As AI leans more heavily on earned media when deciding which brands and content to trust, it's become essential that PR, content, and SEO teams work together more closely, almost like a Venn diagram with AI visibility at the center.
Silos that once simply slowed teams down are now actively costly. When just one team owns the relationship with Stacker, the others fail to get access to helpful inputs like story ideas, distribution data, and AI citation signals. And worse, they might not see the compounding effects that the most effective distribution strategies bring.
At Stacker's Cited 2026 conference, this cultural shift was a theme we heard again and again, especially when it came to discussions of GEO: Brand visibility in the age of AI can't be the responsibility of just one team. PR sits in the driver's seat for earned media, and therefore AI visibility, but colleagues in other teams need to be in the car, too, engaged in the strategies that steer it.
Stacker's earned distribution platform sits at this important intersection, which is why all three functions need to be invested.
How All Teams Share in the Success with Stacker Partnerships
Over our eight-plus years collaborating with brands, one of the most common failures we see is when just one team owns and contributes to the Stacker relationship.
When the Stacker partnership and capabilities become a black box, other interrelated teams are unable to weigh in on decisions around story strategy, angles, and timing, and the resulting content underperforms on the metrics they each care about.
In an ideal scenario, each team directly collaborates with Stacker:
- PR shapes the narrative and distribution strategy
- The content team writes the stories for Stacker distribution
- The SEO team measures reach and visibility, which in turn feed insights back into the next round of planning for the PR and content teams
Representatives from all three teams should be on Stacker calls together, instead of sharing updates asynchronously, because decisions about story angles, timing, and distribution channel affect all three functions' goals simultaneously. Here's how.
Content Marketing & Editorial
How Stacker amplifies your work: Stacker’s distribution engine helps boost the owned content that has seen declining traffic thanks to the rise of zero-click AI summaries.
Maybe this content is amplified on social media or via a brand newsletter. But Stacker brings a unique boost through its network of media publishers who can republish your content and reach wider audiences — all while giving you credit with a byline and canonical links that show that the company website is the original source.
Using Stacker data for strategy: Stacker has the pulse on what audiences want, using its millions of data points on what is being republished across the network. Stacker can share the topics and formats that earn pickups, which can then inform your team’s content strategy.
Why your partnership helps: Getting your direct feedback can help to more efficiently shape editorial calendars well in advance.
Comms & PR
How Stacker can help your team: Stacker's earned distribution platform offers a way to compound the value of the stories you're already promoting with media relations.
What this could look like:
- Supplement your national PR pushes with localized angles and tailored distribution while creating additional AI citation opportunities
- Create more regular story placements in local or regional outlets to let you focus on embargoes or exclusive stories, reinforcing brand credibility and authority with reporters
- Strengthen metrics that give comms and PR teams a stronger internal narrative for ROI reporting
Using Stacker data for strategy: Stacker's content strategy team can help comms and PR teams home in on angles that have a higher likelihood of impact, backed by a deep understanding of what publishers want and when they want it.
Why your partnership helps: Regular alignment with Stacker ensures the editorial calendar aligns with your priorities and supports your strategies.
SEO & GEO
How Stacker helps your team: Stacker's GEO reporting gives customers visibility into how earned distribution is influencing AI citation and mention rates.
Using Stacker data for strategy: Stacker distribution offers a structured way to test content and prompt combinations, using integrated tools like Scrunch, which measures how offsite coverage impacts LLM visibility. Instead of aggregate traffic data, you'll have citation and mention data that's tied back to specific stories and distribution channels — providing confidence that content strategies are evidence-based and informed by real citation data, not just intuition.
Why your partnership helps: Your read on what's actually driving citations helps PR and content prioritize the angles and formats worth investing in next.
If only one of these teams is currently driving your Stacker relationship, here's the first step to loop the others in.
As Head of Accounts at Stacker, Eliana Marzullo works with all our brands to ensure they get the most out of Stacker.
