47 of 250 wire-distributed press releases were cited by AI engines within 90 days. 203 were never retrieved. M&A releases: 40% retrieval. Awards and partnerships: 0%. The first study measuring whether press releases actually appear in AI answers — and the five predictors that separate the 19% from the 81%.
The first independent measurement of how AI engines cite the wire services. GlobeNewswire 31.3%. Business Wire 18.8%. PR Newswire 16.7%. Newsfile and ACCESS Newswire 12.5% each — but both win their target vertical outright.
Cision is the dominant PR software platform — PR Newswire, Brandwatch, CisionOne. Owned by Platinum Equity since 2020. Vocus, PRWeb, and HARO inside the lineage.
The five-layer 2026 PR technology stack — media databases, wire distribution, campaign management, email outreach and CRM, and the SEO/GEO optimization layer. Named platforms, what each is best at, and how to choose by audience, objective and team size.
