For as long as I’ve worked in PR, there’s been one gold standard question every founder, executive, or board member asks when we land media coverage: “Is it Tier 1?” “Is it Tier 1?” And for just as long, the answer has been relatively fixed: Tier 1 meant outlets with prestige, reach, and name recognition—think The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Forbes. Tier 1 The Wall Street Journal TechCrunch Fast Company Forbes But in 2025, that definition is no longer enough. Not because those outlets have lost their influence. But because the way people find and interact with information has radically changed. find and interact The Rise of Generative Search The shift isn’t just SEO vs. social anymore—it’s generative vs. static. generative vs. static Today, people are just as likely (if not more likely) to ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or Claude a question as they are to Google it. In that world, the true Tier 1 coverage isn’t just the most prestigious. It’s the most retrievable, the coverage that gets cited, referenced, or used as training data by large language models. retrievable What PR Gets Wrong About Tier 1 in 2025 The PR industry still tends to chase logos. And while that’s often a necessary part of visibility strategy, it’s no longer sufficient. Traditional Tier 1 coverage might earn a spike in awareness. But if it’s not structured in a way that generative AI can interpret, index, or cite—it likely won’t influence the next wave of search. Said another way: you might be quoted in a great piece, but if ChatGPT doesn’t reference it when someone asks “What’s the best way to [X]?”—then you’ve lost share of voice in a critical channel. Toward a New Media Classification System To help clients and teams adapt, we’ve started organizing coverage into a new framework based on retrievability and AI visibility: retrievability AI visibility Tier 1A: Embedded Generative Visibility This is when your brand is directly cited insideAI-generated answers. inside Example: “According to [Company]…” appears in a ChatGPT or Perplexity response. This kind of visibility results from high-quality media coverage, strategic formatting, and repeated presence in trusted sources. Tier 1B: Structured Media That Feeds the Models This includes content that LLMs ingest and learn from—even if they don’t cite it outright. Think: industry trade publications, bylined articles, owned content, and newsletters that use clean structure, bullet points, and topic clarity. Tier 1C: Generative Reinforcement Supporting content like podcasts with transcripts, LinkedIn thought leadership, Substack posts, and repurposed media.These don’t always show up directly but help reinforce topic authority in AI systems. Tier 2: Traditional Mentions Without AI Strategy Great outlets, solid placement—but without technical optimization, schema, or a supporting content trail, it’s less likely to be surfaced by AI tools. It’s not “wasted,” but its long-term value is weaker. What This Means for Brands and Communicators None of this is an argument against traditional PR. It is a call to evolve how we define visibility and success. is Today’s top-tier coverage must do more than impress—it must train, influence, and persist in an AI-first information landscape. train, influence, and persist That means rethinking our pitch angles, formatting our owned content with intent, and knowing which platforms (like LinkedIn or Substack) actually feed the generative engines behind modern search. We’re moving toward a model where generative visibility will matter just as much as prestige. We’re moving generative visibility Brands that understand this shift now will have a compounding advantage later.

This story contains new, firsthand information uncovered by the writer.

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