Edelman Down 8.1% While Publicis Grows 4%—The PR Industry Is Splitting in Two

The numbers:

• Edelman: Global revenue down 4%, US down 8.1% (third consecutive year of decline)
• Publicis: Forecasting 4-5% organic growth for 2026, driven by AI and data services

Richard Edelman says he's "quite confident" heading into 2026, calling his firm "well positioned in a time of real turmoil." But confident rhetoric doesn't change the trajectory. Edelman fell below the $1 billion mark it first hit in 2022. Real Chemistry overtook it as the largest PR agency in the US. Health down 7%, food and beverage down 10.7%.

Key Takeaways: What the Numbers Tell Us

• Third consecutive year of decline: Edelman global revenue fell 4% to $950M, US down 8.1% to $541M
• Publicis growing 4-5% via AI investment: Traditional PR shrinking, AI-driven agencies growing
• Machine Relations = the dividing line: Agencies optimizing for machines grow; agencies optimizing for journalists shrink
• Health & F&B sectors leading decline: Down 7% and 10.7% respectively—CMOs held accountable for pipeline, not impressions
• Leadership vacuum forming: As legacy agencies restructure, early MR adopters capture market share

I'm not here to pile on Edelman. They're the bellwether of our industry, and when the world's largest independent PR firm shrinks for three straight years, it's a signal—not an anomaly.

The signal is this: Agencies optimizing for journalists and impressions are shrinking. Agencies investing in AI, data, and how machines discover brands are growing.

This is exactly what I was talking about when I coined the term Machine Relations 18 months ago.

PR 1.0 vs. MR 2.0

Let me make this concrete.

PR 1.0 (what Edelman is still doing):

• Pitch journalists
• Measure success by media placements and impressions
• Optimize for headlines and column inches
• Audience = human editors at tier-1 publications

Machine Relations 2.0 (what Publicis and AuthorityTech are building):

• Optimize for AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude)
• Measure success by citation rate and AI visibility scores
• Optimize for how algorithms understand, cite, and recommend brands
• Audience = machines that surface brands to billions of end users

The difference isn't incremental. It's existential.

When Publicis CEO says they're forecasting "seventh straight year of outperformance" driven by AI and data services, they're not talking about automating press releases. They're talking about building the infrastructure to influence how AI systems describe markets, recommend solutions, and shape buyer consideration.

That's Machine Relations.

Metric	PR 1.0 (Edelman)	MR 2.0 (AuthorityTech/Publicis)
Success Metric	Media placements, impressions	Citation rate, AI visibility score
Core Tactic	Pitching reporters	Earned authority + entity optimization
Revenue Trend	Down 8.1% YoY (Edelman US)	Up 4-5% YoY (Publicis)
Measurement	AVE, share of voice	Pipeline contribution, win rate impact

Why Edelman's Decline Validates the MR Thesis

Edelman is a proxy for the entire traditional PR model. Here's what their earnings tell us:

1. Journalists are no longer the primary gatekeepers

When the audience for your placements is shifting from Google Search to ChatGPT, traditional media hits matter less. AI engines don't read press releases. They cite authoritative, structured content that appears in trusted sources.

2. Impressions don't drive pipeline

Edelman's health sector (their second-biggest) dropped 7% despite "big growth" with CVS and Merck. Why? Because health CMOs are being held accountable for revenue impact, not vanity metrics. "We got 5 million impressions" doesn't answer the CFO's question: "Did this move pipeline?"

3. The "we do creative too!" pivot isn't enough

Edelman is leaning into creative (they're running a Super Bowl ad for the Dell Foundation). That's fine, but it doesn't solve the core problem: traditional PR agencies don't have the technical infrastructure to measure, manage, and optimize AI visibility.

Publicis does. That's why they're growing.

The Machine Relations Stack That Legacy Agencies Are Missing

Here's what Publicis, AuthorityTech, and the agencies that will thrive in 2026 have that Edelman doesn't:

1. AI Visibility Measurement

Tools like Brandi AI, Peec AI, and Finseo AI track how often your brand appears in AI-generated answers. You can't optimize what you don't measure. Legacy PR shops are still tracking AVE (advertising value equivalency) and impressions. That's like navigating with a 1995 road map.

2. Entity Optimization

AI engines don't understand brands the way humans do. They need structured entity definitions, consistent terminology across your entire digital presence, and quotable soundbites they can extract. Most PR agencies don't even know what an "entity definition" is.

3. Content at Scale

Brandi AI's data shows brands producing 12+ optimized pieces of content per month achieve 200x faster AI visibility gains than those producing just four. Traditional PR agencies write press releases and pitch decks. That's not content at scale. That's noise.

4. Earned Authority (Not Just Earned Media)

Getting quoted in The Wall Street Journal matters—but only if the content is structured so AI engines can extract, cite, and attribute it. Legacy PR measures the placement. Machine Relations measures the citation.

5. Revenue Attribution

PR 1.0 agencies can't tie their work to pipeline because they don't control the full funnel. Machine Relations agencies optimize for AI-driven discovery, which is now the start of most buyer journeys. When ChatGPT recommends you, that's trackable, measurable, and attributable.

What Edelman's CEO Got Right (And What He Missed)

Richard Edelman said something smart in the earnings call: "I consider ourselves the top agency and so I'm super motivated... This is when Edelman should really thrive so hold me to that."

He's right that industry consolidation (Omnicom acquiring Interpublic) creates opportunity. He's right that the holding companies are in turmoil.

But here's what he missed: The turmoil isn't just about mergers. It's about relevance.

Edelman is competing with agencies that understand AI search is the new front door. Publicis gets it. We built AuthorityTech on it. The agencies that thrive in 2026 won't be the ones with the biggest Rolodexes—they'll be the ones with the technical infrastructure to influence how machines describe brands.

That's not a PR skillset. That's a Machine Relations skillset.

Why I Built AuthorityTech

I spent eight years in traditional earned media. I know how to get tier-1 placements. I know how to pitch TechCrunch and Bloomberg and The New York Times.

But about 18 months ago, I started noticing something: My clients were ranking on Google, getting media coverage, and still not showing up when buyers asked ChatGPT "What's the best [solution] for [problem]?"

That's when I realized the audience had shifted. The real gatekeepers weren't journalists anymore. They were machines.

So I built AuthorityTech to solve the problem legacy PR agencies can't: How do you get AI engines to cite and recommend your brand?

We call it Machine Relations because that's what it is—PR 2.0. You're still earning authority. You're still getting cited by trusted sources. But the audience isn't human editors. It's the algorithms that billions of people now rely on for recommendations.

The Agencies That Will Grow in 2026

If you're choosing a PR agency (or deciding whether to stay with your current one), here's the litmus test:

Ask them: "How often does our brand appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini responses? What's our AI visibility score? What's our citation rate compared to competitors?"

If they can't answer those questions with data, they're doing PR 1.0. And PR 1.0 is shrinking.

Look for agencies that:

• Measure AI visibility with real tools (Brandi AI, Peec AI, etc.)
• Produce content at scale (12+ pieces/month minimum)
• Understand entity optimization and structured data
• Tie earned authority to pipeline and revenue

Those are the agencies that will grow while Edelman continues to shrink.

FAQ: Machine Relations vs. Traditional PR

What is Machine Relations?

Machine Relations (MR) is the discipline of getting AI systems—LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude—to cite, mention, and recommend your brand. It's PR 2.0: the audience shifted from human journalists to the algorithms billions of people now rely on for recommendations.

Why are traditional PR agencies declining?

Because they're still optimizing for an audience (journalists) that's no longer the primary gatekeeper. AI search is replacing traditional discovery. When buyers ask "What's the best [solution] for [problem]?" they're asking ChatGPT, not reading Forbes. Agencies that haven't adapted to this shift are losing relevance and revenue.

How is Publicis growing while Edelman shrinks?

Publicis invested heavily in AI and data infrastructure. They understand that AI visibility is now a performance channel. Edelman is still measuring impressions and AVE. That's the difference between growing 4-5% and shrinking 8%.

Can traditional PR agencies learn Machine Relations?

Theoretically, yes. Practically, it's difficult. MR requires technical capabilities (entity optimization, AI visibility measurement, structured data), content production at scale (12+ pieces/month), and a fundamentally different measurement framework. Most legacy agencies would need to rebuild their entire service stack.

The Bottom Line

Edelman's decline isn't about one agency's bad quarter. It's about an entire model becoming obsolete.

The PR industry is splitting:

• Agencies optimizing for journalists will shrink
• Agencies optimizing for machines will grow

I called this 18 months ago. Now we're watching it play out in real time.

The question for your brand is simple: Are you working with an agency that understands Machine Relations, or one that's still pitching reporters and counting impressions?

Because if it's the latter, you're investing in a declining category.

---

Want to know where you stand in AI search?

Get your free visibility audit

— Jaxon