Hey bestie,
It’s July 31: Harry Potter’s birthday. Let’s group chat 👇
🤖 PR for your AI: I've been saying it for almost a year: how you position the way your company uses AI is a competitive advantage. This week's edition comes from Buffer, who decided real humans write their content. "Every blog post, social post, and landing page." In 2026? Groundbreaking. (Psst, here's my AI policy.)
🗞 Freshly launched: Comms pros Siobhan Devine and Rachel Alkon launched From Scratch, a Substack focused on founder and entrepreneurial narrative stories. Which has me thinking: why aren't more PR pros creating their own "content houses" tied to the clients they serve? Prove you can tell the story, build the audience, and sprinkle in a little "go direct" with a new type of new media.
🔍 Skeptics welcome: Match Group's Michael Kaye wrote for Inc. about how companies are leaning on PR to influence AI search results, and (to my surprise!) included my slightly contrarian take: I'm afraid comms people are pounding their chests, pointing to data that shows earned's influence on GEO, without doing the research on their brand, their likely questions, and their contribution mix.
My goal is that comms people get taken seriously in the boardroom on a topic this important and revenue-driving. So here's what I'm doing:
First: I'm joining Sarah Evans' AI Visibility Equation next Friday, August 7 at 11am ET, live on LinkedIn, to talk more about the skeptical PR pro's approach to GEO. Be on the lookout for a link.
Second: I'm starting to ideate my next free, open-to-all comms training. Most recently I’ve led a "vibe code your comms" training that teaches you to use AI as a comms pro. One person called it "the most valuable training ever." Another told me "I've never watched a recording, and I've re-watched this twice." So these trainings are GOOD. I want your feedback on what to explore next.
📊 Poll: What should my next free, open-to-all comms training cover?
The Skeptical Comms Guide to GEO: the real data, lessons, strategies, and boardroom-level tips so you're credible, informed, and actionable on AI. (Taught by someone not selling you GEO software or consulting.)
The [New & Improved!] Comms Guide to AI: what can you say, you’re insatiable. More ways to automate grunt work, pay less in vendor fees, and free up time for better, more strategic work. Real comms stories and examples you can steal today.
Think Like a CCO: You don't want something AI focused. You want something that makes you a better leader so you can get paid, promoted, and powerful.
Vote now 👇
My pick is...
(Psst: Off the Record members, you’ll be getting a version of all three of these before the year ends 🙌 .)
🤓 And if you're looking for a reason to stay subscribed: Last week I wrote my first Bestie Lesson to be sure Comms Bestie Group Chat readers knew the impact of open source models as a comms leader. At the exact same publish time, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang wrote his first X post about why open models matter, and that post headlined this week's Axios Communicators. Are the besties causing a glitch in the matrix? Probably not, but we are trying to keep ya informed.
👀 One for the road: Former Axios Communicators writer Eleanor Hawkins is hiring a Policy Communications Lead for Reflection AI. The open source (!!) company. (Nope, not in a matrix, nope.)
Chat soon,
Gab Ferree
Founder & Your Comms BFF, Off the Record
PS: Last week’s most-clicked was the SF Standard’s Rachel Whetstone CCO exposé 🍵.
PPS: Last weekend was the 14th annual girls trip with the group that inspired the idea behind this “group chat.” 10/10 recommend North Carolina’s Whitewater Center.
Pictured: Us before getting annihilated by man-made whitewater rapids.
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