PR and AI visibility glossary

Short, plain definitions of the terms PR and communications teams use for media monitoring, measurement and AI visibility.

A

Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE): The cost of buying the same space or airtime as advertising. A widely used but discredited proxy for the value of media coverage.
AI visibility: How often and how prominently a brand appears in answers from AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity, and which sources those answers cite.

Communication strategy: A communication strategy sets out what an organisation wants to achieve with its communication, which audiences it needs to reach with which messages and channels, and how it will measure success. It is derived from the business goals.
Crisis communication: Crisis communication is how an organisation communicates before, during and after a crisis. Its aim is to inform the people affected quickly and accurately, limit harm and keep the trust of the public, employees and the media.

Earned media: Earned media is coverage and attention an organisation gains without paying for it: articles, interviews, mentions and recommendations that journalists or other third parties publish by their own choice.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Work aimed at making a brand appear, and be described correctly, in answers generated by AI assistants.

Issues management: Issues management is a strategic process organisations use to spot, assess and act on topics where their conduct and their stakeholders’ expectations diverge, before those gaps turn into conflicts or crises.

Key message pull-through: The share of coverage that carries a brand’s defined key messages, measured against the coverage analysed.

Media content analysis: Media content analysis is the systematic, usually quantitative and qualitative evaluation of coverage about an organisation, brand or topic. Using fixed rules, it shows how much was published, where, in what tone and with which messages.
Media list: A media list is a maintained list of journalists and newsrooms that an organisation contacts with press releases, story ideas and invitations. A good media list is segmented by topic and outlet and only includes contacts for whom the content is relevant.
Media monitoring: Media monitoring is the systematic tracking of coverage that mentions an organisation, brand, people, competitors or topics across print, online, TV, radio, podcasts and social media. It provides the raw material for press reviews, analysis and PR reporting.
Media relations: Media relations is the part of PR that deals with journalists. It gives newsrooms news, information and spokespeople so that they can report independently on a company, organisation or topic.

PR KPIs: Indicators that show what PR work produced, from output and reach to outcomes such as changed awareness or behaviour.
Press clipping: A press clipping is a single documented piece of media coverage that mentions a company, person or topic. It combines the coverage itself, as a cut-out, scan or link, with details such as outlet, date and reach.
Press embargo: A press embargo is an agreement that journalists who receive information in advance will not publish it before a set date and time. An ordinary embargo note rests on trust between the source and the newsroom. An expressly agreed confidentiality obligation, by contrast, can also be legally binding.
Press kit: A press kit is a collection of information and material an organisation makes available to journalists, either for a specific event or permanently. It usually includes the current press release, company facts, images with usage rights and media contacts.
Press release: A press release is a written announcement an organisation sends to journalists to share news. It follows a fixed structure so reporters can grasp the key facts at once and use them in their own coverage.
Press review: A press review is a compiled set of press articles and other media coverage about a company, organisation or topic. It keeps employees, executives or members regularly informed about what the media have published.

Reputation management: Reputation management is the systematic work on how an organisation is regarded by its stakeholders. It covers monitoring media, reviews and AI assistant answers, building trust through actions and communication, and responding to criticism.

Sentiment analysis: Classifying the evaluative tone of coverage as positive, neutral or negative. It describes the content, not what the audience thinks.
Share of Voice: A brand’s share of all coverage or mentions within a defined competitor set, market and period.