Public relations has never moved faster, or felt more complex. In our inaugural 2026 State of PR Report, we surveyed more than 1,100 PR and communications professionals worldwide to understand the realities, roadblocks, and opportunities shaping the discipline today. What emerges is a portrait of an industry balancing timeless fundamentals with dramatic change: AI adoption, increased expectations from leadership, and a media landscape that’s more fragmented than ever.
This report was created in partnership with the leading agency, We. Communications, who helped us get to the heart of the issues faced by today’s PR industry.
The days of guesswork are over. PR pros have long operated without enough strategic intelligence and reliable, financial‑grade metrics, but that is changing fast. The next chapter of PR isn’t about more coverage; it’s about provable value. When we quantify reputation like a financial asset and optimize presence across channels, PR becomes a funded engine of growth and risk reduction.
Here are the eight key insights every PR leader needs to know.
1. Resources are Tight, and it’s Holding PR Back
The number one challenge facing PR professionals? Insufficient resources (24%), followed closely by difficulty measuring impact and ROI (21%) and managing stakeholder expectations (16%).
Despite PR’s growing responsibilities, half of those surveyed work on teams of fewer than five people, and over half expect budgets to remain flat in the next year. With CEOs most often making funding decisions, PR’s ability to secure investment depends on demonstrating business impact, not just activity.
So what does this mean for PR teams? Aligning PR metrics to business KPIs like conversions, share of voice vs. competitors, and message pull-through to earn greater visibility and budget.
2. Traditional PR Responsibilities Still Dominate, but Social and Influencer Work is Growing
The core of PR remains consistent, as shown by the top three most important functions of the role:
Media Relations, Content Creation, and Thought Leadership are considered the leading PR responsibilities.
Yet while only 10% say social media is a main function of their role, nearly half manage social media within their organization. Likewise, 36% own influencer strategy, even though only 2.3% view it as a primary responsibility.
This shows a clear disconnect: PR teams own more channels than ever, but don’t fully see them as core to their role, an opportunity for upskilling and reframing PR’s value.
3. Measurement Still Lags Behind Expectations
The most widely used PR success metrics in 2026 are:
Volume of placements, and reach/impressions are the two leading PR measurements.
Despite years of conversation about modernizing PR measurement, activity-based metrics still dominate, with more strategic measures, like share of voice, sentiment, and message pull-through, falling further down the list.
What’s clear is that leadership wants a stronger line of sight into PR’s impact. To earn greater investment and influence, teams will need to bridge the gap between media outputs and business performance, something AI-powered analytics and unified dashboards now make far more attainable.
4. AI Has Become Essential and Most Teams are Already Using it
Generative AI is no longer experimental for PR. A majority of respondents say AI is already somewhat or fully integrated into their day-to-day workflows.
Where AI is already delivering value:
- Content creation
- Summarizing coverage
- Brainstorming campaigns
- Measurement and reporting
Concerns about AI center less on quality and more on job security and budget implications. Even so, 19% of professionals report no concerns at all, underscoring confidence that AI can elevate, not replace, human creativity and strategic judgment.
The biggest concern about AI in PR is that it may reduce the need for human talent.
AI’s future in PR is clear: faster trend detection, automated summaries, smarter monitoring, and more streamlined reporting. Many of these advancements are already here through solutions like Mira, Meltwater’s AI teammate that collapses days of analysis into a single conversation.
5. Reactive Work Still Consumes Too Much Time
When asked about their biggest time sinks, PR pros pointed to:
Many of these tasks are precisely where AI and modern media intelligence tools can return hours back to teams each week. It’s no surprise, then, that generative AI ranked as the second-most critical tool for streamlining PR work, just behind media monitoring.
6. Journalist Relationships Still Matter and Getting Coverage is Getting Harder
Despite emerging channels, media relations remains PR’s top job function. Most professionals spend one to two days per week pitching, and journalist relevance continues to be the strongest factor in securing earned media.
Looking ahead, the majority believe earned media will be harder to secure in the next five years, a sign that PR teams will need smarter targeting, better storytelling, and more data-driven insights to break through.
7. Leadership Understands PR Better, But Not Well Enough
While 60% say leadership understands their work well or very well, that leaves 40% feeling misunderstood or undervalued.
How do you feel leadership understands your work?
With leadership making the majority of PR spending decisions, earning a “seat at the table” hinges on connecting PR outputs to bottom-line business outcomes, something many teams still struggle to operationalize.
8. Media Relations is Evolving Fast
More than 28% of PR pros now pitch journalists zero days per week. Why? The landscape is shifting:
- Personal relationships still matter (a top factor in securing coverage)
- But tools and databases now streamline much of the outreach
- LinkedIn is by far the most valuable social platform for PR professionals
The report highlights a move away from pure traditional media relations into a more integrated, data-driven, multi-channel approach.
The Bottom Line: PR in 2026 Demands Alignment, Intelligence, and Speed
Across the entire report, one unifying theme emerges:
The future of PR depends on better alignment—between teams, data, technology, leadership, and outcomes.
PR’s fundamentals, storytelling, creativity, relationship-building, remain central. But the industry’s next chapter will be shaped by AI-driven insights, integrated analytics, and a recalibration of how PR proves its value.
With AI reshaping search, content, and discovery, PR teams equipped with the right intelligence will have the competitive edge.
If you’d like a deeper look at how AI and modern media intelligence can accelerate your PR performance, Meltwater is here to help.
Book a demo to see how Meltwater empowers PR teams with real-time insights, unified analytics, and AI designed for communications leaders.
