#46 From Earned Media to LLMs: Rethinking PR with Stephen Waddington

Steve and Steph are joined by Stephen Waddington, professional advisor at Wadds Inc, PhD researcher at Leeds Business School, former CIPR president and co-editor of the new book AI for Public Relations. Stephen explains why AI is a major opportunity for PR, with large language models drawing heavily on earned and owned media, and why PR teams now need to treat LLMs as a separate stakeholder with their own media lists. He also explores the impact of AI on entry-level roles and the need to rebuild the career ladder and shares his PhD research on getting communicators into the room where decisions are made. 02:30 - Agency, In-House and Consultancy Life 04:31 - AI for Public Relations and Lessons from SEO 07:42 - Why AI Cites Earned and Owned Media 12:04 - Rethinking the Media List 15:04 - Measuring AI Visibility 17:04 - What Does a GEO Role Look Like? 21:07 - AI and the Future of Junior PRs 25:17 - Critical Thinking and Tacit Learning 30:34 - PR's Contribution to Management: Stephen's PhD 38:36 - Quick-Fire Questions Check out the full transcript here. – About the Digital PR Podcast Hosted by our very own Heads of PR, Lou and Steve, we recorded our first episode of the Digital PR Podcast back in December 2022, and have had some fascinating conversations with movers and shakers from the PR industry in the UK and further afield, sharing their knowledge and experiences. To let us know about any topics you'd like us to cover or guests you'd like to see (maybe you'd like to be a guest yourself?) drop us a line at [dprpodcast@propellernet.co.uk](mailto:dprpodcast@propellernet.co.uk). If you're really enjoying the show, make sure to rate the podcast 5 stars and leave us a review. The Digital PR Podcast is brought to you by Propellernet and sponsored by CoverageBook. You can also watch on [YouTube](#) as a video podcast. To check out our socials and other useful links click [here](https://linktr.ee/propellernet_?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=c62f4781-54f4-42cd-b088-d7c491847d8a).