AI Transforms PR Agencies Into Proactive AI Consultancies

The PR landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, not just from the emergence of AI, but from a fundamental redefinition of how expertise meets media. This conversation with Brett Farmiloe, owner of HARO and founder of Featured.com, reveals a crucial, often overlooked implication: the enduring necessity of human judgment in an increasingly automated world. Agencies that grasp this nuanced interplay--leveraging AI for efficiency while doubling down on human-led strategic oversight--will gain a significant advantage in building visibility and trust for their clients. This is essential reading for agency leaders seeking to navigate the future of PR, transforming AI from a potential threat into a powerful, human-guided asset.

The AI-Assisted Expert: Navigating the New PR Frontier

The world of public relations, long built on the bedrock of human relationships and expert insights, is now grappling with the pervasive influence of Artificial Intelligence. Yet, as Brett Farmiloe, owner of the iconic HARO (Help a Reporter Out) platform and founder of Featured.com, articulates, the core of effective PR remains remarkably consistent: human expertise, guided by human judgment. The conversation highlights a critical systems-level insight: AI is not replacing the need for PR professionals, but rather transforming the workflows and demanding a higher degree of strategic human intervention. Agencies that embrace this "human-in-the-loop" approach, where AI handles the heavy lifting of matching and drafting, will find themselves uniquely positioned to deliver superior value and maintain trust in a flood of automated content.

Farmiloe’s experience, spanning a decade running a marketing agency before pivoting to SaaS platforms focused on media visibility, provides a unique vantage point. He observed firsthand the agency’s struggle to secure media placements for knowledgeable small business clients. This led to the creation of Featured.com, a platform designed to bridge that gap. The subsequent acquisition and revival of HARO, a platform that has facilitated journalist-source connections for years, further solidified his understanding of the evolving media ecosystem.

"The interaction is that HARO is a three times a day email newsletter and so it goes out morning afternoon and evening and the problem with HARO is that there's a gap between when we get a request and when that request actually goes out to the network and so the interaction is as soon as a HARO query is approved it'll go live on Featured instantly."

This integration illustrates a key system dynamic: leveraging existing infrastructure (HARO) to enhance a newer platform (Featured.com) by reducing latency. The challenge, Farmiloe notes, is that the sheer volume of AI-generated pitches on platforms like HARO--estimated at 21%--threatens the integrity of the service. His response, and that of his team, has been to invest heavily in maintaining quality and trust, including implementing AI detection scoring for journalists. This proactive measure addresses a second-order consequence of AI adoption: the potential for a deluge of low-quality, automated submissions to overwhelm and discredit valuable platforms.

The implication for agencies is clear: simply automating pitches is a race to the bottom. The true advantage lies in using AI as a sophisticated assistant. Farmiloe emphasizes that smart agencies automate processes, not relationships. AI can identify relevant media opportunities and draft initial pitches, but it is the human expert--the agency professional or the client--who possesses the nuanced judgment to refine those pitches, assess the journalist's intent, and determine if the opportunity aligns with strategic goals.

"AI has got to complicate the heck out of that. I have to think it basically it's like I I think that's how it ended up in our hands was was the amount of focus and resources that need to be devoted to making sure that HARO is a success is is quite a bit and you know we we raised our hand and we said we're willing to to take the challenge because it's worth reviving and -- yeah so it's we've learned a lot and -- in the last six months."

This highlights the friction inherent in integrating new technologies. What appears simple on the surface--AI-assisted pitching--requires significant underlying effort to ensure quality and efficacy. The "challenge" Farmiloe refers to is the ongoing battle against AI-generated noise and the need to preserve the platform's core value proposition: connecting journalists with genuine expertise. Agencies that can effectively manage this noise, using AI to filter and refine, create a competitive moat. They become indispensable partners by delivering high-quality, human-vetted opportunities, rather than just another volume of automated requests.

The conversation also touches on the evolving role of journalists. Stretched thin and under pressure to produce content, many journalists are pragmatic. If an AI-assisted pitch leads them to the right source for their story, they may not care about the method. Their primary concern is fulfilling their assignment. However, this pragmatism doesn't negate the value of authenticity. Farmiloe’s "HARO acronym" for best practices--Helpful, Authentic, Relevant, On Time--underscores this. Being authentic means retaining the human element, ensuring that pitches reflect genuine expertise and strategic thinking, not just machine-generated text.

"I think that the key part of what you just said is a lot of tools there's a lot of stuff out there because it's very easy to launch these days and so there are a lot of tools so I think that it's you know first of all getting very selective about which tools that you're using and then and then investing in those tools so -- by investing in those tools that's not a money spend it's more so the inputs that you're putting into those tools so they can work efficiently for you."

This advice speaks directly to systems thinking. Agencies must be discerning about the tools they adopt, understanding that effective tool utilization requires more than just a subscription; it demands thoughtful input and integration into existing workflows. The "investment" is in the quality of data and human oversight provided to the AI, which in turn maximizes its utility. This approach creates a delayed payoff: while initial setup and learning curves exist, the long-term benefit is a more efficient, effective, and trustworthy PR operation, setting the agency apart from those who simply adopt AI without strategic consideration.

Ultimately, the future of PR, as envisioned by Farmiloe, is one where AI augments human capabilities, enabling agencies to be more proactive and strategic. The shift from reactive PR (responding to HARO queries) to proactive PR (anticipating stories and pitching them) represents a significant value-add opportunity. Agencies that can leverage AI to analyze trends, identify emerging narratives, and craft compelling proactive pitches will build deeper client relationships and secure more impactful media placements. This requires a forward-thinking mindset, recognizing that the immediate discomfort of mastering new AI tools and workflows will yield significant long-term competitive advantage.

Key Action Items

• Immediate Action (Next 1-2 Weeks):
  • Subscribe to HARO (or similar services) and actively monitor queries relevant to your agency’s client base.
  • Identify 1-2 AI writing assistants or content summarization tools to experiment with for drafting initial pitch ideas or summarizing journalist requests.
  • Initiate a team discussion on current PR workflows and identify specific manual tasks that could be candidates for AI augmentation.
• Short-Term Investment (Next Quarter):
  • Develop a "knowledge base" for 1-2 key clients, compiling their expertise, previous media mentions, and unique selling propositions to inform AI tools.
  • Train agency staff on the ethical and effective use of AI in pitch drafting, emphasizing the "human-in-the-loop" principle.
  • Begin analyzing HARO or Featured.com query trends within specific industries to identify emerging client needs and content opportunities.
• Longer-Term Investment (6-18 Months):
  • Explore offering "AI-assisted PR consulting" as a distinct service, guiding clients on how to leverage AI for visibility and thought leadership.
  • Investigate AI tools that can proactively monitor media trends and journalist activity to generate proactive story ideas.
  • Establish clear KPIs for AI-augmented PR efforts, focusing on quality of placements and client engagement, not just volume of pitches. This requires patience, as the true value of strategic AI integration may not be immediately apparent.