Business to business (B2B) PR aims to enhance a company’s public awareness in order to help them sell their products or services to other organizations. On the other side of the spectrum, business-to-consumer (B2C) PR focuses on the communications between a business and an individual. B2B PR is used by companies during times of movement for the business – such as if they are entering a new market or launching a new product – as well as when the company has no news at all to help them still make noise in their market. A strong B2B PR strategy is essential to achieving credibility in an industry.
The fundamentals haven’t changed — but where that credibility shows up has. Today your buyers aren’t just reading trade publications; they’re asking ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity who the leaders in your category are. The earned media that B2B PR generates is now one of the strongest signals shaping what those AI engines say about you — which makes PR a visibility strategy for both human and machine audiences.
How B2B Buying Has Changed: The AI Search Era
The way B2B buyers discover and vet companies has shifted dramatically since this discipline first took shape. G2 research from 2026 found that 51% of B2B software buyers now start their research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google, 85% think more highly of a vendor when an AI chatbot mentions them, and 69% ended up choosing a different vendor than they originally planned based on AI chatbot guidance. If AI engines don’t know your company exists, a growing share of your market never will either.
Our own research confirms how much this shift has raised the stakes. In Channel V Media’s 2026 Attention Economy PR Report — a Q1 2026 survey of 250 marketing executives conducted with third-party research firm Dynata — B2B marketers named generating leads (57%) and creating awareness and visibility (52%) as their biggest challenges. And they’ve connected the dots to AI: 52% of marketers say PR directly influences how their company is presented by AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. That’s no accident — the same research found traditional media sources make up roughly 43% of the information feeding AI training, more than company-owned content (22%) and user-generated content (13%) combined. The earned coverage PR generates is the single largest input into how AI engines describe your company.
“For twenty years, the goal of B2B PR was to be known by the people who read your trade press. Now it’s also to be known by the machines your buyers ask first. The good news is the mechanism is the same one PR has always used: credible third parties saying you matter.” — Gretel Going, President & Founder, Channel V Media
Key Concepts in B2B PR
Identify Your Target Audience
You can’t market anything to anyone if you don’t understand who your ideal customer is. A target audience should be the group of people who your product or service solves a problem for. Every B2B company fills a gap in their industry, and the group they need to focus on with their PR and marketing efforts is the one who has expressed that gap as a pain point in their own business. Defining the demographics of this audience such as the typical business size or location will also help give a better understanding of how to go about outreach.
Reputation Management
Building positive buzz around your business is a strategic way of casually grabbing your target audience’s attention. To maintain a stellar reputation in the eyes of peers, potential buyers, and stakeholders, PR is essential. It can be used to bolster a company’s image in the media through a variety of ways from executive commentary on industry trends to coverage of the company’s DEI policies.
Crisis Communication
When it comes to a crisis, time is of essence. Unexpected news or a negative review calls for a quick, but appropriate response. Speed of response is crucial, but it’s also essential to make sure the response has been strategically crafted to tie up every loose end. It’s helpful to also involve higher management as an authority figure to comment on whatever the problem is.
Thought Leadership
One of the best ways to build trust and credibility in your business is to position your company’s executives as experts in their industry. Companies can establish their C-suite as thought leaders in a number of ways including commentary in industry articles, interviews on industry podcasts, or full contributed articles authored by them in trade publications. Individuals and other organizations will benefit from your business’s knowledge and you will be recognized as a go-to source of information.
Objectives of B2B PR
Enhancing Brand Visibility and Awareness
A challenge that many B2B companies grapple with is low visibility. There are so many competitors in the industries that these companies function in, such as technology, that it can be near to impossible to stand out. B2B PR enables businesses to set themselves apart from the competition in the media resulting in more awareness for the company.
This remains one of B2B’s biggest pain points: in our Attention Economy PR Report, 52% of B2B marketing executives named creating awareness and visibility as a top challenge — second only to generating leads. And that visibility now extends beyond search results and news feeds into AI-generated answers — which is why Channel V Media treats AI visibility as a core outcome of every B2B PR program, not a separate discipline.
Generating Leads and Sales
Bringing in leads is the goal of all companies. But as stated above, it’s difficult to stand out in a crowded market. When B2B PR drives an increase in a company’s visibility it also drives an increase in leads and sales. Strategically placed stories not only put B2B companies in front of the right target audience, but it also feeds them the right message, leading to prospects becoming buyers.
Marketers themselves back this up: in our research, 62% said PR-generated media coverage generates direct sales and 53% said it generates leads — while only 2% said PR does not directly affect their business.
Building and Maintaining Relationships with Key Stakeholders
Maintaining relations with key stakeholders is essential to businesses. Developing mutually beneficial relationships with individuals or other businesses in your industry will build long-lasting connections. Successful relations with key stakeholders include regular communication, gaining trust, and determining how influential they will be for your business.
Establishing Industry Credibility
To retain customers and attract new ones establishing – and maintaining- your business’s credibility is crucial. There are many ways B2B PR can help establish industry credibility from thought leadership, as stated above, to consistent news releases.
B2B PR Tactics & Strategies
Media Relations
Media relations, the practice of engaging with reporters and media contacts to secure coverage of a company, is one of the key components of B2B PR. There are a few different avenues of media relations, three of which we have included below. In all of these, exceptional media relations are reliant on compelling, timely stories that resonate with the audience you are pitching.
Press Releases and Media Pitches
Press releases are the best way for a company to issue an official statement. While some reporters do look at the newswires press releases live on for stories, the best way to ensure media coverage is to go out with a media pitch related to your press release before the release goes live. This media pitch will be a more concise version of the press statement and customized to a journalist’s interests.
Industry-Specific Media Outreach
Media outreach can be specifically targeted to individual industries. If a B2B company wants to concentrate on growing its presence in one particular area, the B2B PR strategy can be to direct outreach to journalists, publications, businesses, and stakeholders in that specific category.
Expert Commentary and Thought Leadership Articles
In addition to news releases, B2B PR media relations also encompass topical outreach. Even if a company doesn’t have hard-hitting news, they can still be getting their executives in the media by involving them in important industry conversations. Those commentaries and thought leadership pieces will position your company as forward-thinking and innovative – a company people will want to be in business with.
A real example: when tariffs upended electronics supply chains in 2025, we positioned Cofactr — a supply chain software company that wasn’t itself in the tariff headlines — as the go-to expert voice for manufacturers navigating trade disruption. The result: more than 20 tariff-focused placements, bylines and podcast appearances in five months, from FreightWaves and FLYING Magazine to the manufacturing, medtech and space trades. Cofactr defined the tariff dialogue in its category by joining the conversation, not by waiting for news of its own.
Event Marketing and Speaking Engagements
Events such as conferences, seminars, and corporate gatherings are perfect opportunities to promote your business, engage with target audiences, and generate leads. These types of engagements allow individuals and businesses to showcase their expertise and expand their professional network.
Industry Conferences and Trade Shows
Thousands of brands, vendors, journalists, and experts attend industry conferences and trade shows each year. This poses a significant opportunity for B2B companies looking to promote their offerings. However, because so many companies are in attendance, it can be hard to stand out. B2B PR helps vendors differentiate themselves from the crowd at trade shows so that they can drive leads and make it into media stories.
Webinars and Panel Discussions
Other than in-person events, there are also virtual options such as webinars and online panel discussions. These can draw an even higher volume of attendees since it takes out the travel barrier. Attendees of B2B webinars tend to be more technical so B2B companies can use these to address the more niche aspects of their business. B2B PR helps promote these webinars and panel discussions and get journalists to attend.
Influencer and Analyst Relations
Influencer relations can be a powerful tool in aiding the increase of a business’s visibility. Influencers within a business’s industry can dramatically impact that company’s engagement and leads. Analyst relations is also an extremely important aspect of B2B PR. Analysts are trusted sources throughout industries and can provide expert insights into your business.
Identifying Key Influencers and Analysts
To identify the most beneficial influencers and analysts for your business, it’s important to look at their interests and previous work. Once you have a good idea of their beat you can determine whether or not they align with your company’s objectives as well as your target audience.
Building Relationships and Collaborations
Building authentic relationships is essential to grow your business in the long run. To do so, you should maintain communication even after the official end of a project together, offer exclusive opportunities, and show genuine interest.
Social Media Engagement
Social media is a valuable tool used in B2B PR for establishing a strong online presence. Choosing the right social media platforms for your business needs to be strategic since it takes significant effort to build a consistent brand profile. Putting time and work into your online presence can result in increased engagement such as more likes, comments, followers, and shares.
Utilizing Social Platforms for B2B Communication
LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and more are all platforms that can be used to share information about your business. Developing a content strategy that will resonate with your target audience is an essential part of posting for a B2B business. Ideas for posting content can include business insights, leadership articles, and company milestones. Businesses can also engage with other thought leaders in their industry and participate in relevant conversations.
Monitoring and Responding to Customer Feedback
Actively monitoring social media for mentions, comments, and feedback related to your business is imperative when establishing a presence online. Your business should respond to both positive and negative comments and messages thoughtfully and as quickly as possible. You can measure and analyze your profile’s metrics by looking at engagement rate and reach, follower growth, and conversions. Use your best judgment to evaluate what type of content does the best on different platforms.
Measurement and Evaluation of B2B PR
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPIs are metrics that are used to measure the effectiveness and success of a company’s B2B PR strategy. A few examples of key performance indicators in B2B PR are how many leads have been generated from press hits, how many articles a company has been included in, or how many interviews executives have had.
Media Monitoring and Analysis
It’s essential in B2B PR to be constantly tracking where the companies you work with are appearing in the media. Not only is it good to track the amount of media hits from a success standpoint, but it’s also important to monitor how your clients are being portrayed.
AI Engine Visibility
A newer — and increasingly decisive — measure of PR effectiveness is how AI engines describe your company. When a prospect asks Claude, ChatGPT or Perplexity “who are the leaders in [your category]?”, does your company appear, and is the description accurate? Because these engines synthesize their answers largely from earned coverage, tracking narrative penetration across AI engines has become a direct read on whether your PR program is working. It’s a measurement practice we now run for every client alongside traditional media monitoring.
Surveys and Feedback
Another way to evaluate success is with surveys. B2B PR companies can conduct client surveys and use that feedback to determine the next actionable steps and what areas need improvement.
Sales and Lead Generation Tracking
The main goal in B2B PR is to drive leads and from there sales for your clients. It’s important to track which media placements are driving leads and use that information to see what kind of coverage is most effective for that particular client. This will help you create the best strategy possible.
Future Trends and Challenges in B2B PR
Industries are continuing to become overly saturated as more and more companies enter the playing field. With the competition growing more fierce by the day, it’s challenging for virtually invisible B2B companies to stand out. B2B PR’s job is to overcome this challenge and make these invisible businesses visible. To do this B2B PR companies need a more strategic approach. Instead of just promoting companies’ news items we are going to see a trend towards stories with a more concise narrative that will show clear differentiators between competitors.
Why is PR Important for B2B Companies?
Simply put, PR allows B2B companies to increase their visibility in the media and drive more leads for their business. Very often B2B companies live in a niche field, making their products and services difficult to understand for a broader business audience. PR helps make these companies more accessible and differentiates them from their competition.
B2B marketers vote with their budgets on this: 69% include PR in their marketing mix (more than their B2C counterparts at 61%), and when asked to name the three channels they can’t do without, PR made the podium alongside digital advertising and social media — the only earned channel on the list.
FAQ for B2B PR:
- What is B2B PR?
Business to business (B2B) PR aims to enhance a company’s public awareness in order to help them sell their products or services to other organizations. - How do you measure the effectiveness of a B2B PR Campaign?
B2B PR aims to make your business the first one people think of when they hear about your industry. Media hits can be a huge determination in measuring the effectiveness of a B2B PR campaign, alongside newer measures like how prominently your company appears in AI engine answers about your category. - Does B2B PR affect how AI tools like ChatGPT describe my company?
Yes. AI engines build their answers largely from credible third-party coverage — our 2026 Attention Economy PR Report found traditional media sources make up roughly 43% of the information feeding AI training — more than company-owned and user-generated content combined — and 52% of marketers say PR directly influences how AI engines present their company. G2 research from 2026 adds the buyer side: 51% of B2B software buyers now start their research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google, and 85% think more highly of a vendor when an AI chatbot mentions them. - How can B2B PR benefit a company?
B2B PR can benefit a company by creating a relationship of trust between a business and the companies they want to target. Brand visibility, market education, engagement, thought leadership and more are opportunities that can be achieved through B2B PR.