At a recent PRBI webinar, digital strategist and agency founder Vix Reitano delivered a powerful message to boutique communications firms: if you’re not integrating paid media and optimizing for AI search, your clients’ stories may be getting lost in the noise.
As media channels fragment and AI platforms reshape how people find information, the traditional “earned-first” model of PR needs a serious upgrade. Here are the most actionable takeaways for agency owners looking to stay competitive:
1. Paid Media Amplifies Earned Wins
Securing a great press hit is just the beginning. Vix made the case for weaving paid media into PR strategies to increase reach, drive traffic, and influence outcomes. From boosting top-tier placements on social to running low-cost search ads around product launches, paid media helps ensure the right people see your coverage—and act on it.
2. Press Mentions Need a Distribution Strategy
One of the most under-leveraged opportunities in PR is giving earned coverage a second life through paid distribution. Whether it’s repurposing media hits into video content or using paid to retarget website visitors with recent coverage, strategic amplification builds credibility and keeps your clients top of mind.
3. Optimize for AI Search—Not Just Google
Search is evolving fast, and Vix highlighted how tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are now shaping brand discovery. This means your content—press releases, blog posts, videos—must be structured for AI readability. That includes clean sitemaps, smart metadata, clearly defined value props, and natural language that mirrors real search queries.
4. Use Data to Guide Messaging
Vix walked attendees through using platforms like Google Search Console, Semrush, and Ubersuggest to identify what audiences are actually searching for. By aligning content creation with keyword trends and intent-driven queries, agencies can shape messaging that lands both with humans and AI models.
5. Prioritize Video—But Make It Searchable
Vix urged agencies to embrace short-form video, especially on YouTube, where it can be discovered through both traditional and AI search. She stressed the importance of robust descriptions, keyword tagging, and closed captions—plus tools like GetMunch.com and Otter.ai to streamline video production and accessibility.
Inside PRBI, This Is the Conversation
These insights aren’t just a one-off—they’re part of the ongoing knowledge-sharing that makes PR Boutiques International (PRBI) so valuable. Our members don’t just talk about trends; they trade strategies, tools, and support to help one another grow smarter, faster. If you’re an independent agency leader ready to evolve with the industry, we’d love to meet you.