Earned media and AI authority
Press coverage is one of several signals AI answers can draw on; how much it helps varies by engine and topic.
Distinguish coverage from promotion
An independently reported article, a contributed opinion, and a company press release are different kinds of material. Describe each accurately. A hosted release or a sent pitch is not evidence that a journalist independently covered the story.
When you review coverage, check who published it, who wrote it, what evidence it provides, and whether it actually names the intended business. Publication alone does not establish that an AI system retrieved the article or used it in an answer.
Review the source, not an impact tier
Use these questions when assessing an item:
| Material | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Independently reported article | The reporting, sources, business identity, and publication date |
| Interview or expert quote | The speaker, accurate quotation, and context |
| Contributed article | Authorship, disclosure, and editorial context |
| Company release | That it is self-reported company information |
| Social discussion | Identity, relevance, and the actual claims being made |
This is a review checklist, not a ranking of AI impact. Do not assign an assured value to a publication, a coverage type, or a fixed number of placements.
Check linked and unlinked mentions
An article may name the business with or without a hyperlink. Verify the identity and context in either case. Do not assume an unlinked mention has the same effect as a link, or that publication updates a model's learned knowledge.
Keep a dated evidence record
Record the article URL, publication date, author where available, and verified description of the coverage. Track your work separately from the publication's editorial decisions.
At a later monitoring checkpoint, inspect the sampled answer and any source URLs it exposes. A matching URL shows that source in that answer; an overall before-and-after movement does not establish the cause. No fixed publication cadence assures a visibility gain.
In Outrigger
Use Press to prepare campaigns, review journalist outreach, and verify coverage records. Compare those records with available Sonar evidence without claiming automatic attribution. Press remains excluded from current audit scoring.