2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service, which has been connecting PR & comms teams seeking media coverage with journalists and broadcasters in need of sources since its launch in 2001.
To meet the changing needs of the media community, the service is now integrated into Vuelio, providing the thousands of PR and comms teams using the platform daily with another way to reach the press.
Whether you’re looking for expert commentary, supporting statistics, products for review, or filming locations, our connected network helps you share relevant responses with influential media contacts.
Here are just some of the benefits of a fully-connected media suite:
Jump on opportunities, without losing the strategic view
Part of managing a busy press office is balancing the short-term urgency of media deadlines with the longer-term planning often required for a successful comms campaign. PR professionals spend hours building targeted media lists, studying forward features lists, and conceptualising campaigns for future roll-out. But breaking news doesn’t stop for strategic planning.
When short-turnaround editorial opportunities arise, disjointed workflows and platforms can mean missing windows of opportunity. By combining real-time journalist requests with a comprehensive Media Database in one place, communication teams can keep an eye on a stream of editorial asks directly from the workspace where they are already designing their outreach campaigns.
While you are proactively identifying long-lead opportunities or constructing media lists for a future launch, you are presented with an instant view of what reporters are investigating.
Because media professionals frequently operate under intense time constraints, often requiring commentary, case studies, or information within a matter of hours, having these urgent alerts integrated into your main platform ensures your entire team can respond quickly.
Fulfill a writer’s immediate request without losing momentum on your broader campaign strategy, or juggling multiple browser tabs and separate software programs. Secure high-value placements that might otherwise have slipped away.
The ability to connect relevant spokespeople with the right media
Securing impactful media coverage means providing the precise expertise a writer or broadcaster needs to complete their story.
The integration of the Journalist Enquiry Service within the Vuelio platform makes matching internal corporate talent or client spokespeople with these precise needs straightforward. Rather than researching which topics are currently front-of-mind for various media outlets, PR professionals receive verified requests that outline exactly what kind of expert opinion is required.
The platform’s filtering framework, spanning industry sectors including healthcare, finance, consumer technology, and retail, enables PRs to filter incoming requests down to the specific categories that matter most to their organisation or client base. Instead of scrambling to find an angle, immediately identify an exact match between a journalist’s requirement and your spokesperson’s specialised knowledge.
Deeper insight, for longer relationships
If you ask media professionals about their biggest frustrations when dealing with the public relations industry, the answer is almost unanimous: irrelevant, untargeted pitches. To stand out in the clutter of a packed inbox or voicemail, a pitch must be hyper-relevant. But achieving that level of personalisation and targeting requires deep contextual knowledge.
This is where an embedded Media Database is essential. When a request from the Journalist Enquiry Service arrives within the platform, it is linked to a wealth of intelligence regarding the individual who sent it, and the publications they work for. With a click, PR professionals can find a comprehensive profile of the journalist, offering detailed insights compiled by our in-house research team.
Patch, past coverage history, preferred communication methods, and even career history can be invaluable, particularly when a journalist’s initial enquiry is brief or ambiguous. By analysing their specific beat and recent articles, read between the lines of a vague request to understand the angle they are pursuing. Tailor your response to align with their editorial style and the demographic of their media outlet: providing a tailored, highly specific contribution significantly increases the likelihood of your content being picked up. More importantly, it demonstrates to the journalist that you respect their time and understand their audience, laying the vital foundation for a trusting, ongoing media relationship that extends far beyond a single news cycle.
Closer connections with the media, via a connected platform
The future of successful public relations relies on breaking down the barriers between different communication workflows as much as it does on connecting the myriad of platforms that make up the modern media landscape. Moving away from separated software systems and adopting a unified ecosystem allows communication professionals to work with greater speed, accuracy, and strategic insight.
By integrating the real-time opportunities of the Journalist Enquiry Service into the extensive data suite of the Vuelio Media Database, PR professionals are given a complete toolkit for modern media engagement. React to urgent newsroom demands without sacrificing long-term campaign planning, match expertise with active editorial needs, and utilise deep media intelligence to construct your pitches, and build connections.
Find out more about the Journalist Enquiry Service here.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Media-requests-embedded-into-Vuelio.jpg430760Phoebe-Jane Boyd/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngPhoebe-Jane Boyd2026-05-28 09:47:142026-05-28 09:53:07Perfect pitch: Maximising media coverage with Vuelio’s connected platform
Artificial intelligence has evolved from an experimental tech-stack tool to become a vital part of the fabric of daily reality for public relations. Alongside pitching stories for human-made editorial calendars, comms practitioners are navigating a deeply fragmented media ecosystem where generative engines like Large Language Models (LLMs) fundamentally alter how information is created, distributed, and consumed.
For years, the PR industry measured success by the strength of a clipping or the positioning of a link on a Google Search results page. Today, the interface between brands and audiences has changed. The fast rise of agentic browsers and AI companions that summarise the web has boosted media intelligence from a supporting function to a mission-critical part of the comms infrastructure.
To survive in this new reality, communication teams must understand the new role of earned media; the primary fuel powering the AI answer engines that shape brand reputation.
How generative engines are rewriting the search playbook
The traditional digital marketing funnel is facing an existential crunch. According to Nic Newman’s ‘Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2026‘ report for the Reuters Institute, publishers expect traffic from search engines to decline by 43% over the next three years. This sharp downturn follows recent dramatic declines in referrals from social media platforms. The culprit at the centre of this disruption? Google’s AI Overviews.
Now appearing at the top of roughly 10% of search results in the United States and rolling out globally, these AI summaries have driven a massive surge in zero-click searches — scenarios where users get their answers directly on the search page without ever clicking through to a corporate website or news source.
This shift is heavily driven by changing consumer behaviours. Data from a January 2026 study ‘Navigating the Shift: A Comparative Analysis of Web Search and Generative AI Response Generation‘ highlights that Google’s AI Overviews now reach 2 billion monthly users across 200 countries, with referral traffic from AI platforms growing by 357% year-over-year. Crucially, the way people search has evolved: 57.9% of searches triggering AI Overviews are now phrased as full questions, and queries of eight words or longer have a 57% probability of generating an AI-synthesised response rather than a traditional list of blue links.
These platforms do not return ranked document lists but synthesise answers, reason over retrieved evidence, and selectively cite sources they judge to be authoritative. And what these engines consider authoritative is, increasingly, earned media.
A 2025 Semrush AI Overviews Study revealed that while Google attempts a balanced sourcing approach (41% earned, 34% social, and 26% brand content), standalone AI engines lean overwhelmingly on earned content. Anthropic’s Claude concentrates most heavily on earned media at 65% (and a mere 1% on social), followed by OpenAI’s GPT-4o at 57% earned media.
To highlight this trend further, Gartner’s ‘Top Predictions to Inform 2026 Comms Strategies‘ and Purposeful Relations’ ‘The Impact of Generative Relations and Communications‘ reports both validate that AI search engines heavily favour citing earned, shared, and organic owned content over paid channels. More than 95% of links cited within these platforms are non-paid mentions, with earned media accounting for 89% of those citations. Journalistic content alone accounts for 27% of citations, skyrocketing to 49% for queries requiring real-time, recent information.
Ultimately, LLMs rely on the credibility that traditional PR has spent decades cultivating. However, simply securing a mention is no longer enough. As Nicole Yost, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) pointed out during Vuelio’s recent in-person event ‘How AI is changing the way we communicate‘, the challenge has evolved. Managing communications for a major healthcare charity means navigating an environment where AI is used not just to draft messaging, but to predict trends and actively counter misinformation. Nicole observes:
‘Various studies have shown that AI is using earned media for its content. But how do you differentiate and cut through the noise, is the question. Earned media is having a moment. I was talking to some colleagues earlier, and they’re saying it’s everywhere, all over LinkedIn, it’s “PRs’ time” and all that. But, only if you can cut through the noise, be really trusted and credible, are you going to have an impact on your brand.’
Making your earned media count for LLMs
While the data paints a glowing picture for the resurgence of PR, communications teams must avoid treating these statistics as a one-size-fits-all victory. Context, nuance, and strategy matter more than raw volume.
Stuart Bruce, PR Futurist and Co-founder of Purposeful Relations — a management consultancy specialising in advising in-house comms teams, international bodies like the OECD, and charities on AI adoption — urges a grounded perspective.
Reflecting on the sudden flood of vendor reports, Stuart notes:
‘All these reports that have been coming out say that LLMs favour earned media in terms of where they get information from, and where they put their citations. That’s partially true.
‘Our white paper analysed the multitude of reports that have been published throughout the year (anybody that’s selling an LLM tool published a report to justify them to marketing). One said that 95% of LLM citations are from earned media. Another one said 43%. And yes, the importance of earned media is absolutely on the rise, but it’s really important to realise it’s not the only one, and it is very different between different sectors.’
To make earned media truly count within AI summaries, communications strategies must move past old-school broad message distribution. The focus must pivot toward building earned proof, shaping the credible, factual raw material that both human audiences and intelligent machine agents use to determine who is genuinely trustworthy.
A strategic roadmap for modern PR: Treating AI as a stakeholder
If LLMs are actively mediating how the public understands your organisation or your clients, you can no longer treat them as neutral tech tools; they are actually a brand-new audience. Stuart suggests a distinct shift in how teams approach Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), breaking it down into three flexible, strategic pillars tailored to organisational needs:
1. Build an AI Stakeholder Map
‘The first thing you need to do is to actually understand the space,’ Stuart advises. ‘We describe AI as a stakeholder, because we wouldn’t start trying to influence stakeholders until we fully understand them.
‘Do you have your stakeholder map? Trying to create that is actually really difficult when it comes to LLMs, because there are several of them, and then they’re all going to be saying different things.’
Comms teams must map which models their audiences use and audit how their brand currently surfaces across different engines.
2. Constant recency and the power of niche media
LLMs possess vast amounts of historical data within their static models, but when a user asks a time-sensitive question, the engine must look outward for real-time information. ‘So, if you want to influence what’s not in the model, they’re going to be looking for really up-to-date, recent information — you’re constantly feeding the beast and making sure that your information out there is recent,’ says Stuart.
This will markedly change media targeting strategy:
‘The second thing to consider is, what does that mean? Does that include your website? That might mean just refreshing a page, updating a page, but also things like labelling if a page has out-of-date information. AI needs to be taught that. It needs to understand relevance, and that’s basically where earned media comes in. It’s not necessarily going to be your tier-one titles. It could actually be small, niche titles. It could be trade press. It could be expert blogs. And that’s because LLMs know that’s a specialist source, this is going to be where to find reliable information.’
3. Establish multiple touchpoints for reputation
An isolated piece of coverage will no longer be effective on its own. AI models look for cross-referenced consistency across the web to validate a claim. Stuart provides a practical example:
‘You might have a spokesperson featured in the Daily Mail, but if that’s the only reference to them, AI is not necessarily going to consider them a credible spokesperson. If they were available on your website, if their LinkedIn profile constantly talks about the same thing, if they’ve spoken at conferences, if they’re in earned media, they instantly become a credible source. You’ve got to have those multiple touchpoints.’
Shifting trust: When audiences believe AI over brands
The urgency of this strategic pivot becomes clearer when considering how rapidly public trust is transitioning. During a recent Vuelio webinar ‘AI as the new PR & comms stakeholder‘, Dr Anne Gregory — Professor Emeritus of Corporate Communication at the University of Huddersfield and a leading international researcher who has directed the Global Capability Framework — highlighted how deeply this machine mediation influences public perception:
‘AI is much more than just an assistant; it is a powerful actor in the information ecosystem.
‘It mediates our engagement with organisations and individuals, and evidence is emerging that AI is often believed more than other traditional sources.’
This observation is backed by hard data. Purposeful Relations’ report, in partnership with 72Point, surveyed 5,000 UK adults to uncover modern attitudes toward media, news, and generative tech. The findings regarding trust were eye-opening: While scientists and technical experts predictably ranked highest at 80%, AI answers achieved a 44% trust rating.
‘So 44% of people trust that LLM answer: they’re not necessarily going to go to your website,’ Stuart noted.
This creates a reputational hazard if your infrastructure is lagging. Dr Anne issued a stark warning for teams slow to adapt to this shift:
‘Even though we know these summaries are often incomplete and biased, we tend to believe them. If we don’t regard AI as an influential stakeholder, we could be putting ourselves in jeopardy.’
The new toolkit for AI visibility
To transition from traditional communicators into central corporate strategists who manage reputation in this new climate, PR professionals need tools built specifically for their workflows. They cannot rely on legacy search engine tools designed purely for digital marketing or paid media.
‘Vuelio is launching something soon, which will be another tool that will help you to understand that,’ revealed Stuart during our latest event.
‘The tools that are coming from the PR space are a lot more useful to PR people than some of the ones that are coming from the digital marketing and the search space. They understand the pressures, the trends, the type of information that we need to know.’
This targeted innovation underpins Vuelio, providing an AI Visibility solution that’s specifically geared towards PR & Comms.
Lumina AI View helps you understand what AI knows about you, and where it learned it from. By tracking the sources that models such as Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude cite when representing you, it reveals where you stand — and how to impact this.
The battleground for brand relevance has officially shifted. By ensuring your earned media strategy is continuous, highly credible, and verified across multiple digital touchpoints, you can ensure your organisation, and the clients you work with, are not just indexed by the algorithms, but trusted by them.
Find out more about Vuelio’s Lumina solutions here.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Earned-media-in-an-AI-age.jpg430760Phoebe-Jane Boyd/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngPhoebe-Jane Boyd2026-05-18 14:01:532026-05-18 14:34:16Is earned media the solution for comms in the age of AI Answers?
AI is changing the way the creative industries communicate, with PRs, public affairs practitioners, marketers, and the media all battling to keep pace with innovation. To explore these changes, Vuelio’s latest in-person event brought together a panel of comms and media industry experts to provide perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that AI poses to modern communications.
The discussion was framed by an urgent reality, as Stuart Bruce, PR Futurist and Co-founder of Purposeful Relations, warned the audience:
‘Communications is standing on a precipice. Historically, we have not been an innovative industry. Both the scale and the speed of AI adoption needs to be a lot faster. AI is impacting you because organisations around you are using it — your competitors, your peers, your users, your customers. If you’re not understanding those shifts that are happening in society, in the economy, you are going to be left behind. We’ve got to get our act together quickly.’
Our panel featured leaders at the intersection of technology and storytelling. Nicole Yost, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), provided the in-house viewpoint, sharing how a major charity balances the efficiency of AI with the critical need for trust in healthcare. Tshepo Tshabalala, Manager and Team Lead at JournalismAI (LSE), brought a global perspective on how newsrooms are responsibly implementing AI. Joining them was Stuart Bruce, who advises small agencies to international bodies on AI adoption and the emerging field of AI as a stakeholder.
Embracing the speed of change while retaining trust
The consensus among the panel was that AI has fundamentally accelerated the pace of communication, but that this speed comes at a cost to credibility. This mirrors broader trends in the industry that were at play before AI proliferated to its current extent (but have been magnified by its arrival), such as the spread of misinformation and the sheet volumes of content and stakeholders across channels; organisations must be increasingly strategic to ensure their messaging remains effective against this backdrop. Nicole highlighted that the BHF has made proactive moves to plot a direction through this changed landscape:
‘AI is changing how we work… It’s making everything faster. We’re finding that there’s so much content and data out there. How do we get hold of all that, and make sure we’re part of that conversation?’
She warned that this speed is a double-edged sword: ‘Content is abundant, but trust is scarce. One of the things that we’re noticing is that issues can escalate much more quickly with AI — misinformation can spread much more quickly, and it can often look very credible, which is dangerous.’
Tshepo observed a similar tension within journalism.
‘There’s a lot of noise, and noise comes in the form of misinformation. What’s also challenging is that we are both consumers and producers of content. When I was still a journalist in the newsroom, there was a bit of gatekeeping in terms of who could be a producer of content. Right now, anybody with a microphone is a podcaster, anybody with a phone can create content.
‘So, the challenge is not only from AI, but also from humans. Journalists are competing with the regular person who just picks up their phone, records, and uploads it onto the internet.
‘Right now, as a consumer and producer of content, I struggle to trust. It’s challenging for the people who don’t have journalist training where you are told to read widely, listen to everything, and then make your judgment.
‘The other challenge is that journalists are no longer just working in one silo – I now have to work across websites, social media, and with AI. That makes it a lot easier, in the sense that I can produce one article and then change that into various formats – a podcast, Tiktok, an Instagram post – but that adds to the problem of noise, a lot of information.
‘In combination with all this, AI is a double-edged sword: it’s good and bad for the media industry.’
AI as a stakeholder: A new mapping exercise
One emerging concept discussed was the idea of treating AI models not just as tools, but as stakeholders in their own right. This requires a shift in how comms teams approach media monitoring and SEO, moving toward Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
Stuart emphasised that traditional assumptions about earned media may no longer hold true for every brand.
‘For a trade body that we’ve just worked with, earned media was the third most important for them. Number one was owned media. You really have to do that mapping exercise and not just believe the hype.’
This strategic mapping is central to modern PR, where practitioners must understand how their brand appears in AI-generated answers.
Stuart warned that while data sources for traditional social listening are robust, mapping AI stakeholders is more complex because ‘none of the AI companies tell you how many prompts they’re getting on this topic. It’s telemetry’.
What can help make sense of this murky area are tools designed to bridge the data gap:
‘Tools that are coming from the PR space are a lot more useful to PR people than some of the ones that are coming from the digital marketing and the search space – they understand the pressures, the trends, the type of information that we need to know.’
Authenticity and the resurgence of human storytelling
As AI-generated content becomes the norm, the panel suggested that ‘human’ elements (emotion, lived experience, and authenticity) will become a premium currency.
Nicole shared how the BHF uses human stories to cut through the digital noise:
‘Including case studies and real stories in your messaging is more valuable than ever, because it’s that human story, that human touch, that AI can’t replicate,’ she said, sharing the story of the BHF’s 65 red benches campaign, which featured real people with heart conditions.
‘Storytelling, the craft of that… human emotion and connection, authenticity, is having a resurgence. There is backlash against LinkedIn posts obviously written by AI, for example.’
Stuart agreed, suggesting that AI’s best role is as a creative spark rather than a final author:
‘Too often, we use AI for content creation, and that’s not actually the most useful place for it,’ he argued. ‘You, as a human, can write a more powerful story. Where AI comes in is you can create a prompt that suggests improvements, sparks ideas. That creative element right at the start cannot be replaced.’
Navigating Misinformation and Brand Equity
The rise of AI has made the battle against misinformation a top priority for PR professionals. This is particularly vital for organisations like the BHF. Nicole explained, ‘It’s a vulnerable moment for people when they’ve just been diagnosed. The last thing they need is nonsense coming through from the wrong source’.
To combat this, the BHF has worked with fellow organisations like Cancer Research UK and the Patient Information Forum on initiatives like Pif Ticks to signal trusted information to both humans and Large Language Models (LLMs).
As Tshepo noted, brand equity is increasingly tied to individuals.
‘Brands are struggling to remain as trusted brands, especially now that there’s a plethora of platforms, news organisations, news websites that are coming up, with everybody claiming that they are independent. People are trusting humans more than anything, especially with the rise of TikTok; a lot of people prefer trusting a human more than a brand.’
Building AI expert teams with training and ethics
Adopting AI is a cultural shift as well as a technological upgrade. The panel debunked the myth that AI proficiency is strictly the domain of younger members of the comms team:
‘There is no correlation with age and AI literacy whatsoever,’ Stuart said. ‘In fact, often, there is reluctance among younger people, because they’re the ones that are most afraid that AI is going to take their job.’
Both Nicole and Stuart stressed the importance of formal governance and training. The BHF has implemented bespoke training for all staff on areas like prompt engineering. Without such training, Stuart warned, ‘you open yourself up to lots of risks in terms of people using AI tools badly or unethically. You’ve really got to have that governance and training in place’.
The future of media relations
The relationship between PR and the media is also being rewritten. Reach plc’s use of its AI tool Guten to rewrite content for different titles serves as a prime example of how publishers are automating the newsroom. For PRs, this means transparency is paramount.
‘That transparency, and credibility, is a really big issue that the PR industry should be taking notice of,’ Stuart said. He suggested that future media lists might need to be split: ‘maybe you want to double your top tier media list: ten for AI, and ten for the humans’.
Tshepo concluded that the future belongs to those who can communicate with both:
‘AI can do a great job of analysing your site, what’s wrong and what’s good about it, what’s bad about it, about SEO and GEO. What it’s not as good at is actually helping you to create that compelling content that is going to work for both machines and humans. The reality is that, even in journalism, we are going to have to learn how to produce content for both; creating in a way that AI can read, and humans are going to love.’
Key Takeaways for PR and comms professionals from the experts
Conduct AI Stakeholder Mapping: Don’t assume your traditional media hierarchy still applies. Identify where your brand surfaces in LLM responses and prioritise the platforms (owned or institutional) that feed those models.
Lean into Authenticity: As AI scales content production, human-first storytelling, case studies, and emotional connection will be your greatest differentiators.
Invest in Governance and Training: Move beyond ad-hoc AI use. Implement formal guidelines and training to ensure ethical use and to help teams overcome the fear of displacement.
Prioritise Trust and Transparency: Use tools to monitor misinformation and work closely with publishers to ensure your content is cited correctly by AI agents.
Write for Two Audiences: Modern PR requires a dual approach — optimising content for machine readability (GEO) while maintaining the creative spark that engages human readers.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Featured-image-event-panel.jpg430760Phoebe-Jane Boyd/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngPhoebe-Jane Boyd2026-05-14 13:50:142026-05-14 15:15:11How AI is changing the way we communicate: Balancing AI efficiency with human authenticity in PR
In a busy and constantly changing news cycle, knowing what to pitch when can be difficult. The ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service (also now part of the Vuelio platform too) gets hundreds of journalists using it each month looking for experts, case studies and more. To help with your media outreach, here is what the media were searching for in April and how you can secure coverage in May and beyond.
Summer in sight
Journalists, especially those that work on consumer and trade magazines, often look to get their content well in advance of publication and that’s why one of the main keywords for April was ‘summer’. Nearly 7% of the total requests this month contained ‘summer’, despite the change of season still being a month or so away.
It’s a pretty broad topic and requests varied from looking for luxury UK summer spa packages, to advice on how Britons can keep their gardens from drying out, as well as healthy recipes and a medical expert to speak about hay fever and summer cold symptoms. Journalists have sent requests from outlets such as Ideal Home, Capital FM, The Caterer, Newsweek, HELLO! Fashion, and The Times.
Going forward? The amount of summer-related requests will only continue to rise in May and beyond and last year over 7% of all requests included ‘summer’ in them. The focus from journalists tends to be more on topics such as gardening, travel, fashion, beauty, and food & drink but there should be plenty of opportunities to hook onto a news story.
Health & wellness experts in demand
It’s currently Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK and journalists have already been keen to not only cover ‘mental health’ but also ‘wellness’ too. ‘Mental health’ cropped up in 1.5% of all requests in April and ‘wellness’ appeared in just over 2%.
Both of these topics are regularly sought out by journalists on the service and last month wellness requests included looking for an expert in advertising/marketing in the health/wellness medical space and wellness retreats that fit into the ‘quietcation’ holiday trend. While mental health enquiries included asks for information on mental health support for retail staffers and a psychologist or therapist to talk about loneliness.
Going forward? Personal health and wellness is normally in demand around this time of year, and in May 2025, ‘wellness’ appeared in 2.5% of the total requests. This remains a priority topic for journalists this year and they tend to focus on getting experts to share their tips and advice. Make sure yours are ready to provide comment and you could feature in Psychologies, PA Media, Men’s Health, Red magazine, or Conde Nast Traveller, as they all sent enquiries last month.
Gift guide items needed for Father’s Day
It’s still over a month until Father’s Day in the UK (21 June) but journalists have already been sending in plenty of requests around the celebration. 2% of all enquiries in April were for ‘Father’s Day’ and categories like Men’s Interest and Consumer Technology performed well as a result of this.
The majority of requests are for products to feature in a gift guide but there is some variety in here with journalists looking for everything from gadgets and tech, to grooming products and food and drink. There are also several enquiries seeking experiences including travel and family days out and wine/whisky experiences. Bella, Great British Food, Travel & Retreat, woman & home, and Dadsnet all sent requests last month.
Going forward? The number of enquiries around Father’s Day will only rise this month – in May 2025, it cropped up in nearly 3% of the total requests. This is a great opportunity to get products featured in consumer media titles or share information about experiences or days out.
Other opportunities for PRs in May and beyond
The FIFA World Cup is now less than a month away from starting but journalists have already been keen to cover this football extravaganza with just over 1% of enquiries in April featuring ‘world cup’. Enquiries so far have ranged from looking into the financial situation behind the ticket prices to wanting information about the best places to watch the tournament at. If you’ve got football experts or former players, there is a good chance of media coverage in the lead up to the World Cup.
It’s not quite festival season yet but again, the media have been looking to get ahead of this and last month around 1% of the enquiries contained the keyword ‘festival’ in them. This is likely to ramp up in May (in May 2025, ‘festival’ cropped up in 2% of the total enquiries) as the first few music festivals and events take place. Journalists tend to look for products to review as festival essentials and accessories so have these ready to send out and you could get featured in a national media title.
Want to get the most out of the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service? Find out how here.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Media-trends-for-May-from-Journalist-Enquiry-Service.jpg430760Andrew Strutt/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngAndrew Strutt2026-05-14 11:27:572026-05-14 11:29:48Summer in focus, wellness experts and Father's Day gift ideas: How to get UK press coverage in May 2026
Welcome to the May edition of our regular deep dive into what’s happening on the Vuelio platform. Here is everything you need to know about the latest Media Database enhancements, media moves, and the editorial trends currently dominating the Journalist Enquiry Service…
Extra outreach opportunities on the Vuelio Media Database
The Vuelio Research team’s commitment to data hygiene and expansion remains the backbone of the platform. In May, we saw substantial activity across both global and domestic markets.
Global outreach at a glance
8,246 global contacts added.
2,407 UK contacts updated for total accuracy.
601 new outlet news feeds mapped.
1,195,845 total media outlets now live on the platform.
Top growing international markets
Our Researchers have been busy verifying outlets across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. If you are planning international campaigns, take note of the growth in these key territories:
United States: +1,389 outlets
Italy: +575 outlets
South Korea: +525 outlets
France: +445 outlets
Brazil: +355 outlets
UK database spotlight
Within the UK, we have created 804 new positions and updated 2,157 existing roles. This includes a healthy mix of sectors:
National Press: 195 new roles; 469 updated.
Regional/Local Press: 100 new roles; 415 updated.
Magazines: 111 new roles; 348 updated.
Broadcast: 54 new roles; 407 updated.
Freelance: 45 new specialists added.
Project spotlight: National Press enrichment
The headline news for May is the completion of a National Press enrichment project, focusing on contacts and opportunities for PRs. We know that for many of our users, the national newsrooms are the holy grail of coverage; this project was specifically designed to bolster our coverage of the UK’s most commercially significant titles, ensuring that when you search our platform, you’re met with verified, high-value journalist data.
Alongside this, we’ve continued our global maintenance to ensure your international outreach remains as precise as your local campaigns.
We have added over 180 verified journalist contacts across high-profile national outlets, including:
The Times & Sunday Times
The Guardian & Observer
Daily Mail & Daily Mail Online
The Daily Telegraph
Financial Times
The Independent
Sky News
Associated Press
This ongoing commitment to national press enrichments means the platform will reflect newsroom reshuffles, new columnists, and beat changes at pace, giving you a distinct advantage in your outreach.
What journalists want now: Trends and insights
The Journalist Enquiry Service processed around 2,000 media requests in May, with consumer media leading the charge. If you’re looking for a hook for your next pitch, these are the themes currently filling up journalists’ news and features:
1. Summer lifestyle and travel planning
Journalists are already commissioning heavily for the summer holidays. We are seeing a high volume of requests for outdoor activities, seasonal lifestyle features, and travel advice.
If you have travel clients or outdoor products, the time to pitch is now.
2. Home and spring refresh
The Home category on the Journalist Enquiry Service remains a core editorial pillar. Requests are focused on interior design, cleaning hacks, and practical home improvement.
3. AI & digital transformation
In the B2B and tech space, AI has moved beyond a niche topic to the mainstream. We are seeing constant requests for expert commentary on how AI is impacting the workplace and specific industry sectors, so get your pitches ready to send to journalists writing about this.
As the weather improves in the UK (we hope…), editorial focus has shifted toward running, seasonal health trends, and manageable wellness routines.
Industry news: People on the move in the media
Keeping track of who is sitting in the editor’s chair is vital for successful media relations. Here are some significant moves from the last month:
BBC Radio 2: Sara Cox has been announced as the host of the weekday Breakfast Show (6:30–9:30 am), launching this summer.
ASOS: Jazmin Duribe has been promoted to Senior Editorial Manager. She is particularly interested in hearing about exhibitions, films, TV, and fashion news for their culture roundups.
The Guardian: Micha Frazer-Carroll joins as Assistant Editor and writer of The Long Wave newsletter. Her focus is on international Black stories across politics, arts, and lifestyle.
Family Traveller: Harriet Mallinson is the new Editor of Familytraveller.com. She is looking for family-friendly events, products, and media stays worldwide.
Want more media moves as they happen? Sign up to our weekly Media Bulletin for updates.
Industry Challenges
On broader shifts in the media landscape, announcements of job cuts and restructures at Bauer Media Group and the BBC, and Ian Katz (Chief Content Officer at Channel 4) set to step down this autumn underlines how a live platform is more effective than static media lists. As newsrooms consolidate, knowing exactly who is still on each journalist beat is paramount.
Proactive planning: May action plan for PRs
To make the most of these updates within the platform, we recommend the following steps for your May outreach:
Refresh your National media lists: With over 180 new contacts added in the Enrichment Project, your existing lists for The Times or The Telegraph may be out of date. Re-run your searches to find new targets.
Leverage summer media request leads: Align your experts with the demand for Summer lifestyle-related contributions. If you have a spokesperson who can talk about outdoor wellbeing or seasonal travel, get them in front of the journalists currently using the Journalist Enquiry Service. Requests to PRs are now directly flowing through into the Vuelio platform, giving you more opportunities to get in touch and connect with journalists.
Explore international markets: If your brand has a presence in Italy or South Korea, now is the time to explore our expanded database in those regions.
The media landscape is moving faster than ever, but with the right intelligence, those shifts become opportunities rather than obstacles. Ensure you are utilising the latest verified data on the platform to make your next campaign your most successful yet.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PR-opportunities-on-the-Vuelio-Media-Database.jpg430760Phoebe-Jane Boyd/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngPhoebe-Jane Boyd2026-05-13 14:17:492026-05-13 14:22:34PR opportunities for media outreach: Updates on Vuelio for May
The ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service celebrates a special milestone this year as it’s 25 years since its launch. The service has been there to assist thousands of journalists over this period, and give PRs the opportunity to secure media coverage for their experts, case studies, press releases and more.
Here is a look back at some of the biggest events and stories the Journalist Enquiry Service was able to help amplify across the UK over the last 20 years, and what’s happening in our 25th year.
Global economic events
Talking about big economic events from the last 20 years, 2008 would stand out for many of us in the UK and Europe – certainly comms and journalists tasked with covering the business and personal finance beat at the time.
Personal Finance-related media requests from journalists and broadcasters surged in the midst of the crisis, reflecting the immediate need for consumer information about what this meant for the public’s finances. And UK PR and comms people were there to help, offering advice from key experts and case studies from those impacted.
But that wasn’t the end of wide-spread financial woes, with the Cost of Living Crisis continuing to rumble on. First catching significant media attention towards the end of 2021, the Journalist Enquiry Service’s Personal Finance category saw a significant and sustained spike, increasing by nearly 70% from 1,926 in 2020 to a peak of 3,254 in 2022. Journalists needed practical, consumer-focused advice on budgeting, inflation, and debt, and turned to the UK PR users of the Journalist Enquiry Service for support. In 2022, Business & Finance media requests peaked again, (6,339) this time with asks for corporate strategy and the broader economic outlook.
What does this mean for PRs now?
If you want to reach out to a journalist covering Business & Finance in 2026, the focus should be on thought leadership and forward-looking analysis. Go beyond simple reporting when responding to requests and offer expert commentary on long-term economic forecasts, sector-specific performance in challenging environments, and strategic advice for businesses navigating the current climate.
Trying to get coverage with Personal Finance journalists? The big increase in the number of requests during times of crisis over the last 20 years suggests that the media is looking for immediate, practical advice on topics like saving, managing utility bills, mortgages, debt management, and more. For these significant events that will affect consumers due to high inflation and economic volatility, have experts ready to provide clear, non-jargon solutions.
Infrastructure and construction
While the Construction & Property and Manufacturing, Engineering & Energy categories on the Journalist Enquiry Service are traditionally less busy than others – primarily serving niche trade publications – related requests grew significantly between 2005 and 2008 – peaks coinciding with the planning and initial heavy construction phases of projects like the Elizabeth Line and the Battersea Power Station redevelopment – both having driven high media interest in the sector’s activity and scale.
Manufacturing, Engineering & Energy requests from the media have surged again recently – indicating the media’s increased focus on the industrial and supply-chain aspects of large-scale infrastructure, and perhaps the growing focus on energy transition, too.
What does this mean for PRs now?
When it comes to Construction & Property-focused media, general construction activity is less newsworthy than project milestones. If you want to get media coverage in this sector, focus on major project announcements, planning approvals, and any impactful delays. There is also a chance to cover innovative engineering if you can explain how it is done, the final launch, and what impact this is going to have on the sector and the local community.
Manufacturing, Engineering & Energy has seen major growth as a category recently and will most likely continue due to major projects like HS2 still on-going and recent ones like Thames Tideway only recently completed. The focus for PRs needs to be on technical innovations, UK manufacturing successes, and the energy implications of infrastructure. Stories and experts to talk about the materials used, the engineering feats, and the green energy solutions will resonate strongly with journalists covering this sector.
Political instability and change
The Public Sector, Third Sector & Legal category is another traditionally smaller category for the Journalist Enquiry Service, but it’s seen a sustained increase in requests from the media since 2015 – unsurprising, considering the political uncertainty of Brexit in 2016, calls for Scottish Independence and several different changes of Prime Minister during the recent Conservative government.
The number of requests shot up from 1367 in 2014 to 2407 in 2017 – taking in the 2015 General Election and the 2016 Brexit Referendum, reflecting the massive focus from journalists on both the legal and public implications of leaving the EU.
Requests from journalists hit an all-time high of 2907 in 2022, coinciding with the Conservative government making multiple Prime Minister changes (Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak) – journalists sought to cover the continued political instability, and the fallout around the cost-of-living crisis – something PR subscribers to the Journalist Enquiry Service were able to help with.
What does this mean for PRs now?
When political turmoil or constitutional shifts occur (like a new PM or a major policy pivot), PRs should focus on proactively pitching legal and public policy experts with clear, non-partisan analysis of how new legislation, devolved powers, or government restructuring will affect public services, the third sector, or regulatory environments. After an election or a major policy announcement (e.g. a post-Brexit trade deal, a new devolution package), the focus should shift to the mechanics and consequences of the policy. The number of journalist requests don’t just peak before a change, but also afterwards as the media covers the implementation and the ensuing legal and social challenges.
In terms of the opportunities for the Third Sector, the periods of crisis or public sector cuts ( often a consequence of political change), increase the media’s attention on charities and non-profit organisations. PRs working in this space should focus on data-driven stories demonstrating the impact of their work in filling gaps left by state services and advocating for policy change.
The social media boom and new technology
The development of technologies has been vast over the last twenty years and from 2005 until 2017, there was massive growth and journalists have made use of the Consumer Technology category with requests rocketing up from 903 to 4794. This coincided with the explosion of smartphones, social media platforms, and the app economy, and journalists were keen to cover all these changes. Since 2017, the number of requests has remained high, with the media tending to focus on general consumer gadgets and apps as they develop and evolve.
The Computing & Telecoms category has likewise seen a similar initial rise in requests from the media, hitting its peak in 2016 with 3490. This was largely driven by the development of modern communication infrastructures such as broadband, 4G, and cloud services. Another increase in journalist attention came in 2023 after the launch of the first major landmark in large language models (LLMs) – ChatGPT. AI has become one of the most consistent keywords on the Journalist Enquiry Service, but deep tech topics like quantum computing can also crop up in other categories such as Business & Finance and Manufacturing, Engineering & Energy.
What does this mean for PRs now?
Journalists that cover consumer technology, such as gadgets, are less likely to be looking for the technical specifications (which drove interest pre-2017) and are now more focused on the cultural, social, or personal impact of the technology. For instance, covering the ethics of a new social media feature, or how an app changes lifestyle, will resonate better than simply launching a new phone model.
PRs working in spaces such as AI and quantum computing may want to look beyond just the Computing & Telecoms category and also pitch to business journalists who will be looking at the commercial application, ROI, or national industrial strategy behind the technology. Most tech journalists working on trade outlets will know the technical complexity of new technologies and will instead be interested in covering the tangible, real-world benefits of what is being developed and launched.
The Journalist Enquiry Service in 2026: Even more ways to connect with the media
ResponseSource and Vuelio have always sought to support the comms and media industries with their unique challenges. This year, we’ve integrated media requests from the Journalist Enquiry Service into the Vuelio Media Database to enrich and expand opportunities for connection and collaboration.
Embedding media requests into the Vuelio Media Database directly provides PRs a peek into newsrooms now, combining with insight into what is coming up months in the future from forward features lists.
As the media and comms industry evolves with the changing times, the Journalist Enquiry Service will continue to be here to connect them, and help with the big news stories of the future.
Find out more about the Journalist Enquiry Service here.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/25-years-of-the-Journalist-Enquiry-Service-1.jpg430760Andrew Strutt/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngAndrew Strutt2026-05-07 14:33:532026-05-07 15:18:0325 years of the Journalist Enquiry Service: Its impact on the biggest news stories, then and now
The communications landscape has been transformed by the emergence of artificial intelligence, and the traditional tools of PR have had to evolve to keep up. For organisations operating in a world of fragmented media and accelerating sharing, AI must be utilised as a tool, but also treated as an influential stakeholder.
The challenge has taken PR & Comms professionals beyond traditional media monitoring, with success now also depending on whether Large Language Models (LLMs) recognise your organisation, your clients, and your messaging, and include them in their generated answers. If absent from AI summaries, your organisation risks becoming invisible to a generation of users who rely on these systems for their primary information.
AI can be a blocker, or a connector
AI is a powerful stakeholder in its own right, and like any other stakeholder, can’t be ignored.
During Vuelio webinar ‘AI as the new PR & comms stakeholder‘, the University of Huddersfield’s Dr Anne Gregory highlighted how the growing dependence on these tools is reshaping how we practice communications.
‘AI is much more than just an assistant; it is a powerful actor in the information ecosystem.
‘It mediates our engagement with organisations and individuals, and evidence is emerging that AI is often believed more than other traditional sources.’
This shift in trust represents a significant risk for those caught unprepared. If an LLM synthesises a narrative about your client or brand that is factually flawed, or omits your perspective entirely, the speed at which that ‘truth’ takes hold is fast.
However, many PR teams still aren’t paying significant attention to this. Purposeful Relations‘ Stuart Bruce highlighted how teams currently allocate their resources as just one example.
‘If you look at where budgets and effort are currently directed, the focus remains heavily on social media influencers,’ he observed. ‘Meanwhile, far less attention is paid to AI answers, which are becoming significantly more influential and persuasive.’
‘Invisible’ organisations
Media fragmentation has made it harder than ever to maintain a coherent narrative. Between political volatility, geopolitical shifts, and the sheer volume of digital noise, the feedback loop of communications is compressing. In this environment, comms teams need to go beyond monitoring and interpreting to anticipating and ‘pre-bunking’.
Because the risk of being ignored by LLMs is a commercial one. Gartner’s recent report ‘Top Predictions to Inform 2026 Comms Strategies‘ highlighted a critical shift for Chief Communications Officers (CCO) towards Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO).
Gaining visibility in AI answers doesn’t require a skill set completely new to comms professionals, however. The shift can be simple: to be included in an AI answer, your organisation must provide enough digital touchpoints for the model to verify your information as reliable.
As Stuart Bruce puts it: ‘AI creates content in the same way a journalist or an analyst might, by synthesising countless bits of information from across the web.
‘The more touchpoints the AI finds to verify a fact, the more likely it is to include it. If we don’t create an environment where the AI can find enough evidence of our perspective, it simply won’t give it.’
Closing the gap
The secret to a successful campaign in 2026 and beyond lies in ensuring your key facts, executive commentary, and brand milestones are structured and accessible to LLMs – placing information in enough reputable digital locations (from media outlets to white papers and official statements) that an AI agent perceives your narrative as the authoritative one.
As Dr Anne Gregory warned: ‘Once a narrative is set, it becomes extremely difficult to counter. This is why PR must come in early. AI agents use information to create their own sources of knowledge; if the data they collect is flawed, the consequences for the organisation are severe.’
PRs continue to be the architects of brand reputation, tasked with influencing both the human audience and the intelligent agents that interpret the world for them.
What’s next?
The organisations that will thrive in this AI-mediated world are those that earn credibility through the discoverability of their message – like the comms outreach of old, but evolved.
At Vuelio, our platform is built to support exactly this kind of purposeful communication, with our Lumina suite continuing to evolve to meet the needs of today’s comms teams. Whether you are in-house or agency, the goal remains the same: to ensure that when AI is asked a question about your sector, your organisation, or your clients, your voice is the one it uses to provide the answer.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/LLM-visibility-gap.jpg430760Phoebe-Jane Boyd/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngPhoebe-Jane Boyd2026-04-29 11:11:472026-05-07 15:48:51The LLM visibility gap: Why PRs need to earn attention in AI answers
Artificial Intelligence impacts PR & comms in two distinct ways. It transforms how practitioners work with massive volumes of media, and at a greater degree of sophistication and personalisation. At the same time, it’s also a powerful force shaping how information is surfaced, interpreted, and acted upon across the entire communications industry. What’s changed isn’t just ‘how’ you do the work, but your reason for doing it in the first place.
Not sure if you agree? The current landscape makes clear just how important factoring in AI’s influence is. According to Gartner’s latest predictions for 2026, the mass adoption of public Large Language Models (LLMs) as a replacement for traditional search is expected to drive a significant increase in PR and earned media budgets by 2027. To add to this, BCG’s AI Radar global survey found that corporate investments in AI have doubled since last year.
From the PRCA’s recent green paper on responsible AI, to the CIPR’s focus as part of its survey for 2026, the sector is rapidly investing in this future. And with the EU AI Act deadline on the horizon, the urgency for robust governance and planning has never been higher. As Rupert Younger, Director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, put it as long ago as 2024: ‘AI is not just a technology, it has become a stakeholder’.
To navigate this new reality, we were joined by Dr Anne Gregory, Professor Emeritus at the University of Huddersfield, and Stuart Bruce, PR Futurist and Co-founder of Purposeful Relations, for our latest webinar, ‘AI as the new PR & comms stakeholder’.
In the session, we explored how this new stakeholder is redefining reputation, influence, and strategy.
What kind of stakeholder is AI?
While many across the comms industry still view AI as a digital assistant for finding efficiencies and speeding up elements of our daily responsibilities, Anne argues it has moved into a more active role:
‘In one sense, AI is a compliant assistant, helping us along the campaign creation trail from research to identifying and prioritising stakeholders, tracking sentiment. But even here, it’s doing that in your name and in your organisation’s name. You have to have a stake in its work, because it certainly has a stake in yours.’
‘We’re becoming increasingly dependent on these tools, and they’re shaping our practice and behavior, but AI is much more than just an assistant. It’s a powerful actor in the information ecosystem.’
While AI lacks anything approaching human intentionality (for now…) its algorithmic processes produce significant real-world consequences. It shapes organisational perceptions and mediates engagement with individuals, often presenting summaries that are believed more than traditional sources.
‘AI is becoming a very strong stakeholder,’ said Anne. ‘ I like Dr. Nici Sweaney’s definition of these agents and AI, it’s an accidental stakeholder’.
Stuart Bruce added that there is still significant confusion regarding what AI actually means for practitioners. Purposeful Relations’ research with 72Point revealed that 44% of UK consumers trust AI answers – a figure nearly double the 24% who trust social media influencers:
‘If you look at where budgets and effort goes at the moment, it’s going to social media influencers; it’s not going into what’s happening with AI answers, which are becoming a lot more influential and persuasive.
‘Anne talked about accidental stakeholders – you’ve actually also got the accidental AI users, because even those people that aren’t using AI, they’re still going to be seeing those AI overviews in search. This is where we talk about ‘zero click’, because people are often seeing those answers and going no further.
‘It’s not just about visibility, it’s actually also about accuracy – how your organisation is being portrayed, your leadership, and your people. You’re going to want your particular perspective to be coming out in AI answers.’
The dangers of underestimating AI’s role as a stakeholder
If AI is treated only as a tool or assistant, organisations face substantial reputational risks. Anne warned about the danger of underestimating AI’s power to curate and shape truth:
‘For a lot of people, it has become a source of truth. Maybe PR people are more skeptical of AI than others… but the world isn’t peopled by AI experts or public relations experts. Even though we know these summaries are often incomplete and biased, we tend to believe them. If we don’t regard AI as an influential stakeholder, we could be putting ourselves in jeopardy.’
Anne pointed out the difference with this stakeholder and stakeholders as they’re currently understood, particularly the media.
‘There’s an interesting difference here. If you’ve got a beef with a journalist and you think they’ve not represented you fairly, you can go and have a conversation with that journalist, and you can present them with a case. You can even go to the editor and get some sort of redress. You can’t do that with AI, not in the same way at all.
‘AI is a very powerful and influential stakeholder, but not one that you can necessarily influence back directly. Once a narrative is set, it becomes really, really difficult to counter it. Which is, of course, where PR comes in.’
Trouble can also come if comms practitioners fail to make full use of traditional tools in the PR kit that came way before AI: getting a story out to as many influential sources as possible.
For a practical example, Stuart shared the story of a university industrial dispute. The AI’s narrative was dominated by the trade union’s perspective, because the union had provided multiple touchpoints – website statements, social media, and media quotes. The university, in comparison, having viewed the situation as negative, only responded directly to journalists:
‘The trade union gave them half a dozen quotes – the university gave them one. It just wasn’t credible. This is what AI as a stakeholder actually means. The more touchpoints that AI can find to verify that a piece of information is a fact, the more likely it is to be included in that AI answer.’
Shifting narratives and the speed of change
Anne reflected on the speed of adoption, noting that CIPR’s AIinPR 2018 literature review could not have predicted the current reach of generative models. She admitted that while the PR industry was initially slow to adopt and adapt, it has quickly developed an ‘obsession with tools’ rather than considering the broader implications:
‘We didn’t realise that AI is a stakeholder for the whole organisation. We are only now waking up to the fact that we have an enormous role in the governance of these systems. At the end of the day, we’re talking about the legitimacy of whole organisations.’
‘If organisations aren’t doing something now, it’s too late.
‘NATO published a paper on misinformation and disinformation and one of the concepts that NATO talks about a lot is “pre-bunking” and “inoculation” – making sure that your information is out there. And that’s what you need to do with AI – it’s too late to wait, and watch, and see. You actually need to be making sure that it understands your perspective now – it’s not just as simple as dealing with a truculent journalist or an activist group. AI is influenced by a multitude of sources.’
Navigating governance and internal responsibility
With a lack of one source of truth regarding the ethical use of AI, Stuart highlighted the importance of ‘living and breathing’ internal governance and responsibility, involving continuous training and feedback loops:
‘Too often what people try to do is create an AI policy, and on its own, that’s fairly meaningless. Governance is something entirely different. The policy only means something if you’ve done some training to go with it.’
Stuart introduced the concept of a ‘social license’ for AI — gaining trust from other stakeholders, internal and external, for how an organisation embraces the technology.
‘It’s making sure that it’s not just about how you as PR people or comms people are using AI, but how the organisation is embracing it. How on earth do we get trust from all of our other stakeholders for the things that we might want to do with AI? How do we bring our employees with us? How do we make sure that we’re using it in the most sustainable way possible?
‘What are we doing to address issues around bias and inclusivity, fairness and access? The answer is going to be different for each organisation.’
What can the industry do now to work with this new stakeholder?
Both speakers offered critical advice for practitioners to follow now. Anne urged the comms industry to continue to question what AI offers and evolve their approach as the technology changes:
‘Constantly ask yourself three questions: Why are we using AI? How is it built? And who is it going to be affecting?
‘Remember, it’s not just an agent at your service; it’s an equaliser of power that takes a stake in you and your organisation as much as you use it to influence others.’
Stuart expressed concern that hype, and confusion, around terms like Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is turning a portion of comms people off of thinking about the ramifications of AI as a stakeholder:
‘There is a lot of hype, but the fundamental point remains: you must renew your communication strategy. If comms people aren’t thinking about this this year, they’re going to be in real trouble.’
Simple tips for AI-friendly outreach
When asked for tips on making media outreach more AI-friendly, Stuart was adamant: do not write for machines.
‘We should still 100% be writing for humans. However, it’s possible to write for humans in an AI-friendly way so that AI can understand and read it as well.’
He identified three factors AI prioritises:
Recency: AI likes fresh content to supplement its training data. If you have a research report, keep refreshing it with new aspects.
Relevance: AI recognises specialist niche titles and trade media. Some syndicate titles that practitioners sometimes sneer at are actually vital because AI uses them to fill data gaps.
Reputation: AI looks for ‘proof points,’ like whether a spokesperson has a matching biography on the website or a consistent LinkedIn profile.
Stuart suggested that practitioners must broaden their scope of stakeholders. While first-tier earned media remains important, much of it is hidden behind paywalls. AI will look elsewhere for information:
‘When a comms team is doing outreach, if the CEO has got a limited time to do interviews, it changes the priority of the ones we’re going to accept. When we talk about owned media – not just necessarily talking about your own owned media – often we’re talking about partners, suppliers, or customers, and what they’re publishing and sharing.
‘We are in public relations – the key word is “relations”. Sometimes we focus on two small a segment of stakeholders. We might look at the media, we might look at politicians, but it needs to be a lot broader than that.
‘We really need to understand all of the relationships that an organisation has and think about whether we can manage those relationships in a better way, but also what impact that’s going to have on AI answers, because it is going to have an impact on both.
‘Fundamentally, organisations need relationships to exist. You can’t exist in a vacuum, so it’s important that we get this right.’
And to finish on a positive note: Anne saw great opportunity for public relations’ new stakeholder in AI – bringing new ways to connect and relate:
‘That’s one positive thing that AI can help us with. Look at the spread of relationships that are going to help us get traction with a whole range of other organisations, and influential people.’
For more on how AI is speeding up the spread of information – and challenges to the comms industry – check out our previous webinar ‘AI, Disinformation and the Risks They Pose for Communicators Today‘ with Thomas Barton, Executive Director of the Council for Countering Online Disinformation and CEO of Polis Analysis.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/AI-is-the-new-stakeholder-for-PR-and-comms.jpg430760Phoebe-Jane Boyd/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngPhoebe-Jane Boyd2026-04-23 16:21:402026-04-30 13:41:34AI is the new PR & comms stakeholder
What are journalists looking to cover in April and beyond? With another big holiday now behind us in Easter, it can be tricky to know what topics might stand out for the media in among all the current affairs and trending issues. From insight via the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service (which is now also available in the Vuelio platform), we share what journalists have been looking for recently and where you can expect to get media coverage over the next month or so.
Interest in home improvements rising
The Home & Garden category is always a popular one on the Journalist Enquiry Service but recently ‘home’ has been cropping up in a lot of enquiries – in March, it appeared in 11% of the total for the month. Within this, there were also around 2% focused solely on ‘interiors’ as journalists look to get experts and comment on ways that people can make home improvements before the summer arrives.
Journalists at Your Home, Livingetc, Homebuilding & Renovating, House Beautiful, Metro, Daily Mail, and Ideal Home all sent enquiries last month relating to the home. These included looking for case studies of interior designers or influencers who have created a beautiful home, expert commentary about using vintage pieces from the 1960s in homes, home storage products to review and for information on a Spring/Summer home, garden & DIY makeover feature.
Going forward? In April last year, ‘home’ appeared in just over 8% of the total requests meaning that journalists will continue to be looking for experts, products to review and case studies for the rest of this month and likely into May as well. Interior designers are particularly popular but anything home-related will have a good chance of securing media coverage in either consumer magazines or websites.
Running and fitness experts in demand
Marathon season is very much upon us with the Brighton marathon taking place last weekend, and Manchester happening this weekend, before London on 26 April. The media has been looking for experts in this field, and ‘running’ has cropped up in 2.5% of requests in March. Journalists have also looked to cover health and fitness more generally as well and ‘fitness’ appeared in just over 2% of the enquiries last month.
The running-related requests have included the best running essentials for beginners inspired by the London Marathon, a physiotherapist specialising in running, and PTs and running experts to provide advice and tips on carbon plate trainers. Meanwhile, the fitness enquiries have seen journalists looking for diet and fitness transformations of women over 40, information on the new wave of wearable health and fitness tech you can talk to, and a physiologist or sports science expert to provide comment for a piece about cardio fitness.
Going forward? We are very much into ‘running season’ right now and the media are regularly looking for experts (running coaches, former athletes, and personal trainers) to help give advice or tips to tie in with their articles. Running appeared in 2% of the total requests in April last year, so we would expect to see similar engagement this year. Fitness more generally is a frequent keyword on the service and normally offers up more opportunities to feature case studies and products to review. If you have experts ready to give comment then they could get coverage in Women’s Health, Men’s Fitness, The Times, Marie Claire, or The Independent as journalists from all these titles sent a request last month.
Gardening tips and advice wanted
With Spring now fully in bloom and better weather (slowly) returning, journalists look to cover gardening tips and tricks to share with their readers. ‘Gardening’ appeared in a little over 5% of all the requests in March with ‘plants/planting’ featuring in 1.5% as the media sought advice on what flowers and shrubs people should be looking to plant during this season.
Journalists at Country Living, Good Housekeeping, PA Media, Gardens Illustrated, and woman & home have all sent gardening-related enquiries in March. These have mainly been asking for experts to answer questions such as solving daffodil blindness, whether you should get rid of caterpillars and about self-seeding plants. There have also been a few case study requests for people who grew their own balcony garden in a city apartment, and for products to review such as lawnmowers and other gardening equipment.
Going forward? April last year saw a similar level of interest in gardening to March this year with 5% of all enquiries being around this topic, and it then increased in May 2025 to over 6%. Journalists will tend to seek out gardening experts to share their advice but there will also be the chance to get products featured and case studies as well.
Other opportunities for PRs in April and beyond
The current war in the Middle East has generated a lot of media attention and that has fed through to the Journalist Enquiry Service as well, particularly in relation to ‘energy’ which appeared in just over 3% of the requests last month. The war’s impact on gas and oil prices has been the main focus of journalists sending requests and we are likely to see more enquiries regarding energy experts and analysts to share their insight going forward over the next few weeks and months.
Another topical issue is the ‘environment’ and that cropped up in 3% of all enquiries in March. With Earth Day taking place on 22 April, there is likely to be a greater focus from the media on this topic. If you have environmental experts or case studies of people that are making a difference to reduce their impact on climate change and global warming, then they could well get national or broadcast coverage.
Want to get the most out of the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service? Find out how here.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/How-to-get-UK-press-coverage-April-2026.jpg430760Andrew Strutt/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngAndrew Strutt2026-04-16 13:59:332026-04-16 14:06:21Home improvement advice, running coaches and gardening experts: How to get UK press coverage in April 2026
In the fast-paced world of public relations, success often comes down to timing – and precision. To help you hit the mark this month, the Vuelio research team has been busy adding new opportunities for media outreach and connection to the platform.
April has been a month of significant expansion and refinement – from forward features, to increased international data, the platform is more primed than ever to help you navigate the media landscape and share your message.
Here is a breakdown of the latest data and trends to inform your strategy for the coming months.
More contacts to leverage across the globe
Our research team has been hard at work to ensure the platform remains accurate and comprehensive for comms. This month, an extra 5,745 outlets were added to the Vuelio Media Database, bringing the total database to over 1.24 million media destinations worldwide.
Our international reach continues to broaden, so if you are managing global accounts, make the most of extra opportunities in these key markets:
United States: +980 new outlets Italy: +531 new outlets France: +325 new outlets South Korea: +220 new outlets
In the UK, we’ve added refreshed and deepened information for 2,671 media contacts, ensuring your outreach engagement rates remain high.
35,000+ forward features now live
There are now 35,684 individual opportunities to dive into for your media outreach.
Instead of reacting to the news cycle, look months ahead to see when major publications are planning features on everything from renewable energy to wedding trends.
How to use this data across sectors:
What Journalists want from PRs this month
The Journalist Enquiry Service, now accessible within the Vuelio platform, remains a vital pulse-check on what the media needs from PRs. In April, the team processed over 2,000 submissions from journalists, broadcasters, and content creators, with the Daily Mail, The i paper, and PA Media leading the charge.
If you are looking for quick wins this month, our data shows that journalists are actively searching for:
Practical Living: Beyond just interiors, there is a shift toward practical advice. Think home improvement, cost-saving tips, and sustainable living.
Broadening Tech Horizons: While AI still dominates the headlines, journalists are now seeking expert commentary on broader digital transformation and how technology impacts traditional business sectors.
Specialist Insight: We are seeing a steady rise in requests for authoritative, human voices to comment on complex health and social topics – get case studies and spokespeople primed and ready.
Best of Lists: There is an insatiable appetite for product reviews and buying guides, particularly in the home and lifestyle categories.
Expert insight: Shift from reactive to proactive
To wrap up this month’s update, we asked our Research team for their top tip for the coming weeks. The consensus? Lead with demand, not lists.
Instead of simply blasting a press release to a pre-saved media list, use Journalist Enquiry Service insights to see what journalists are actually asking for today, and then use the Forward Features tool to see what they will be asking for in three months.
When you approach a journalist with a solution to an editorial gap they’ve already identified, you stop being a pitcher and start being a partner.
Find out more about Vuelio’s suite of products for PR, comms, and public affairs professionals here.
https://www.vuelio.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/The-state-of-journalism.jpg430760Phoebe-Jane Boyd/uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Vuelio-PR-Comms-Public-Affairs-Logo.pngPhoebe-Jane Boyd2026-04-14 14:47:262026-04-14 14:47:26PR opportunities for media outreach this month: The latest updates on the Vuelio platform
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