By Jen Carmichael | Red Rock Branding – Your Purpose Driven Agency
Garnering earned media is a way for a company, brand, or thought leader to build awareness and trust by having someone else tell its story. When a company talks about its own products or achievements, it’s inherently less credible. But when a respected journalist tells that story, and it’s reinforced across trusted publications over time, that’s gold.
Think about it this way: do you trust someone just because they say, “You can trust me?” Probably not. You look for proof through recommendations, reviews, and outside validation.
The strongest media wins work the same way. They rely on someone else saying it for you. And it’s not only about the reporter or the publication. It’s about how the story comes together. Who is being interviewed? Is there data to back up claims?
Why the Strongest Stories Come From Real Voices
Showcasing real people and lived experience makes for the most impactful stories: the doctor doing the research, the patient dealing with a diagnosis, the individual whose life has changed in a way others can recognize. These voices bring a story to life, giving the reader, viewer, or listener something real and human to connect with.
At Red Rock Branding, we connected Dr. Ashley Weiss from the Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic (EPIC-NOLA) with a reporter from Nola.com, New Orleans’ largest daily newspaper and digital news source. The goal was to help clear up myths about psychosis and schizophrenia.
Through a one-on-one conversation, the reporter was able to give readers direct access to a physician working with patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis. The resulting coverage helped clarify a topic that is often misunderstood or avoided altogether. Over time, stories like this, told through both clinical expertise and lived experience, play an important role in reducing stigma and increasing understanding.
In another example, Dr. Vinod Srihari, founder of Yale School of Medicine’s Program for Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis (STEP), was featured on Connecticut Public for the statewide public awareness campaign Mindmap, which aims to expand early psychosis treatment. In the article, he offered insight: “Most individuals in usual systems of care can take years to access treatment.”
By sharing both real experiences and data, like the estimate that about 500 people in Connecticut show early signs of serious psychotic illness each year, Dr. Srihari showed why it’s urgent to expand access to care.
This kind of coverage positions a clinician not only as a medical expert but also as a trusted voice regarding broader system challenges. This helps audiences better understand both the problem and the need for change.
Consistency Builds Authority Over Time
In a Q&A interview with Authority Magazine, our very own Red Rock Branding founder, Glen McDermott, shares how purpose-driven businesses can drive both impact and profitability. In the interview, he shared how Red Rock’s work bridges the gap between marketing and public health, noting that purpose is not separate from business strategy, but central to it.
The beauty of a Q&A format is that readers can hear from McDermott directly. His answers mix personal views with real marketing experience, giving a more genuine understanding of his approach. Instead of just one quote, this type of format makes the story feel more like a real conversation.
Less than four months later, Authority Magazine featured McDermott again in a follow-up article,The New CEO Playbook: Glen McDermott of Red Rock On Balancing Purpose, Profit, and Personal Brand. This steady coverage kept him in the conversation and strengthened his perspective.
The value isn’t just in being featured once, but in the repeated and deeper coverage. With both articles, readers get to know McDermott’s ideas and approach. Over time, his voice becomes familiar and the Red Rock brand recognizable.
How AI Is Changing Discovery
And while establishing third-party credibility has always been the ROI of earned media, there’s more to it.
According to Muck Rack’s “What Is AI Reading?” report, more than 95 percent of links cited in AI-generated responses come from non-paid sources, with the majority driven by earned media coverage. This shift is being referred to as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), but at its core, it reflects something more fundamental: credible, third-party storytelling continues to carry weight.
What’s changing is how people find and evaluate companies, brands, and products. Discovery is no longer limited to a single article or a traditional search. Increasingly, it’s happening through AI-generated answers, summaries, and recommendations that draw from a range of trusted external sources.
These platforms draw on verifiable information from news outlets, academic and government sites, authoritative blogs, official reports, and reputable industry publications, prioritizing content that is clear, credible, and consistently referenced.
This fundamentally changes the role of earned media. It’s not only about how a story lands in the moment, but about whether your company or product shows up at all.
In the past, ROI might have been measured in impressions or reach, or by adding a media placement to a press page as a win and reference point. But a consistent body of credible coverage shows up differently. Earned media still cultivates trust, but it additionally builds presence and authority.
Each piece of coverage adds to a larger ecosystem of credible information that keeps determining how your brand is understood and discovered over time. It informs not just readers but the systems that increasingly influence what gets seen, and what doesn’t.
What This Means for PR Strategy
Does this mean PR strategy needs to change? Not really. In many ways, it comes back to what has always been true. Strong media relations is built on being a reliable source of clear, valuable information. And in many cases, trust has to exist between the PR professional and the reporter, and in the credibility of the voices being shared, before a story is ever told.
It also means recognizing that not every media opportunity needs to result in a full feature or headline. In many cases, simply being a reliable source—someone a reporter can turn to for a clear, credible quote—can be just as valuable.
Over time, these moments build familiarity and trust. Reporters begin to know who to call, and audiences begin to see the same voices appear across coverage. That consistency reinforces credibility and keeps your brand and experts part of the broader conversation.
Think Like a Journalist
Before rushing to pitch a reporter, take the time to think like a journalist and develop the story. Ask questions. What’s actually happening? Who is affected? Why does it matter beyond the organization? The answers to those questions should be clear before any outreach begins.
It also requires legwork to uncover the voices that need to be included. So that means reaching out beyond a single spokesperson or company message. Think about who else can shape a compelling narrative and add a different perspective, including other experts, companies, and community members.
In many ways, garnering earned media today is a return to the roots of public relations: telling real stories through credible voices, consistently. The difference now is that the impact lasts longer and reaches further.
For brands doing meaningful, mission-driven work, this is a real advantage. The work itself hasn’t changed, but telling those stories well matters more than ever.
Now that both people and AI are searching for what’s real, the brands willing to share genuine stories aren’t just building trust, they’re the ones being discovered.
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