Main Insights
A significant portion of Nordic growth companies are hindered by insufficient PR capacity, while more and more want to work strategically with their PR efforts – a development driven by PR playing an increasingly important role for visibility in AI search [7][8]. A study from Muck Rack shows that 95 percent of links cited by generative AI tools come from unpaid sources, of which 89 percent from earned media and nearly half from journalistic content [1].
Responding companies
314
Nordic startups & scaleups
Ad hoc or unstructured
70%
220 of 314 companies
Limited time/capacity
72%
Biggest challenge
In-depth interviews
52
45–75 min per interview
Companies that consider themselves successful with PR report that they:
- ✓Own a niche with data and insights
- ✓Work long-term with a few clear messages and a well-thought-out strategy
About the study
Survey
- • 314 responses from Nordic startup and scaleup companies
- • Respondents: Founders and marketing/communications managers
- • Period: June 2023 – June 2025
In-depth interviews
- • 52 semi-structured interviews (45–75 minutes)
- • Focus: Barriers, success examples, working methods and AI/search
- • Participants: Founders and marketing/communications managers
Sample and analysis: The survey sample was drawn from lists of Nordic growth companies from services like Crunchbase and LinkedIn Sales Navigator, where representatives were contacted via email and LinkedIn. The responding companies had no prior relationship with the survey's senders at the time of contact, although a smaller share have since become customers or partners.
Survey data has been analyzed descriptively to identify overarching patterns. Responses from in-depth interviews have been thematized, analyzed comparatively, and used to explain and deepen the quantitative results.
Limitations: The sample is not statistically validated to be representative of all Nordic growth companies. Conclusions about "successful companies" are based entirely on respondents' own assessments – no external validation has been conducted. The two-year collection period means that data was gathered during a time of rapid change in the external environment, particularly within AI.
Level of PR work
"How would you describe your current work with PR and media contacts?" (n = 314)
Seven out of ten companies (70%, 220 of 314) work with PR ad hoc or recurring but without a clear strategy. Only about one fifth have a structured and strategic approach. Similar patterns were seen in The Marketing Centre's study where two thirds of companies lack a formal marketing plan. [2]
- 12% (38 companies) – We don't work with PR at all
- 38% (120 companies) – Mostly ad hoc, on occasional basis
- 32% (100 companies) – Recurring but without clear strategy
- 16% (50 companies) – Structured and strategic
- 2% (6 companies) – Very advanced and integrated in business planning
Only a small group of companies consider themselves to work with PR as an integrated part of their business strategy.
+
How easy is it to assess effect?
"How easy or difficult is it for you to assess how your media visibility affects your business?" (n = 314)
60%
find it difficult or very difficult to assess effect
About six out of ten companies in the survey find it difficult or very difficult to assess how PR affects their business.
- 3% (9 companies) – Very easy
- 14% (43 companies) – Fairly easy
- 18% (56 companies) – Neither easy nor difficult
- 40% (125 companies) – Fairly difficult
- 20% (63 companies) – Very difficult
- 6% (18 companies) – Don't know / cannot assess
+Willingness to invest in PR
"What impact have your previous PR investments had on your willingness to invest in PR going forward?" (n = 314)
29%
less willing to invest
26%
more willing to invest
Attitudes toward PR are mixed – a signal of both opportunities and frustration. AI-driven search tools may make it easier to demonstrate the value of PR when mentions directly affect visibility.
- 7% (22 companies) – Much less willing to invest
- 22% (69 companies) – Somewhat less willing
- 41% (128 companies) – Unchanged willingness
- 20% (63 companies) – Somewhat more willing
- 6% (19 companies) – Much more willing
- 4% (13 companies) – Don't know / not relevant
Even among experienced communicators, "proving value and ROI" has in recent years risen as the primary challenge and surpassed budget issues as the biggest headache, according to the 2020 JOTW Communications Survey with 300 communications professionals.
+The biggest barriers
Share indicating that the factor is a major challenge (4–5 on a 5-point scale, n = 314)
This picture aligns with Constant Contact's study of over 1,300 companies where more than half reported that they spend five hours or less per week on marketing and regularly postpone activities due to lack of time. [3]
- 72% (226 companies) – Limited internal time/capacity
- 65% (204 companies) – Difficult to assess the effect of PR efforts
- 61% (192 companies) – Limited budget for PR
- 54% (170 companies) – Difficult to find the right external partner/agency
Seven out of ten companies cite limited time/capacity as the most common major challenge. About half report that it has been difficult to find the right external partner/agency.
+Working with external PR resources
"How do you currently work with external PR resources?" (n = 314)
Most companies either have no external help (39%) or use classic retainer arrangements (27%).
7%
use performance-based arrangements
- 39% (123 companies) – We don't use external PR resources
- 27% (85 companies) – Traditional agency retainer
- 24% (75 companies) – Project-based collaborations
- 7% (22 companies) – Performance-based arrangements
- 3% (9 companies) – Other arrangements
Performance-based collaborations are still uncommon despite potentially addressing the issue of uncertain ROI.
+Evidence bank and thought leadership
"To what extent do you have a clearly defined 'evidence bank' (customer cases, data, newsroom, reports, insights)?" (n = 314)
54%
have no clearly defined evidence bank
Here is a clear opportunity – especially in an AI-driven search world where well-structured source material is rewarded.
- 9% (28 companies) – Yes, to a high degree
- 37% (116 companies) – Partially, we have some elements in place
- 54% (170 companies) – No, we don't have a clearly defined evidence bank
In Edelman's recurring B2B studies, a majority of decision-makers – both direct and indirect ("hidden") – report that they use potential suppliers' thought leadership content as a basis for their purchasing decisions.
+Two phases with different needs
Companies' challenges and focus clearly shift depending on which phase they are in.
Survival
Focus
Tactical visibility here and now.
Resources
Few people and limited budget.
Strategy
Founder-led visibility and a few strong publications can make a big difference.
Positioning
Focus
Long-term credibility and share of voice.
Needs
A cohesive web of mentions: reports, cases, debates, media.
Challenge
Time and the difficulty of finding a partner who understands market/technology and adapts their approach.
Startups are often in a phase where every publication can make a big difference. An article in the right outlet can lead to investor contacts, customer inquiries, or recruitments. The focus is on quickly building initial credibility and visibility.
Scaleups have different challenges. They often already have some visibility but need to systematize their PR work to build long-term share of voice in their category. The challenge is finding time and the right partner who understands both technology and market.
Common to both phases is the need to demonstrate effect – but the measurement methods and expectations differ. Startups often measure in concrete leads or investor contacts, while scaleups need more sophisticated metrics for brand building and market position.
The six most common barriers
Based on in-depth interviews, six recurring barriers emerge
The ROI Dilemma
Difficult to see the connection between PR and business value. Focus ends up on reach instead of leads and preference.
The Resource Trap
Solo marketing managers without extra help. Senior PR competence is expensive and classic retainers feel risky.
The Message Gap
Uncertain positioning, too many messages. Difficult to formulate a core narrative that holds over time.
The Credibility Barrier
Too little third-party validation: few cases, reports, experts. PR must help reduce the customer's sense of risk.
The Attention Crisis
Mass outreach works less well, generic pitches are filtered out. Journalists demand relevance, data, and genuine expertise.
The Brief Trap
Collaborations fail due to misunderstood briefs. The company briefs from inside-out while the agency needs a story from outside-in.
In Cision's global State of the Media Report 2024, 87 percent of journalists say they prefer contact via email. At the same time, most are clear that more than one follow-up "is not appreciated", and 77 percent report that they block PR people who repeatedly "spam" with irrelevant pitches.
Muck Rack's study of over one million AI-cited links – where almost all references in generative AI responses lead to unpaid sources, with large portions from editorial material – suggests that the assessment of relevance and quality now increasingly correlates between visibility in digital search tools and visibility in traditional media.
From the interviews, it appears that many collaborations between growth companies and external agencies fail due to a fundamental clash in communication, often centered around the brief. This is confirmed as a common cause of frustration and can be seen as a contributing factor to why over half (54%) find it difficult to find the right external partner.
The core of the problem:
- The company briefs from inside-out – They are experts on their own complex product and brief the agency with technical details, features, and internal jargon.
- The agency needs a story from outside-in – A PR agency needs an angle that is relevant to a journalist and their readers. They need an answer to the question "Why is this important news for someone outside your company?".
- Unclear news hook – When the brief lacks a clear external news hook, the agency is forced to either "guess" an angle that often becomes too generic, or the work gets stuck entirely.
The result is wasted time and a feeling that PR doesn't work. "The Brief Trap" thus reinforces both the perception that PR doesn't work and the difficulty of finding the right partner.
Roadmap to PR-Driven Sales
How successful companies build PR that drives sales.
What successful companies do differently
From the interviews, common traits emerge among companies that feel their PR truly drives business
They own a niche
Produce recurring data/insights (reports, indices, trend analyses).
They work focused
2–3 core topics that recur in all communication, focus where the target audience is.
They build an evidence bank
Customer cases, data, reports, collaborations with researchers/experts.
They work with the right partner
Less focus on hours, more on results and business value.
They connect to societal issues
Climate, security, integration, talent supply – depending on industry.
Cision's State of the Media Report shows that journalists increasingly rely on a limited number of trusted sources. Building long-term relationships with relevant journalists is therefore crucial to becoming one of these sources.
The companies that succeed best often have one or more spokespersons that journalists know and trust – not just because they are available, but because they consistently deliver valuable insights and perspectives.
Conclusion
AI makes PR crucial for companies that need visibility to grow. But when many want to be heard at the same time and new technology makes it easy to spread messages, the noise becomes loud.
The most successful growth companies in this survey are not those who reached the most people at a certain point in time and managed to "raise their voice" but those who managed to make the signal clear so that they get their messages through over time.
"It's better to continuously conduct strategic – and perhaps somewhat more low-key – PR work that stands out over time than to drown out the noise for a limited time only to be forgotten."
When the foundation is in place, the chances increase that customers find you, journalists call you, and AI tools cite you. Not because you shout the loudest, but because you are one of the sources that are actually worth listening to.
The concept of "earned authority" describes the credibility that is built up through consistent, valuable content and mentions in trusted sources. Unlike paid visibility (advertising) or owned visibility (own website), earned authority is something that others give you – journalists who cite you, industry experts who reference your research, or AI tools that highlight your insights.
Academic research confirms this pattern. A study by Chen et al. (2025) shows that AI search tools have an overwhelming bias toward third-party sources and journalistic content. The researchers identify "dominate earned media to build AI-perceived authority" as one of the four most important strategies for visibility in AI search [8].
As AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews increasingly affect how people find and evaluate information, earned authority becomes even more important. These tools prioritize sources perceived as credible and authoritative – and that assessment is largely based on how often and in what contexts a brand or expert is mentioned.
For growth companies, this means that PR work is no longer just about "being seen in media" but about systematically building the type of digital footprint that makes AI tools see you as a credible source. It requires a long-term strategy, a clear evidence bank, and relationships with the journalists and experts who shape the industry's narrative.
Roadmap to PR that drives sales
How successful companies build PR that drives sales – step by step.
- ✓10+ booked meetings with dream customers in five–six weeks
- ✓10–20 publications in relevant media
- ✓€20k+ LTV per customer
Sources
- Muck Rack, What Is AI Reading?, 2025. Read more →
- The Marketing Centre, Marketing Maturity Report, 2024. Read more →
- Constant Contact, Small Business Now: The Current State of SMB Marketing, 2024. Read more →
- JOTW Communications Survey, 2020 Communications Survey, 2020. Read more →
- Edelman & LinkedIn, B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report: Invisible Influence – Unlocking the Power of Hidden Buyers, 2025. Read more →
- Cision, State of the Media Report, 2024. Read more →
- Gartner, Gartner Predicts Search Engine Volume Will Drop 25 Percent by 2026, Due to AI Chatbots and Other Virtual Agents, 2024. Read more →
- Chen et al., Generative Engine Optimization: Visibility and Recommendations in AI Search, 2025. Read more →
A report by Epicenter and Heartspace
© 2025. Data collected June 2023 – June 2025.