The AI-in-PR Plateau: 76% Adoption Won't Save You—Here's What Separates the Leaders

The AI debate in PR is over. Three-quarters of the industry uses generative AI. The question now isn't whether to adopt—it's whether your adoption actually matters.

Muck Rack just released their 2026 State of AI in PR report, and the headline number is this: 76% of PR professionals now use generative AI. That's virtually unchanged from last year. Adoption has plateaued.

But here's what most people miss when they see that number: a plateau at 76% doesn't mean equilibrium. It means the industry is sorting into winners and everyone else.

The Real Story Behind 76%

When three-quarters of an industry adopts the same tool, the tool stops being an advantage. It becomes table stakes. The question shifts from "are you using AI?" to "how are you using it?"

The Muck Rack data reveals a widening gap:

• 51% of PR professionals now operate under formal AI policies—up from just 21% in 2024
• 43% receive AI training on the job—more than double two years ago
• 63% say their workplace actively encourages AI experimentation
• 75% now use paid AI tools—not just free ChatGPT, but enterprise-grade solutions

The pattern is clear. The leaders aren't just using AI. They're building infrastructure around it. Policies, training, experimentation culture, paid tools. They're treating AI as core infrastructure, not a productivity hack.

Why 98% Still Edit Everything

Here's the number that should humble anyone who thinks AI will replace PR professionals: 98% of PR pros say they always or often edit AI-generated output.

Think about that. Nearly universal adoption. Nearly universal editing. The tool accelerates the work, but the work still requires humans.

The Bospar analysis of the Muck Rack data puts it well: "AI is a tool, not a replacement. Teams are still responsible for ensuring accuracy, tone, and brand alignment."

This is where the 76% headline misleads. Yes, most people use AI. But using AI to generate first drafts is fundamentally different from using AI to transform how you discover, measure, and optimize visibility.

The Internal vs. External Shift

Until now, AI's impact in PR has been largely internal. Faster workflows. Better first drafts. More efficient research. That's valuable, but it's not transformative.

The transformation happens when AI shifts from assisting communicators to shaping how audiences discover brands.

Consider what's already happening:

• ChatGPT has 810 million users asking questions that used to go to Google
• Perplexity processes 100+ million queries daily with cited sources
• Google's AI Overviews now appear on most search results, pulling from sources they trust

When a founder asks ChatGPT "what's the best PR firm for AI startups," the answer doesn't come from a SERP. It comes from the LLM's understanding of who's credible, who gets cited, who has the digital footprint that AI trusts.

This is the shift from SEO to GEO—Generative Engine Optimization. And most of that 76% isn't tracking it at all.

What the Leaders Are Doing Differently

The firms and brands pulling ahead share common patterns:

1. They're Measuring AI Visibility, Not Just Traditional Metrics

According to Position.Digital's 2026 AI SEO research, only 12% of URLs cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot rank in Google's top 10. An even more striking stat: 80% of LLM citations don't rank in Google's top 100 for the same query.

Translation: your Google rankings tell you almost nothing about your AI visibility. They're different systems with different trust signals.

The leaders are building dashboards that track both. They're auditing how LLMs describe their brands. They're monitoring which sources AI tools cite—and whether their content is among them.

2. They're Building Content Architecture, Not Just Content

AI doesn't cite random blog posts. It cites authoritative, well-structured content that demonstrates expertise consistently over time.

A recent Globe Newswire analysis found that "to show up consistently in AI-generated answers, PR teams need to create a connected mix of content that works together and reinforces the same story—press releases, corporate newsrooms, FAQs, thought leadership." (See also: Earned media roi performance pr 3x better returns) (See also: How to prove pr roi beyond vanity metrics)

Notice the emphasis on "connected" and "reinforces the same story." AI systems look for consistency. If your press releases say one thing, your blog says another, and your FAQ contradicts both, AI learns not to trust you.

The leaders are building content ecosystems, not publishing campaigns.

3. They're Training Teams, Not Just Buying Tools

The 43% receiving on-the-job AI training isn't accidental. These organizations understand that tools without skills produce noise, not results.

Training isn't just "how to use ChatGPT." It's how to:

• Prompt effectively for different PR tasks
• Identify and correct AI hallucinations before they damage credibility
• Integrate AI outputs into existing workflows without breaking quality control
• Evaluate when AI is appropriate and when it isn't

The Muck Rack data shows that concerns about AI remain significant. More than three-quarters of PR pros fear younger practitioners may never fully learn core PR principles if AI becomes a crutch. Training programs that balance AI leverage with foundational skills are what separate sustainable adoption from dependency.

4. They're Governing, Not Just Experimenting

The jump from 21% to 51% operating under AI policies isn't bureaucratic overhead. It's infrastructure for scale.

Policies answer the hard questions before they become crises:

• What requires disclosure?
• What outputs need human review?
• How do we handle AI errors that reach clients or media?
• What data can and can't be fed into AI tools?

Organizations with clear policies can experiment faster because the guardrails are already in place. Everyone knows the boundaries. That clarity accelerates rather than constrains innovation.

The Visibility Audit: The New SEO Audit

CMOs have understood SEO audits for years. You can't optimize what you don't measure. You need to know where you rank, where you're invisible, where the opportunities are. (See also: How earned media now dominates ai search results)

The same logic now applies to AI visibility. As Bospar's analysis notes: "If large language models are becoming a new front door to information, understanding how your company is represented inside those systems is no longer optional—it is a core visibility issue."

What does an AI visibility audit look like?

• Query your brand name in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. What do they say? Is it accurate? Is it positive? Is it you at all, or a competitor?
• Test category queries. "Best PR firm for SaaS startups." "Top earned media agencies." "AI-native PR." Where do you appear? Where don't you?
• Map your citation footprint. Which of your URLs appear in AI responses? Which competitor URLs appear instead?
• Track changes over time. AI models update. Your visibility today doesn't guarantee visibility tomorrow.

The leaders are doing this quarterly, if not monthly. The laggards don't know it's a thing.

The Concerns That Aren't Going Away

The Muck Rack data doesn't sugarcoat the industry's anxieties. Beyond the fear about fundamentals erosion, practitioners worry about:

• Unchecked AI output entering the information ecosystem—misinformation at scale
• Quality degradation as AI-generated content floods channels
• Message discipline weakening when everyone can generate "content" instantly

These concerns are legitimate. And they point to why the leaders' approach matters so much. Governance, training, quality control—these aren't just operational best practices. They're competitive moats.

When the market floods with AI-generated mediocrity, the brands with rigorous quality standards stand out. When misinformation becomes endemic, the sources known for accuracy get cited. The concerns about AI quality create opportunity for those who solve them.

What the Next 25% Will Look Like

The 76% plateau isn't permanent. Adoption will continue. But the next wave won't look like the first wave.

Early adopters used AI to do existing work faster. The next wave will use AI to do work that wasn't possible before:

• Real-time visibility monitoring across AI platforms—not just Google, but every LLM that influences decisions
• Predictive content optimization—understanding what AI systems will cite before you publish
• Automated citation tracking—knowing immediately when your brand appears (or disappears) from AI responses
• Cross-platform narrative consistency checking—ensuring every piece of content reinforces your story for both human and machine audiences

The 76% are using AI as a writing tool. The next phase treats AI as the audience itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage of PR pros use AI?

According to Muck Rack's 2026 State of AI in PR report, 76% of PR professionals are currently using generative AI in their work. While seemingly high, this number has plateaued, indicating the industry is sorting into leaders and laggards based on AI implementation strategies.

Why do PR professionals still edit AI output?

Despite the efficiency gains, 98% of PR professionals still edit AI-generated content to ensure accuracy, appropriate tone, and brand alignment. This underscores that AI is a tool to augment, not replace, human expertise in PR, as highlighted in Bospar's analysis.

What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) refers to optimizing content and brand presence for AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews. Unlike traditional SEO, GEO focuses on influencing how these AI systems perceive credibility and relevance when answering user queries and generating content.

How are leading PR firms using AI?

Leading PR firms are going beyond basic AI adoption by building comprehensive infrastructure around it, including formal AI policies (adopted by 51% of PR pros), on-the-job training (43%), and encouragement of experimentation (63%). They are also investing in paid, enterprise-grade AI tools (75%) for enhanced capabilities.

What is the impact of AI on PR workflows?

AI has primarily impacted internal PR workflows by accelerating tasks, improving first drafts, and streamlining research, but the shift to external impact is emerging. With platforms like ChatGPT (810 million users) and Perplexity (100+ million queries), AI is increasingly shaping how audiences discover brands, creating new opportunities for visibility.

The Bottom Line

Muck Rack's data tells two stories.

The surface story: AI adoption in PR has leveled off. Three-quarters of the industry uses it. We're past the hype cycle.

The deeper story: adoption isn't the variable that matters anymore. How you use AI—and whether you understand AI as audience, not just tool—is where the gap opens.

The leaders are building AI infrastructure: policies, training, measurement, governance. They're treating AI visibility as seriously as they once treated SEO. They're creating content architectures that AI systems trust and cite.

The laggards are using ChatGPT to write press releases faster.

Same tool. Completely different outcomes.

The plateau at 76% isn't equilibrium. It's the moment the industry sorts into those who understand what's happening and those who think faster content creation is the whole story.

Which side of that sort are you on?

---

AuthorityTech is the first AI-native Machine Relations (MR) agency. We help brands get featured in the publications that ChatGPT, Perplexity, and journalists actually cite. Get a free AI visibility audit to see where you stand—and where you're invisible.