By Flo Powell, Joint Managing Director
PR is having a renaissance – not as a support act to marketing, but as a core driver of trust, visibility and influence in an AI-shaped landscape. In 2026, the brands that win won’t shout louder; they’ll show up more credibly.
It’s not just us saying it. SEO expert Rand Fishkin famously had the PR industry’s hearts a-flutter last year when he deemed it ‘the future of marketing’. And the whole digital marketing community seemingly agreed, something that was brought into sharp focus at the October BrightonSEO conference which put Digital PR firmly on the agenda.
So, imagine my disappointment to hear, just before Christmas, Sir Martin Sorrell on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, saying: “There is no such thing as PR anymore”. Former WPP founder, Martin was talking about the rise of ‘storytelling’ as a job role, quoting Google and Microsoft as two examples of companies advertising jobs with that title.
Cue the ‘death of PR’ stories. Something our friends in SEO are familiar with, having been told for the last few years that ‘SEO is dead…long live GEO/AIO/insert favourite AI search acronym here’.
PR is far from dead. It might be being mislabelled as ‘brand storytelling’ but what we do, and have been doing for decades, holds more relevance today than it ever has.
Top six in 2026: the B2B PR trends to watch
So here’s my top six in 2026 of what I think we’ll see more of this year in B2B PR:
- Authenticity: backlash against fake experts continues
- Relationships: trusted journalist connections outperform volume
- Digital PR: included as the standard with every PR brief
- AI backlash: more PR awards being scrutinised for AI use
- Media training: another high-profile interview will remind leaders why preparation matters
- Employer brand: will rise in importance as a PR objective
1. Authenticity vs fakery
As our Emily Abreu, Account Executive, said: “Authenticity is going to be everything. With fake experts and AI noise everywhere, the media will double down on trusted voices. Brands that invest in credible spokespeople and real thought leadership will win the room.”
Sadly in 2025, we talked a lot about the rise of ‘fake experts’, that’s journalists being pitched what they thought were real humans with quotes or case studies and publishing those experts in good faith only to discover they weren’t real.
The Press Gazette has been leading the charge against this unethical practice and naming and shaming the agencies behind this fakery. It’s giving us all a bad name. It does mean, however, that agencies like Midnight, which has been around for 31 years this year, are trusted by the journalists we work with.
We saw a marked increase last year in the launch of tools to help journalists verify expert spokespeople. I’m sure we’ll see more of this in 2026.
We were being asked about this by clients, so we wrote a blog about why creating fake experts is a (really) bad idea. Here it is in case you need a reminder.
2. Relationships vs scattergun targeting
Following on from the increase in fakery, PR’s relationships with journalists, and our black book of contacts, will become more valuable than ever in 2026.
Our ability to speak directly to those that trust us to deliver them content that’s relevant and meaningful to their readers, coupled with verified human experts, has always been a key selling point for quality PR agencies. This will be more useful, relevant and in demand than ever in 2026.
As Samantha Clark, Account Director, said: “Journalists are already drowning in AI-written pitches and the pool is shrinking. Spray-and-pray outreach will only damage brands. The sweet spot in 2026 will be tight relationships with the right journalists and stories backed by exclusive data that actually say something.”
3. Digital PR as standard
Is there a difference between Digital PR and PR? Is Digital PR just link building? Doesn’t all PR support SEO and now GEO? These were the questions doing the rounds last year, in particular at BrightonSEO.
The reality is that PR has always shaped search visibility – AI has just made that influence more visible and measurable.
Research last year showed that, when it comes to GEO in particular, PR can be particularly valuable as a tool to impact search results from AI – by securing brand mentions (and backlinks) on relevant high domain authority websites. What are the highest domain authority websites? National news sites – all in the high 90s.
In 2026, PR briefs will include SEO and GEO support as standard – not as an add-on, but as a baseline expectation.
Here’s our blog all about it in case you missed it.
4. AI backlash
I feel like every time I open LinkedIn I see another post complaining about ‘AI slop’ and the continued negativity about AI written copy. Everybody seemingly hates AI, and yet we’re all using it.
The important thing here is that we’re using it effectively and not expecting it to write as well as we can. Midnight’s AI policy, for example, makes it very clear that every piece of copy must start with a human and end with human oversight.
Last year, we saw PR awards being taken away at Cannes Lions after scrutiny from the judges over AI use. I’m sure we’ll see more of this.
I went to an interesting PR Moment webinar last year which included a representative from PA Media who took a pretty hard line when it came to using AI to create copy. He said he didn’t want to receive any copy, including press releases, that had been created using AI in any part of the process.
This feels unlikely. That horse has already bolted. And would you expect to receive a press release that hadn’t been properly researched? But I guess that’s the point, it’s not that AI has been used at all, it’s how it’s been used that’s important.
5. Media training
Senior leaders need to get in front of their brands to show an authentic spokesperson is in charge, building trust at a time when credibility matters more than ever.
In an always-on media environment, one poorly handled interview can erode trust, damage valuation and undo years of brand-building in a single news cycle.
Therefore, the importance of training senior leaders to articulate key messages effectively and authentically will become even more important in 2026.
I’m sure we’ll see another example of how not to conduct a media interview to give us all another excuse to remind you all of media training 101… like the interview isn’t over if your microphone is still on…
6. Employer branding
The fight for quality talent is intensifying, and employer brand is rising as a core objective for B2B PR campaigns.
A strong employer brand is increasingly tied to retention, reputation and deal confidence – not just recruitment.
Positioning a company as a great place to work has been a common objective for all the B2B campaigns Midnight has run for the last few decades, but recently we’ve seen it move from the ‘nice to have’ to the ‘must have’ list in the briefs we’ve received.
In summary
We’ve talked for a few years now about the importance of PR in the age of AI. I’m sure this will continue in 2026 as PR’s ability to influence and support SEO and GEO comes into sharp focus.
What’s also vital in 2026 is senior leaders showing up – authentically – as people rather than just their job titles.
What AI is giving us are great examples of what humans don’t sound like. Our biggest piece of advice this year? Be more human.
Take our digital reputation scorecard
If PR is now shaping how brands are discovered, trusted and referenced by both humans and AI, the question is how well your digital reputation is really holding up.
Take our Digital Reputation Scorecard – in just a few minutes, you’ll:
- Identify gaps in your digital reputation strategy
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Start building the authority that AI (and your customers) can’t ignore.
About the author
Flo Powell, Joint Managing Director at Midnight Communications. Flo has 20 years’ experience helping businesses build brand reputation, boost SEO and navigate the fast-changing world of PR. She’s also a frequent speaker on PR in the age of AI and inclusive communications.
