Ask ChatGPT or Claude to recommend an expert in your field. Would your name come up, or would it be someone else's? Gloria Chou is back on the podcast to break down exactly how AI decides who gets recommended and who gets skipped, and what that means for how you do PR from here.

About Gloria Chou

Gloria Chou is an award-winning PR strategist and a former US diplomat. Her students have earned over a billion organic views and landed features in outlets like Forbes, Vogue, and Oprah's Favorite Things, most of them without big budgets, agencies, or industry connections. She created the CPR pitching method, a three-part structure for writing pitches that journalists actually answer. Gloria hosts the Small Business PR podcast and now teaches founders how to use free AI tools to land press and get picked up in AI search results.

How AI decides which brands to recommend

Getting seen isn't enough anymore. Gloria Chou joins Holly to break down how ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity decide who they recommend, and why press features carry more weight than a big following. AI-referred traffic converts about four times higher than any other channel, and it pulls its trust signals from real media coverage, not paid ads.

Gloria walks through her CPR pitching method (credibility, point of view, relevance) and shows exactly how she uses Perplexity to find pitch angles and data points, then ChatGPT to write the pitch itself. She also shares free tools like HARO and Substack for finding journalists looking for sources right now, so you can start landing press without an agency or a big following.

The part worth sitting with is the timing. Gloria makes the case that this window of AI visibility is open now and will not stay open, because the brands getting cited today are the ones building the trust score AI will keep pulling from later. She closes with what to do about it in the next 90 days, without an agency and without a following.

Key takeaways from this episode

• AI-referred traffic converts about four times higher than traffic from any other channel.
• PR features are the strongest trust signal AI reads, stronger than blogging or posting on social media.
• Being quoted in a podcast, magazine, or article creates long-form metadata that AI tools can read and cite back.
• The CPR pitching method stands for credibility, point of view, and relevance, and the pitch itself leads with relevance, not your bio.
• Perplexity is free, and it can scan your site, pull live trend data, and find journalists actively looking for sources in your space.
• One PR feature can turn into roughly six times its original exposure once it is reused across email, content, and social.

This episode is for you if

• You want to get found by ChatGPT and Claude without posting on Instagram every day.
• You have never pitched a journalist and assume you need an agency or a big following first.
• You are already using AI to write, but not to find the angle worth writing about.

Tune in to hear:

• How AI decides who to recommend versus who gets skipped
• Why being seen isn't enough anymore, and what "being chosen" really means
• Why AI-referred traffic converts about four times higher than other channels
• Why PR features are the strongest trust signal for AI, more than blogging or social media
• Gloria's CPR pitching method: credibility, point of view, relevance
• How to use Perplexity to research pitch angles and pull real data points
• Why Gloria uses ChatGPT, not Claude, for writing journalist pitches
• Free tools to find press opportunities: HARO, Substack, and journalist-request hashtags
• How one PR feature turns into six times the exposure through social, email, and content reuse
• Why this window of AI visibility won't stay open, and what to do in the next 90 days

More in this series: 3 visibility shifts to go from best kept secret to best known · the PR strategy you're missing, and how to get featured without pitching 24/7

Want the written version of the AI search side of this? Read how to show up in AI search when buyers ask ChatGPT who to hire.

CONNECT WITH GLORIA:

Website: gloriachoupr.com

Instagram: @gloriachoupr

Podcast: Small Business PR

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Frequently asked questions

Who is Gloria Chou?

Gloria Chou is an award-winning PR strategist, a former US diplomat, and the host of the Small Business PR podcast. She has helped small business owners earn over a billion organic views and land features in outlets like Forbes, Vogue, and Oprah's Favorite Things without big budgets or industry connections. Gloria created the CPR pitching method and now teaches founders how to use free AI tools to land press and show up in AI search results.

How does AI decide which brands to recommend?

AI tools pull from trust signals to build a trust score for your business, and Gloria says PR features are the strongest signal there is. Being quoted in a podcast, magazine, or article creates long-form metadata that AI can read and cite, which carries more weight than a big social following. That's why AI-referred traffic converts about four times higher than other channels: buyers already trust the recommendation before they click.

What is Gloria Chou's CPR pitching method?

CPR stands for credibility, point of view, and relevance, and it's the order Gloria recommends for writing a pitch. Start with relevance, a timely stat or trend that connects to your expertise, then add your point of view or unique insight, and close with your credibility, like past features or podcast appearances. Leading with relevance instead of your bio is what makes a pitch stand out to a journalist or podcast host.

How do you use Perplexity to get press coverage?

Perplexity is a free research tool that can scan your website and pull real-time data on trends, competitors, and journalists looking for sources in your space. Gloria uses it to find pitch angles backed by an actual data point or citation, then hands that angle to ChatGPT to write the pitch itself. She recommends free tools like HARO and Substack alongside it to find live opportunities from journalists and editors.

Is PR or social media better for getting found by AI?

PR, by a wide margin, according to Gloria. A social following is not something AI tools weigh heavily when they decide who to recommend, because the posts are short, they disappear, and they live on a platform the AI may not be reading. A press feature is long-form, dated, hosted on a credible domain, and permanent, which is exactly the kind of source AI pulls from. One good feature does more for your AI visibility than months of posting.

How do you find press opportunities for free?

HARO connects journalists who need sources with people who can speak to the topic, and it costs nothing to respond. Substack is the one most people miss, because independent journalists and newsletter writers are actively looking for guests and sources and they are far easier to reach than a magazine editor. Gloria also watches journalist-request hashtags for live callouts. None of this requires a publicist or a media list.

Curious what's actually standing between you and consistent income in your business? Take the free 2-minute quiz and find out where the gap is. → hollymariehaynes.com/quiz 💛