AI in PR With Linda Zebian on PR Patter!

Good morning, everyone. I’m Julie Livingston of Want Leverage Communications, and I’m back for another episode of PR Patter, the semi-weekly show where I speak to the amazing people from across my public relations and marketing network. If you like what you see today, go to my website at wantleverage.com and check out our free downloadable Make Your C Suite Stand Out on LinkedIn.

Julie:
I’d like to welcome today, my special guest, Linda Zebian. She is the senior director of communications at Muck Rack, where she sets internal and external communication strategy for Muck Rack’s enterprise, including messaging, issues, management, media relations, social media, and employee communications.

Linda joined Muck Rack in January 2022 as its first-ever director of communications. She previously spent a decade in various communications roles at The New York Times, developing and executing communication strategies for the company’s business side. So welcome back, Linda. It’s great to see you again.

Linda:
Thank you so much for having me, Julie. I think this is my third time with you, and I’m so excited to join you again.

Linda’s Background

Julie:
Yeah, it’s wonderful. So, you know, I think it’s fascinating that you were Muck Rack’s first director of communications. Tell us a little bit more about your backstory, Linda, and how you got there.

Linda:
Sure. So I’ve sort of always worked, um, kind of at the intersection of media and PR. Um, I was a journalist for a brief moment covering the magazine industry when magazines were still hot, hot, hot. And then I moved over and worked at Consumer Reports for a while for those of us who remember or still read that publication and then I worked at the and I worked at The New York Times, as you mentioned, for 10 years.

I was intrigued by what Muck Rack was doing and Muck Rack’s mission sort of at the corner of media and journalism, and public relations, and the mission to sort of build relationships around that community.

And so when I saw they were looking for their first communications person, I said, What an interesting job, and what a place to add my perspective and my experience and be a voice for PR people. You know, I think our industry needs and was excited about the role, and I’ve built the role and built the team at Muck Rack.

And it’s an honor, and I enjoy working here.

How Has AI in PR Changed Over Time?

Julie:
So that’s great. Well, we’re going to talk today about a topic that I think is on everybody’s mind, and that is the state of AI in PR. This year, I know you’ve been studying this for a couple of years now, so you have some great historical knowledge as well. And so you could tell us where we are now and where we’ve come from. I mean, the escalation and the usage of AI in PR is just huge.

Linda:
Yes. So this is our third study of AI usage among PR and communications professionals.

We surveyed over a thousand PR pros, from November, in November and December of 2024. And we looked at the trends. Our first one was in March of 2023, and then we surveyed again at the end of 2023, and then again, obviously, at the end of 2024.

What we’ve seen is an escalation of usage among our industry, as well as the quality of AI tools. So what we’ve seen generally is, folks are increasingly using it. And then that small cohort or folks who are sort of holdouts are remaining stagnant. So the people who are, it seems from the data that people who are not using AI will not use it in the future.

So, right now, about 75% – three out of four PR pros – are using generative AI.

Julie:
Wow.

Linda:
Which is about three times the number of what it was in our initial study in March 2020.

Julie:
Wow, that’s dramatic.

Linda:
Yeah, it is dramatic, and I think that’s a reflection of time and giving folks time to warm up to the technology, but also the quality that these tech tools are outputting for us.

Julie:
Yeah. It’s really, it’s so interesting in many, many ways. But also because PR people are always stuck for time. You know, we’re always multitasking and doing so many things at once, trying to develop pitches, trying to, you know, contact the media at the same time, creating content, whatever our roles have expanded. So this has become, I guess, a huge time saver.

Linda:
93 percent of the pros who are using it say it speeds up their work, and it helps them complete projects more quickly. Only 6 percent said it takes about the same amount of time when they use it. So it definitely helps speed up time.

Julie:
I know in my work, it certainly helps me speed up time.

Should People Use Free or Paid Services For AI in PR?

Linda:
So what’s the difference? I mean, do you know how many people are using paid versus unpaid AI services?

Yeah. So more than half of PR pros are using paid AI services, and about a third are using more than one paid service. And then another 27 percent are using only one paid service. And then the remaining 43 percent are using free AI tools. So like a Chat GPT, for example, a paid service would be like something that maybe comes along with you if you’re using Microsoft Office or something would be like a Copilot, a free tool, Chat GPT, or like Muck Rack’s, Press Pal, something like that is a free service, but then, you know, there’s paid paid tools like Chat, GPT Enterprise.

Julie:
I’ve been using perplexity myself. Okay. Right. Um, although I should use the Muck Rack tool since I’m a Muck Rack subscriber.

Linda:
Yes. Well, that has a free element, and then, and then a paid version as well, like a kind of layered approach.

Should You Disclose the Use of AI to Clients?

Julie:
Yeah. So, in terms of disclosure, where do we stand on this issue of disclosing the use of AI to clients or not?

Linda:
So there’s a bit of a differentiator here between how brands think they should be, how the brands think agencies should be disclosing their use of AI, and how agencies think they should be disclosing their use of AI to their clients.

So if you work at a brand, 37 percent of folks at brands think that their agencies should disclose the use all the time.

Whereas at agencies, about 20 percent of folks think that’s the case.

They’re trying to find the right balance; really like 39 percent of folks at brands say it depends, and 36 percent of folks at agencies say it depends.

So I think 20 percent of PR pros and agencies disclose their use all the time.

If you’re an agency and your client has told you, “ we need to know all the time and what tools you’re using and you need to be transparent about that”, if, say, you’re working in financial services or government or something, then you must share such information. Maybe you’re working in food or something of a lighter topic, and you’re using Chat GPT to come up with an idea. I think it’s a little bit less risky, right?

Where is AI being used in PR?

Julie:
How are public relations professionals using AI now? What parts of our job are they using it for?

Linda:
Yeah, so most folks – 82% – are using it to ideate and brainstorm, which makes a ton of sense. “Help me think of a pitch idea or something.” And then 72 percent are using it to write a first draft, which is interesting. I’ve never done that before. Gosh, I just think that would just take away so much of the creativity of the job. I don’t know if I could do that.

Julie:
And then you worry about the flavor, the original flavor of it.

Linda:
I do wonder if some of the newer PR pros are using it mostly for that. 70 percent use it to edit or refine a draft. That’s me.

I use it to edit and refine all the time. A lot of internal communications, because sometimes I don’t have time. Sometimes I just kind of like throw things on paper and just get all my thoughts out, and then I’ll put it into the Chat GPT enterprise, and I’ll be like “polish this” because it just removes all of those extraneous words. It’ll bullet things out for me where I should be listing things versus using long prose. It’s useful for things like that.

And then 59 percent of folks are using it for research.

Another 59 percent for social copy.

51 percent for press releases.

And 51 percent evenly for pitches, which is great.

And then another 42 percent for strategy and planning, also makes a lot of sense.

Interestingly, only 20 percent are using it to find journalists, which, I mean, I think that makes sense. I think most people are using, you know, tried and true PR tech for, to find journalists. It’s like using Google to find journalists, like, meh. Nobody wants to do that.

Julie:
You’re going to use Muck Rack for that.

Linda:
Yeah, I would say so. So, I think these are generative, this makes a lot of sense, right?

What Are Some Common Concerns For Users & How is Muck Rack Different?

Julie:
What are some of the concerns, the common concerns that users or non-users have about using AI in the workplace? I mean, we just talked about one of them in terms of, you know, potential for losing the original flavor of something, especially in a pitch.

Linda:
You know, 68 percent of folks said that using AI will lower the quality of their conversations, and another 60 percent or so said that content will not be original or creative. And I don’t disagree with that. And I think, you know, that’s a threat to journalism generally, but it’s also a threat to how many journalists are getting so many pitches now. Or they were even before Chat GPT came out.

Julie:
Right. And how do you set yours apart? Like, how is it going to look different, sound, look different?

Linda:
Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, my answer to that is your story has got to be better than ever. You know, the exclusivity of your story has got to be better than ever. And it’s not really about the pitch. I mean, the pitch has to be great always, of course, but it is about the story.

The concern is that, you know, younger or newer PR pros won’t learn the principles of storytelling and problem solving, and they’ll rely too heavily on the tool. My biggest concern is that they won’t learn how to write.

Julie:
And also research properly, because a lot of times we use non-traditional methods of researching things. How, how will they know how to do that?

Linda:
Right. And research is problem solving, right? “I need to find something to solve this problem or fill this gap. How do I do it?” I mean, Google kind of took us halfway there. And now I think we’re 100 percent like, give me what I need instantly. And now with generative AI, where, you know, you can hire a virtual agent to do things for you.

Is This Being Taught In School?

Julie:
Do you think they’re teaching, um, how to use AI properly in schools at this point in the top PR programs?

Linda:
You know, I guest lecture at Boston University. I think from what I understand so far, they are. I think most of the professors are, you know, have been or currently are still PR, working PR pros like you and I.

Julie:
I’m a graduate of the Newhouse School of Syracuse University, and I know that they are teaching it there, too, because we’ve had conversations with professors there about it on this show.

Linda:
And do you think it’s going well so far?

Julie:
I think, you know, we all know that there’s one thing about learning about it in school. It’s another thing when you’re implementing it in a real work situation. So I’m assuming, I don’t know for sure, that they’re giving students projects where they are using some AI tools.

Or I guess students might just gravitate to them without any prompting, because they’re growing up as digital natives, and they just go for those kinds of tools without maybe trying the traditional methods first.

And now I think, I think it’s changing so that you can just put in some basics and have it spit out something more of a first draft.

Linda:
Yeah, I do worry about just creativity in that, too. Not just hard skills, but yeah, yeah, no, I agree with you.

What is Coming Next?

Julie:
What do you think is coming up next in terms of the development of these kinds of tools?

Linda:
I think about the agent role that I mentioned. So, less so, like “create content for me,” but more so, like, actually take actions for me. Like, take action for me, be an agent for me, is next. You know, there are all these environmental concerns of AI, and that’s kind of what, like, the holdouts are, you know, most, a lot of concerns around that.

Linda:
You know, I’m very curious to see, you know, where journalism goes, how AI is going to impact journalism. Less so of the written word and more so in the sort of video and graphic space.

Julie:
Yeah, I mean, right. We’re losing journalists left and right. I know this is going to be a time saver for journalists who are now covering multiple beats and have so much pressure on them to generate solid content. But will it diminish the quality over time?

Linda:
Our state of journalism report will be coming out in a few months. And I’m very curious to see how those numbers are taking up in terms of their use as well, because I think their use also impacts how we pitch and how we reach out to them and what kind of, you know, stories they’re interested in and formats and things like that as well.

What Are The Internal Policies Like?

Julie:
That’s great. In terms of policies, you know, internal policy around AI, where do we stand there, because the last time we spoke, there were very few policies really that you know. This was still a subject that was very up in the air, you know.

Companies had a policy on whether they keep it close to the vest and not reveal when they’re using AI to clients, if they are, they’re an agency.

Linda:
So I think because more time has passed, obviously, more companies have policies in place.

So it was 21 percent last time we surveyed, about a year ago. Now it’s up to 38 percent of companies that have policies in place. So that’s good news.

However, more than half, 55 percent, don’t have a policy in place. For those who do have a policy, 60 percent are strictly following it, which is really good news, and then another third or so say they’re mostly following it. So that’s good news.

Julie:
What does that mean?

Linda:
You know, I’m sure, like, you know, they have certain note-taking apps that you’re allowed to use. Or rules around saving information to the cloud and not locally, or something like that. So that’s good.

And in terms of training, that’s up from 21 percent last year. About a third of companies are offering training.

I think training is essential. You can’t just give folks tools and ask them to figure it out. With real training, you’re showing people how to use it to the best of your advantage. We can empower our people and help them be the most efficient and effective. at their job if we train them.

Julie:
And continue the training so they are ongoing learning programs. So that employees really see how Companies are valuing this tool and they want to use it in the right way.

Linda:
Exactly. Because technology’s moving faster than anybody can keep up with. So we need to keep that training up as well.

Julie:
So, do you expect that the numbers are going to rise? I mean, that’s sort of a dumb question. It’s going in that direction.

Linda:
Absolutely. I can’t wait to see what happens next year.

Muck Rack’s State of Journalism Report is Coming

Julie:
So your next report, you said, is coming out this spring on…

Linda:
Yes, so we have the State of Journalism report coming up – one of our most popular reports. And we will ask AI questions in that report.

We have the State of PR, which is again, one of our biggest reports of the year.

Then we have a State of Work Life Balance that we do for both PR and journalism, which we first started last year. That’s interesting because we’re looking at the mental and emotional health of what it’s like to work in our industry.

Julie:
That will be interesting, especially now with all the return-to-office edicts that are going out. Because I would imagine I’m just projecting here, but many PR professionals are women. Remote work was a bonus. It’s almost an imperative for women.

Linda:
Yes. And you’re hearing about what’s going on with the federal government, of all these employees having to return to work in Washington. And we know that the job is stressful. We know the job. We know working in corporate comms and PR is extremely stressful.

I remember seeing a list of stressful jobs four years ago. It was like a neurosurgeon, CIA agent, and PR executive! It was like the third, and I won’t forget it. And I sent it all around to my friends, and we were like, yeah, duh, you know, we were like, I’m up at 4:00 AM making to-do lists. I’m used to Today show producers calling you, you know, texting you at 2:30 am. We’ve all been there. So that’s an important one.

And then we always do our State of Measurement report.

Thank you, Linda!

Julie:
Ooops, my connection is down. I’m trying to get back on camera here.

Linda:
Don’t worry.

Julie:
Oh, wow. Uh, I love technology. Linda. Speaking of, anyway, it was great having you back. I hope you’ll come again sometime to talk about future reports, but thank you so much. And how can people reach you if they want to get in touch?

Linda:
Yeah. Thanks for having me. You can reach out to me on LinkedIn, or you can email me at [email protected].

Julie:
Okay, Linda, have a great day. Everyone else, please visit my website at wantleverage.com and download Make Your C Suite Stand Out on LinkedIn. We’ll see you next time on PR patter.