Delight Labs, a boutique PR agency serving growth companies, today released the State of PR 2026 report, a survey of CEOs and executives at companies with $5M–$50M in annual revenue. The comprehensive study reveals a massive paradigm shift in how companies approach public relations in the era of AI-driven search engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Overviews. According to the data, 92% of CEOs have increased their PR investments directly because of the rise of AI-powered search.

The report found that 86% of CEOs now rate PR as important to their strategic goals, up from 70% in 2023, which is a 16-point jump in just three years. At the same time, executives are investing in PR earlier. The median revenue at first PR investment dropped from $7.5M in 2023 to approximately $4.1M in 2026, suggesting that earned media is no longer seen as a late-stage luxury.

Perhaps the most striking finding is the role AI is playing in this shift. Ninety-two percent of CEOs said they are increasing PR investment specifically because of AI search, with 49% doing so significantly or extensively. Earned media ranked as the #1 tactic respondents believe drives AI citation (29%), outpacing technical SEO (22%).

"Brand awareness used to be a primary driver of PR. What we're seeing now is executives investing in PR as a direct input to how AI systems discover and recommend their companies. Earned media from credible publications isn't just reputation — it's infrastructure."

-David Niu, CEO of Delight Labs

Additional findings from the report include: average monthly PR retainer spend of approximately $18,000, 71% of CEOs incorporating generative engine optimization (GEO) into their marketing budgets, and notable variance across sectors, with tech companies 34 points more likely than public/social sector companies to say AI has made PR more important.

The full report is available at delightlabs.com/state-of-pr-2026.