A girlfriend called me a few days ago and said, “Gini! You are a genius! All of these AI tools have made me so much more efficient!”
I laughed and said that while I’d love to take credit, I’m simply spreading the word about their value—I didn’t create the efficiencies. But she’s right…when you use AI in your day-to-day work, you will be far more productive and efficient.
As it turns out, comms pros spend an average of 15 hours per week on routine tasks such as media monitoring, content ideation and outlining, meeting notes and action items, project management, reporting, and more.
That’s nearly two full workdays consumed by activities that, while necessary, often prevent us from focusing on strategy and relationship-building—the aspects of PR that truly drive results.
What would you do with two extra days a week to focus on the things that matter—and truly, the things you enjoy—rather than the laborious routine stuff we all have to do?
Welcome to the new era of PR, where AI is a powerful ally in boosting efficiency and effectiveness.
The PR Efficiency Challenge
Before we delve into how AI can make you more efficient, let’s look at all the things you’re probably doing that you no longer have to do. The mundane tasks that are necessary but do not require humans to do.
- Media Monitoring and Analysis: Sifting through countless news articles, social media posts, and online mentions to track brand sentiment and identify potential crises.
- Content Creation and Repurposing: Crafting news releases, social media posts, blog post outlines, and content ideas—and then adapting it all for different platforms and audiences. You still need a human touch for some things, but AI can get you started.
- Reporting and Measurement: Compiling data from various sources, creating comprehensive reports, and extracting meaningful insights to demonstrate the value of PR efforts.
These tasks, while crucial, often consume a disproportionate amount of time and resources. In a world where the news cycle never sleeps, and clients expect real-time responses, the need for greater efficiency in PR has never been more pressing.
Enter AI: Game-Changing Tools for PR
This is where AI enters your life. Depending on your task, all sorts of tools will help. I love ChatGPT for outlines and ideas, Claude for drafting content, NotebookLM for FAQs and audio recaps, Otter for meeting notes, agendas, and action items, Leaps for working with subject matter experts, and Dall-E for image creation.
In fact, Trust Insights just published a guide on prompting AI for visuals, and it’s pretty helpful.
There are other tools you’ve probably been using for years, such as Grammarly, Lately, Canva, Adobe, and more, that are AI-driven. And, of course, all of the media monitoring, social media scheduling, and media list development you do has been AI-driven for years.
These tools leverage several key technologies to boost efficiency:
- Natural language processing allows AI to understand and analyze human language, making it invaluable for tasks like media monitoring and sentiment analysis.
- AI can process vast amounts of data quickly, identifying trends and insights that might take humans days or weeks to uncover.
- While not replacing human creativity, AI can assist in drafting content, generating ideas, and repurposing existing materials for different platforms.
But the real question is: how much will these tools actually have? Let’s look at some real-world examples.
Media Monitoring and Analysis
A mid-sized PR agency implemented an AI-powered media monitoring tool to track client coverage. The results were striking:
- Before AI, the team spent an average of 20 hours per week on media monitoring, between having to decide what was negative, positive, or neutral because the tool wasn’t getting it exactly right and having to delete articles that weren’t applicable. With AI, this dropped to just five hours per week, a 75% reduction.
- The AI tool caught 30% more relevant mentions than manual monitoring, including in non-English languages and niche publications.
- The agency estimated a cost saving of $78,000 per year in billable hours, not to mention the value of the additional insights gained.
Reporting and Measurement
A PR firm started using an AI-powered reporting and analytics tool. The results were game-changing:
- What used to take two to three days at the end of each month now takes two to three hours. This is a 90% reduction in time spent.
- The AI tool can correlate PR activities with business outcomes in ways the team hadn’t previously considered, leading to more strategic client recommendations.
- Their client retention rate increased by 15% year-over-year, with clients citing the depth and timeliness of reporting as a key factor in their decision to continue working with the firm.
These two examples paint a clear picture: AI tools are not just marginally improving efficiency in PR. They’re fundamentally transforming how we work.
AI In PR Beyond Time Savings
While the time savings are impressive, the benefits of AI in PR extend far beyond just efficiency. Here are some additional advantages:
- Contrary to fears that AI might stifle creativity, many PR professionals report that AI-assisted brainstorming helps them generate more diverse ideas and think outside the box.
- With AI processing vast amounts of data and surfacing insights, PR strategies can be more data-driven and responsive to real-time trends.
- AI tools allow PR teams to handle larger workloads and more clients without necessarily increasing team size or requiring more hours. This also improves profitability.
- Some advanced AI tools can predict emerging trends or potential crises, allowing PR teams to be proactive rather than reactive.
- AI enables the creation of highly personalized content and outreach strategies, even when dealing with large audiences or media lists.
AI In PR Challenges
Of course, integrating AI into PR workflows is not without its challenges. There is a learning curve, and training the AI to give you what you want takes time. I treat it like I treat our interns: it needs to be taught the way we do things, and it takes several revisions to get it right.
Without the Projects in Claude, getting the AI to align with brand voice and standards is pretty challenging. This is why you can’t rely on it completely. You still have to revise the content for voice, standards, and tone.
As with any use of AI, ethical considerations surround transparency, data privacy, and the potential perpetuation of biases. Again, this is why it needs human oversight. You have to ensure it follows the same standards you would have if a human produced the work product. I personally love it when it just makes things up. I’ll say to it, “So you made up that example, huh? Let’s not do that.” And it apologizes to me and deletes the hallucinations.
Of course, there is also the risk of becoming too dependent on AI tools and losing critical human skills in the process.
Best Practices for Implementing AI In PR
If you’re willing to accept the risks (and I think you should!), there are some best practices to help you implement AI without becoming overly reliant on the tools.
First, start small and scale gradually, just like anything new. Begin with one or two tools addressing your most pressing efficiency challenges. You can expand your AI toolkit as you see results and become more comfortable with the technology. Remember, training these tools takes time, so you must be patient. Consider it like an intern. You can’t set an intern free on day one. The same goes for the AI.
Next, combine its efficiency with your expertise. You can use AI to handle routine tasks and data processing but always apply human judgment to the insights and outputs. The most effective approach is a human-AI collaboration.
If your organization hasn’t offered AI training, ask for it. Or, if you’re the boss, provide it. You want to ensure your team is well-trained in using AI tools effectively. This will reduce frustration and maximize efficiency gains.
Continuously measure the effectiveness of AI tools. Based on these assessments, be prepared to adjust your approach.
And lastly, stay up-to-date with the latest developments and be ready to adopt new tools that could further boost your efficiency. I’ll continue to talk about it, but also check out what Chris Penn, Paul Roetzer, Andy Crestodina, and Rand Fishkin are doing on the topic. And where are the women?! Send me some women to follow who are talking about AI in PR or marketing!
The Future of AI In PR
As impressive as the current AI tools are, we’re really just scratching the surface of what’s possible. There are some things you can start to think about now for 2025 and beyond.
One thing I’m super excited about is the advanced predictive analytics. I’ve already started using AI to highlight opportunities and threats in the data we provide to clients. Soon, AI will be able to predict the success of PR campaigns with a high degree of accuracy, allowing for real-time optimization.
There has also been a lot of talk about hyper-personalization, which means you can create content specific to individuals rather than groups of them. I have yet to see that come into play, but the fact that everyone keeps talking about it means you should keep an eye on it (and I will, too).
I’m also excited about letting AI grow crisis planning with clients so we can predict what might become a problem. Not only will it be able to identify potential crises, but it will also be able to suggest initial response strategies in real time. This means you can plan ahead of time so you can respond immediately versus waiting for senior leadership and counsel to approve things.
And maybe, just maybe, AI will help us connect our efforts more directly to business outcomes, finally solving the age-old problem of PR measurement.
A Challenge For You
The data is clear: AI tools are significantly boosting efficiency in PR, saving time, improving outcomes, and allowing us to focus on the strategic and creative aspects of our work. From slashing the time spent on media monitoring to increasing content output without sacrificing quality, the effect of AI in PR is undeniable.
But remember…AI is a tool. It’s not a replacement for human expertise. The most successful PR professionals will be those who learn to collaborate effectively with AI, using it to enhance their capabilities rather than replace their skills.
As we look to the future, one thing is certain: AI will play an increasingly important role in PR. The question is not whether to adopt AI tools but how to do so in a way that best serves your team, your clients, and your goals.
So, I have a challenge for you: take a look at your current workflows. Identify areas where you’re spending too much time on routine tasks. Then, explore how AI tools might help you reclaim that time for more strategic work. Start small, measure your results, and experiment. If you have questions or want help, let me know!
The future of PR is efficient, data-driven, and AI-enhanced. But it still needs the human touch—your creativity, relationships, and strategic thinking.
By embracing AI tools, you’re not replacing these uniquely human qualities but amplifying them.
