What AI means for "go direct" PR

AI-driven search is transforming how information is surfaced, potentially opening a new path for brands to control their narratives.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend. I spent mine going heads-down on some house projects, and even though I didn’t set out to use AI, I ended up looping in AI assistants throughout the weekend. I turned to chatbots for advice on hanging outdoor lights, to ask what those metal ring-thingies are called, and how to optimize my cooking methods for pork ribs vs. beef ribs. I honestly don’t see how anyone could still think AI is a fad or a bubble—its utility when you’re looking for information is palpable. For anything noncritical, where a mistake isn’t costly or you have time to check, AI is often the shortest path to discovering it.

The fact that AI eliminates various informational “middlemen” has profound consequences for media, but also for public relations. In recent years, the idea of “going direct” for brands has meant that some startups and company founders are trying to bypass traditional PR altogether, seeking to tell their stories directly to customers. The nature of AI happens to be perfectly aligned with that strategy, and savvy brands could leverage large language models’ hunger for data to bend narratives in their favor, even without the attention from traditional media.

More on that in a minute, but first I want to remind everyone that on Thursday this week I’m returning to Section School for a fully updated reprise of my session, AI for PR & Communications. If you want to learn about some real, practical use cases for applying AI in your day-to-day, this if for you: It’s full of rapid-fire demos that you can start using immediately. You can sign up here.

And for the journalists out there, I’m still looking for a few more applicants for a “prototype” course on AI for Journalists. This is a compressed version of the class I’ll be offering in the fall in partnership with The Upgrade. It’s two sessions at the end of June, the content will be focused on journalism use cases, and the prototype will be just a fraction of the final cost of the full course. If you’re interested, you can apply for one of the (limited) spots here.

Now let’s get into what AI means for go-direct PR strategy.

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If AI chatbots can’t access credible journalism, they’ll serve up something else, creating an opportunity for brands. (Credit: Midjourney)

How AI adds fuel to ‘go direct’ PR—and what the media can can do about it

In recent years, the strategy of “going direct” in public relations has gained momentum. The core idea is that certain companies—particularly tech startups—can more effectively control their messaging by bypassing traditional PR routes and the media altogether. Instead of pitching stories or relying on intermediaries, executives and founders publish content straight to the web and social platforms, connecting with audiences on their own terms.

Naturally, this shift has stirred debate in PR and media circles about its true effectiveness, the enduring value of legacy media, and whether any brand can truly thrive without third-party credibility. I’m not here to rehash that debate (though for a deeper dive, I encourage you go check out this panel I moderated on topic with the editor of The Washington Post at the Consensus conference). But it’s undeniable that “going direct” has become a fixture in the PR/communications playbook.

And now, AI is about to supercharge it.

The AI-powered evolution of 'go direct'

This became clearer to me after a recent conversation I had with Chris Andrew, CEO of Scrunch AI, on The Media Copilot podcast. Scrunch specializes in placement in AI search. The company helps brands ensure their content gets indexed, analyzed, and summarized by AI when users query topics related to their industry. It’s conceptually similar to SEO (search engine optimization), though the industry hasn’t landed on a name yet—AIEO, LLMO, and GAIO are all in the running.