If you've heard that guaranteed earned media is shady, you're being misled by firms that can't deliver it. Traditional PR professionals warn against agencies promising guaranteed media placements, calling it a scam. They argue that earned media, by definition, cannot be guaranteed because it's based on editorial judgment, not payment.

But here's the truth: traditional PR firms call guaranteed earned media shady because they can't deliver it. They're projecting their own limitations onto the entire industry.

Why Traditional PR Fears Guarantees

Traditional PR operates on a retainer model: monthly fees for "strategy," "outreach," and "monitoring" with no placement guarantees. This model benefits agencies, not brands. Agencies get paid regardless of results, creating misaligned incentives.

When agencies can't guarantee placements, they attack the concept of guarantees itself. They call it "shady" or "impossible" because admitting it's possible would expose their own business model's flaws.

How AI-Enabled Performance PR Delivers Guarantees

AuthorityTech and other performance PR firms guarantee earned media by doing the hard work first:

• Pre-placement research: We identify high-value opportunities before pitching

• AI-personalized targeting: Machine learning matches your brand to the right journalists and publications

• Risk-taking: We only get paid when you get placed, aligning our incentives with yours

• GEO/AEO optimization: Content structured for maximum AI citation and visibility

This isn't "shady" or "impossible." It's a fundamentally different business model that takes risk on the agency side, not the client side.

The Future of PR

Traditional PR firms fear what's coming because performance-based PR exposes their retainer model's flaws. When agencies guarantee placements, it reveals that retainers are unnecessary overhead, not value creation.

AI-enabled performance PR is the future: guaranteed placements, transparent metrics, and results-based pricing. Traditional PR firms can either adapt or become obsolete.