How Digital PR Fills the SEO Gap

What Is Digital PR?

Digital PR services blend the core practices of public relations—media outreach, storytelling, and strategic timing—with the measurable goals of SEO and digital content. While traditional PR is focused on securing placements in newspapers, television, and radio, digital PR broadens the playing field, targeting:

• Influencers and thought leaders

• Online publications

• YouTube creators

• Podcasts

• Blogs

The ultimate goal? To create and promote newsworthy content that builds authority and earns high-quality backlinks from relevant, trusted domains.

Digital PR is an amalgamation of traditional PR and content marketing. DPR pros still create media lists and write pitches, but they’re not just using a newswire to send a press release. They’re pitching robust, informative content, such as survey results or thought leadership pieces, to a tailored list of trusted, high-quality outlets.

This focus on unique, useful content makes digital PR especially effective when generic articles are increasingly filtered out by Google’s evolving algorithms.

How SEO Can Be Strengthened With Digital PR

Google's AI Overviews (AIO) are designed to give users fast, direct answers to their questions—but they also mean fewer clicks for the sites that provided those answers.

The SEO world is abuzz with discussions on the effects of Google’s AI Overviews. Ahrefs found that informational keywords with an AI Overview had a 34.5% lower average CTR for the top-ranking page. That’s a huge impact on organic traffic.

On-site SEO measures are still necessary, but are no longer sufficient. To keep ranking well and reach audiences more effectively, brands must build authority and credibility that go beyond their own websites. That’s where DPR shines.

Google itself evaluates content with E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Digital PR contributes to E-E-A-T by increasing the number of reputable sites that cite your brand.

Digital PR helps with E-E-A-T by getting your brand mentioned in multiple, trusted, high-authority sites. That increases your Authoritativeness and further establishes your Expertise.

Speed, Agility, and Brand Reach

DPR doesn’t just improve SEO. It also delivers fast, flexible brand exposure. Unlike typical content campaigns that can take months of planning and production, digital PR can move quickly, especially when capitalizing on timely news cycles or seasonal moments.

By capitalizing on timely news moments, digital PR puts a brand in front of target audiences faster than a typical content calendar allows. 

For example, an HVAC company might earn coverage during a heatwave. A fintech brand could get featured around Tax Day. Even recurring awareness months provide DPR opportunities year after year.

DPR campaigns often inspire on-site content that serves both journalists and search engines. DPR opportunities, especially journalist source requests, can inspire on-site content. Seasonal, evergreen topics are often revisited by the media year after year. Creating and updating these on your site helps you rank, and makes you a faster, more valuable resource for journalists.

In this way, digital PR reinforces your broader content strategy while extending your reach into new, high-authority spaces.

Smarter SEO Metrics for a Changing Landscape

SEO success used to mean keyword rankings, organic clicks, and pageviews. But with AI-generated summaries and zero-click results becoming more common, brands need a broader perspective.

It’s important not to track so many key performance indicators (KPIs) that it becomes confusing. Focus on what’s most impactful. That means embracing new success metrics that reflect both PR and SEO value:

• Pitch pickups (earned media placements)

• Backlink quality and domain authority

• Referral traffic from earned links

• Branded search volume

• Share of voice across your industry

• Sentiment and unlinked brand mentions

Traditional KPIs—rankings, clicks, and sessions—no longer capture the full picture. Instead, look at impressions, unlinked mentions, estimated reach from DPR, and your brand’s share of voice.

These insights don’t just inform marketing performance; they also shape future campaigns and help align public relations and SEO.

Common Digital PR Missteps to Avoid

DPR isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. To be effective, it must be strategic and tailored to your brand, goals, and audience.

Be careful not to rely on outdated PR tactics. You can’t just fire off a press release about a new product and expect digital PR results. Pitches need to focus on first-party research, survey results, or timely thought leadership.

Another pitfall? Expecting every earned mention to include a backlink. While links are a major SEO benefit of DPR, some high-authority sites (like Forbes or major newspapers) may cover your story without linking. Still, the visibility and credibility are worthwhile.

The Bottom Line: SEO Needs a Boost—and Digital PR Delivers It

As the digital world shifts toward AI-curated content and increasingly fragmented SERPs, brands must evolve how they get seen and build authority. Digital PR is the missing piece: it extends your reach, enhances your reputation, and helps search engines understand why your content deserves to rank.

Digital PR helps cement the association between your brand and its primary themes, and not just with search engines, but with real audiences too.

In short, digital PR doesn’t replace SEO—it supercharges it. By embracing both strategies, brands can future-proof their visibility, grow their authority, and drive measurable performance in an increasingly AI-first world.

IDX can deliver results both with SEO and digital public relations tactics, extending your reach and enhancing your visibility. We target the right methods to boost your brand, increase search results, and elevate impact. Why wait? Get started today with the link below. 

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