tell. In a world where trust is at a premium, the PR industry has a chance to make a real positive difference.

Aside from being the right thing to do, there’s a secondary benefit to focusing on building trust and authority. When choosing which content to surface to users, search engines and large language models (LLMs) look for content that displays experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, often called EEAT.

So, transparent content, such as customer case studies, user reviews, expert biographies, reports, whitepapers, training materials (how-to guides, FAQs, etc.), is great for search in the AI era.

How PR should use AI

In previous LinkedIn posts, I have summarised how PRs should approach AI:

Understand how LLMs work

Get the right tools in place

Build a narrative and content strategy based around search engines and LLMs

 Focus on the right media (some are more likely to surface in LLMs due to agreements etc.)

Use humans to write and pitch your content

Be flexible, so you can pivot quickly to changing audience needs

Monitor, measure, pivot

AI tools are changing our industry for the better in so many ways, but their power should be harnessed only to support our key objectives: informing and persuading, and building trust and authority.

I’ve been tracking AI in the PR industry since 2018, and train PR agencies and in-house teams on AI search(often called ‘GEO’). If your team needs training around AI and content strategy, please get in touch.

Syndicated from LinkedIn.

The post In the AI era, PR should refocus on core basics: Building trust and authority appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

[updated December 2025] Love them or loathe them, the press release seems set to stay as a PR tool. Very few of them are effective, so, having written hundreds and received tens of thousands of press releases in my career, here’s your guide on how to write an effective press release.

In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), the jury is out on the value and future of the press release, but the fact of the matter is that for most organisations, it is still the favoured mechanism by which comms professionals distribute stories to media and bloggers.

However, as a freelance digital consultant who’s worked in both tech journalism and PR, as well as being a football culture blogger, I have not only drafted hundreds of press releases but have been on the receiving end of tens of thousands. Many of these were deleted without being read.

It’s sad but true, having seen the effort and often protracted revision and approval processes: most releases will fail to generate the media interest that clients and agencies alike would hope for.

Why press releases fail, and how to change that

There are many reasons why press releases fail to get traction with the media or bloggers, which could be one or a combination of the below:

1) There was no story

Anecdotally, this is probably one of the main reasons press releases fail. Many releases are written for vanity reasons and lose sight of the target audience of the media they aim to send the release to.

The most important question to ask is why would anyone care? If you can’t answer that, then you don’t have a story. Write a blog post instead if you’re itching to say something.

2) The press release headline didn’t grab attention 

As a tech journalist in the newsroom, I used to receive upwards of 200 press releases each day. I recently asked a few contacts of mine, and they likewise tended to receive 50-200 each day. For nationals, expect that to be a lot higher. Of course, many of these will come from wires, reducing the personal approach and probably duplicating in the inbox, as the recipient may well have been pitched to personally.

No journalist ever has appreciated a phone call from a PR asking, “Did you get the press release?” And they have been telling PRs this for as long as I’ve been in this industry (27+ years), and yet it still happens!

If in doubt, make sure your team receives some influencer relations training.

3) The press release was badly written

One of my favourite football crowd banners was one that I spotted at a Fortuna Düsseldorf match in Germany a few years ago. It read “Copy and paste is not journalism”. While I don’t know which incident the banner specifically referred to, it does raise an interesting point. In an era when journalists are under extreme pressure to turn around stories quickly for a hungry online audience, there is a temptation to lift copy. 

Yet many stories, especially B2B, are written in dry, corporate speak, often with many niche acronyms and assumed knowledge. This turns journalists off as they have to effectively translate the article for their audiences.

Instead, try writing as close to media style as possible. This will require a cultural change in some organisations, but have a look at the tips below on how to write a great press release

4) There was no rich media to support the press release

Building on the ‘make it easy for the journalist’ theme, web publishers want rich content. That could be embeddable video, audio, images or infographics. How can you bring your story to life? Provide links to the content so the journalist can download and use in their own time. 

5) You sent the press release as an attachment

Seriously, this still happens… 

6) Your timing was off

Do you know when your target publication has its team meetings?

7) What you offered wasn’t unique

This applies to bloggers more than media. You cannot spam bloggers with press releases. They want unique experiences and content to share with their hard-earned audiences. 

8) A bigger story came along

This happens and is out of your control. If circumstances intervene, think about a new angle.

Hacks on how to write a great press release

There is no set formula or template for press releases, but the one I typically follow is:

Email subject

Generate a clickbaity title that entices the click. Add some mystery and use hyperbole within reason.

DO NOT USE CAPITALS. IT LOOKS LIKE SHOUTING!

Also, avoid using the words “Press Release” in your subject line. It uses up valuable space and is kind of self-evident.

I don’t believe PRs should use generative AI to draft press releases; the media dislikes it, for a start, plus it’s a) deeply impersonal and b) the PR risks sharing sensitive information with the whole world by helping to train the model (even if set to private). However, so long as the title is anonymised, I think large language models (LLMs) are really useful sounding tools for testing headers.

Top-line pitch

Before you launch into the meat of the release, write a personalised pitch to that journalist with some easy-to-scan key points. For example;

Hi Sandra

I saw your recent piece on X [link]. I can take this story further. Did you know that Y? That is important to your audience because Z.

In brief:

– Fact

– Stat

– Quote/citation

Please see below release and I have [spokesperson] available and images [link to Flickr, Dropbox, WeTransfer or similar] for you to use.

Many thanks

[Name]

[Contact details]

Press release title

Get to the point. Kill your darlings, less is more. 

Consider a subhead to get any secondary points in early.

Press release body

(Again) GET TO THE POINT. First para must both summarise and entice the reader to continue.

I write my copy in Word, then run it through Grammarly to ensure I use short, easy-to-read sentences and avoid adverbs and the passive voice.

Ditch corporate speak and write as close to the style of target publications as possible. If your words get copied and pasted by the media, great!

All quotes should focus on what the release means to publications’ target audiences, NOT your company. No one cares about your company. Sorry to break it to you.

I used to write for IT managers, so I spent time talking to them and understanding what kept them awake at night (security, uptime, return on investment, etc.). So, vendors should address the issues that matter to the audience, not flatter internal egos or aim to tick coverage boxes.

Rich content

Support your copy with rich content to bring it to life.

Are you trying to explain something complex? Would a video or podcast file help describe it?

Have you carried out research? Would an infographic or flowchart help articulate your findings?

Could your story be supported by impactful images, for example, photos of the spokespeople? If so, provide hi-res images via a download link, such as Flickr, Dropbox, WeTransfer or similar. Make the journalist’s job as easy as possible.

Press release flowchart

Make sure you follow the flowchart below when considering creating press releases.

[Updated for 2025] I would caution against using generative AI to create press releases, even in closed networks. You should focus on creating content with the brand voice in mind. Always.

If you need an expert press release writer, then please get in touch.

The post The Ultimate Guide: How to Write a Press Release appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

I hope you share my concern about one of the key conversations around artificial intelligence (AI), that it will do away with entry-level jobs. Why? Because leaders in our industry aren’t born, they’re shaped by their career. And, without entry-level professionals in any industry, we will ultimately be left without leaders. 

Shaping the next generation of PR leaders

I was inspired to write this by listening to this episode of the BBC’s excellent Radical podcast, where the host Amol Ragan interviewed Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic, the company behind the AI tool, Claude. At one point, they debate the future of entry-level white-collar jobs in a number of sectors, which reflects recent comments from leading firms about how AI will reduce headcount.

I am concerned that this mindset will impact the PR sector. Firms may be tempted to believe that AI can replace the work humans do, rather than complement it. I don’t have the data on how many currently active PR professionals have PR degrees. In fact, I’ve read the number of universities offering them has fallen dramatically, but many/most of us probably learned PR on the job.

We learned about informing, persuading, surprising and delighting audiences through observing our seniors, attending training sessions, and reading around the topic. We also learned about account management through being exposed at the right pace to the machinations of client servicing until we were ready to be promoted to account manager, then director etc.

AI does remove a lot of the ‘grunt work’ from account execs, but that’s a good thing; perhaps now execs can get the logistical work done a lot quicker now with AI so that they can spend more time learning about leadership, strategic thinking and creative ideation. 

And perhaps they won’t have to pull so many late nights…

Inauthentic comms will not work

The other concern I have is around how some PR agencies appear to be offering fake case studies and spokespeople. As I posted recently, media are increasingly wary of AI-generated press releases and content, and some would rather no AI was used in PR-media communications.

I think this inauthenticity will damage the PR industry, and journalists will increasingly look out for names they trust in their email inbox; we’re back to old-school PR-journalist relationship building.

Upskill your team for the AI age

In brief, as PR absorbs AI into the workflow, it needs to do so with clear intent to improve the quality of the work, rather than focus solely on reducing the bottom line. Without nurturing the next generation of PR pros, getting rid of entry-level roles risks the long-term integrity of businesses and the entire PR industry.

To succeed in the age of AI, PR practitioners of all levels need to know how large language models (LLMs) work and what that means for their clients and their work. It won’t just be the execs who need to do the ‘grunt work’; senior comms pros will need to understand LLMs too.

I am looking to test-run an AI for PR training session that I am launching, covering how LLMs work, implications for content strategy, measurement and more. I’ve been tracking AI in the PR industry since 2018, so if you’re interested in taking part in the test at a reduced rate, please email me. 

The post Ignore the hype: PR Account Execs still matter in the age of AI appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

I’ve been coming to the BrightonSEO conference since the second edition, and the October 2025 event was possibly the most useful I have ever attended. Chiefly, because we all need to keep up to date with AI search*. As a B2B tech content strategist and copywriter, I am particularly keen to understand how content creators and copywriters need to adapt to the latest thinking around large language models (LLMs).

Writing to rank on LLMs

Two schools of thought emerged from the presentations I watched and the roundtables I took part in. One was how to use AI as an assistant to write copy, but not to create content intended for publication, while the other was how to use AI to write like your brand for your target personas. I fall into the first camp; per my recent post around a PRmoment webinar, having a human write content can help you stand out now from the AI slop, because:

1. Some media do not like AI-created content, PA Media, for example
2. AI tools can spot other AI-generated content, so will they discount it from appearing in LLMs?

I thoroughly recommend watching Samanyou Garg from Writesonic’s talk, if you have access to BrightonSEO’s videos (paywall). He covered the three key pillars of ranking on LLMs:

• Off-page: The most important, valued six times more than owned/on-page content. This is why PR is so vital to earn media coverage
• On-page: Your own content. Garg highlighted that formats such as listicles, comparison pieces, data studies, FAQs and competitor reviews perform well
• Technical aspects: SEO basics on your website, such as metatags, are still important, as are avoiding 404s etc., so sort your internal linking out

Garg says that the first 100 words of a page get 80% of an LLM’s attention, so get your key messages and key facts in early! Also, 65% of pages surfaced in LLMs are less than a year old, so update regularly, potentially including a recent date.

Your website’s home page and product pages are very important, and you should use the brand name for recognition rather than ‘we’. This is a really interesting change from first to third person, as typically one wants to feel friendly and personal in brand copy.

Developing your writing with a custom GPT 

Another valuable talk was Silke Vanbeselaere’s from Navigator International. Her presentation looked at how to build a custom GPT that thinks and writes like your brand. This is great to ensure brand consistency across your content and build custom personas that match your brand voice. I imagine you could also create personas to test your content against and hone it before you go public.

To build your custom GPT, Vanbeselaere recommends uploading as many brand guidelines and examples as possible, bearing in mind you have an 8,000-character limit in ChatGPT.

She then covered the eight elements you need to instruct the GPT:

1. Structural outline 
2. Thought development 
3. Paragraph design
4. Hook technique 
5. Tone balance
6. Syntax (sentence structure)
7. Stylistic breaks (pattern interruptions)
8. Brand quirks 

Make sure you include examples of all of them: What does the brand voice look like in an email, article, Instagram post etc.? You can create your dream spokesperson with a blend of several real-world examples to create a unique persona (note: do NOT imitate a single individual, for obvious reasons, rather seek inspiration from various to use as examples). She also covered other key factors, like framework, empathy mapping, archetype, and interaction style. 

Where to start with copywriting for LLMs

Just some thoughts from me to finish up. Before you do any of the above, you need to know where you stand on LLMs, how your competitors are performing, and what queries your audience is asking of their AI tools. So, start with an audit. 

Some basic free tools to check your LLM performance include Hubspot’s Answer Engine Optimization Grader, and make sure you have a holistic view of search, so check your GA4 data for click-throughs from LLMs; that should be a metric now. You can always run basic searches on LLMs, picking a few terms relevant to your brand, to see what surfaces in the main LLMs.

I will post again soon on how the rise of AI search impacts public relations, but in the meantime, please read my piece for the CIPR Crisis Network on LLMs and reputation management. 

*I noted a certain disdain for the term ‘GEO’ (Generative Engine Optimisation) at BrightonSEO, so I am going to stick with AI search or AIO (AI Optimisation).

If you’d like to discuss what LLMs mean for your content strategy or need a B2B tech copywriter, please drop me an email.

The post What does corporate copywriting look like in the age of AI: Observations from BrightonSEO [October 2025] appeared first on Eight Moon Media.

Last week’s PRmoment webinar on ‘GEO, Misinformation and the News: The Impact of AI on Trust of the Media’ was absolutely fascinating. Here are my takeaways for PRs.

The top-line message was essentially what we already know: that PRs need to understand how large language models (LLMs) work so we can optimise our brands to appear in relevant searches (Generative Engine Optimisation – GEO). But it was also refreshing to hear that the media wants to receive HUMAN-WRITTEN [caps intended] content and that branded content has a significant role to play in GEO.

Richard Woodward, chief news editor at PA Media, cheered me up when he said that the Press Association “wouldn’t like any element of AI in a press release”. When asked if a pitch marked as “written by a human, not AI” would stand out, he said yes. PA journalists also never use AI-generated images.

I have long advocated that PRs should *never* use GenAI to create content intended for publication. In my view, it’s lazy, it’s inauthentic, and it risks plagiarising others’ content. Plus, you’re entering client confidential information into a learning machine that could spit that out in another user’s search results [even if set to private, I’d be cautious].

Katherine Arnull, UK Group Strategy Officer at Golin, provided a brilliant overview of what modern GEO PR should look like, including building a narrative ecosystem, engineering multiple conversations, and activating communities/advocates. This approach focuses on outlets and influence, and PRs need to pivot quickly to align with changing audience needs and queries.

Next up, Alex English, SEO Director at Brainlabs, provided a technical deep dive into the sources that search engines and LLMs utilise, highlighting which searches are more accurate and the importance of recency. (This is the sort of talk that would do *very* well at BrightonSEO).

Finally, Felix Danczak, head of AI and growth at Pembroke VCT, discussed whether LLMs are lying to us and warned us against being “tempted to mistake form for substance”. Felix’s talk made a great argument for authentic customer case studies, as “lived experiences” are very important for LLMs.

I asked about the role of branded content, as I’ve observed that it is being surfaced in ChatGPT, at least. Felix confirmed that it is still important.

In summary:

Understand how LLMs work
Get the right tools in place
Build a narrative and content strategy based around search engines and LLMs
 Focus on the right media (some are more likely to surface in LLMs due to agreements etc.)
Use humans to write and pitch your content
Be flexible, so you can pivot quickly to changing audience needs
Monitor, measure, pivot

In my recent post for the CIPR Crisis Communications Network on the role of LLMs and reputation management. Thanks again to Ben Smith for arranging this webinar. I was absolutely glued for 90-odd minutes!

If you need help understanding what GEO means for your organisation, please get in touch.

NB: Despite Copilot’s best efforts to get involved, I wrote this all myself. Image made in Canva.

The post AI, PR and Trust: What PRs need to know and do in the age of GEO appeared first on Eight Moon Media.