Not really …

I've heard it repeatedly. Earned media drives 84% of AI citations.

Does it though?

Because this oft-cited statistic might not mean what you think.

The number comes from a Muck Rack study. The study is fine, but 'earned' includes a lot of things.

Journalism — what most PR folks mean when they talk about earned — was only 27% of all results the study.

The rest of the 84% is Wikipedia, reddit, academic research and government sources, etc. Basically anything you didn't pay for.

So win over a journalist and you might win a quarter of the answer.

That's if the overworked journo, with an inbox bursting at the seams, can find two minutes to read your pitch.

But more than that, it's not necessarily clear that every appearance in an LLM answer is equally valuable.

Will there be a link? Will the LLM even mention your business? Will it just pinch a few lines with no reference to your organisation at all?

Let me be clear: AI results are likely to be an important part of your strategy. Just don't get your hopes up too high.

And kick the tyres before you buy what a PR agency is trying to sell.