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AI for Public Relations

A How-To Guide for Implementation and Management

Stephen Waddington, Ben Verinder

Understand how to embrace and embed artificial intelligence into your public relations and communications practice and strategy with this how-to guide.

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EAN: 9781398625037

Edition: 1

Published: 03 May 2026

Format: 234 x 156

272 pages

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About the book

Learn how to apply AI effectively, ethically and at scale throughout PR processes and strategies.

AI for Public Relations is a practical guide for mid-career PR managers and agency professionals who want to build credibility and integrate AI tools into everyday practice. As AI reshapes content creation, planning, measurement and reputation management, this book shows how to apply proven principles and implement the right frameworks to optimize workflows while protecting brand trust.

Edited by industry leaders Stephen Waddington and Ben Verinder, this collection brings together expert contributors to explain what AI means for operational delivery, stakeholder engagement and long-term strategic planning. Through detailed chapters and actionable tools, it provides clear guidance for navigating risk, enhancing capability and developing an informed, future-focused PR function.

You'll learn how to:
- Apply AI models to improve content creation, planning and performance measurement
- Implement practical tools that streamline workflows while strengthening professional judgment
- Develop strategies for managing risk, safeguarding reputation and ensuring responsible AI use
- Optimize organizational adoption by aligning governance, processes and stakeholder expectations
- Use real-world examples from AMEC, South Norfolk and Broadland District Councils, The University of Cambridge to guide your decision making

With a balance of strategic insight and hands-on application, AI for Public Relations helps you develop the skills, frameworks and confidence to lead AI integration and elevate your impact in a rapidly changing profession.

Themes include: PR strategy, AI implementation, reputation management, governance, measurement frameworks, communication planning

About the authors

Ben Verinder is founder and managing director of Chalkstream, a reputation research and management agency. He is a founder member of the CIPR AI in PR panel and the creator of the first AI and Reputation Leadership course.

Stephen Waddington is a professional advisor at Wadds Inc. and PhD researcher at Leeds Business School. Based in London, UK, he was previously the President of the CIPR and Managing Director at Metia Group. Stephen is a Chartered PR Practitioner, an Honorary Fellow of the CIPR and a Fellow of the PRCA.

Stephen Waddington

Ben Verinder

- Chapter - 01: AI In Public Relations - key challenges and opportunities [Ben Verinder and Stephen Waddington];
- Chapter - 02: Understanding the AI technology and tools landscape for public relations [Andrew Bruce Smith];
- Chapter - 03: The impact of AI on the future of public relations practice [Stephen Waddington];
- Chapter - 04: Using AI in content creation [Gay Flashman];
- Chapter - 05: Generative engine optimization (GEO): AI visibility, reputation and the machine layer [Stephen Waddington];
- Chapter - 06: AI in planning and measurement [Richard Bagnall and Paul Hender];
- Chapter - 07: AI and public relations management [Farzana Baduel, Stephen Waddington, Ben Verinder];
- Chapter - 08: Building AI-ready teams [Antony Mayfield];
- Chapter - 09: AI adoption in an agency environment [Jeff Beringer and Jonny Bentwood];
- Chapter - 10: AI adoption within in-house teams [Serena Mitchell];
- Chapter - 11: Developing, implementing and measuring your AI policy [Amy Mollett];
- Chapter - 12: Managing the technical and operational risks of AI use [Ben Verinder];
- Chapter - 13: Managing the behavioural and systemic risks of AI use [Ben Verinder];
- Chapter - 14: How to manage AI vendor relationships [Will Julian-Vicary];
- Chapter - 15: The contribution of public relations to shaping AI’s role [Anne Gregory and Swati Virmani];
- Chapter - 16: The future of public relations in the age of AI [Ben Verinder and Stephen Waddington]

Reviews

Simon Lewis OBE, Managing Partner, Lewis Advisors

AI for Public Relations is a timely and thoughtful guide for leaders navigating one of the most profound shifts our industry has faced. It cuts through the hype to focus on what really matters: judgment, governance and the human dimension of AI adoption. Practical, balanced and honest about the risks as well as the rewards, this is essential reading for anyone serious about the future of public relations.

Alastair McCapra, CEO, CIPR

This book is essential reading for all CIPR members, whether they are already using AI extensively in their work, or have merely dipped their toes in. As we have been arguing for years, AI is proving transformative for all kinds of work. If you are leading a public relations team, educating future professionals, or want to understand how to develop your own practice and plan your own future, this book will give you the orientation you need.

Sarah Waddington CBE, CEO, PRCA

AI for PR Relations arrives at an important moment for our profession, offering communications leaders the strategic frameworks and governance principles needed to integrate AI responsibly across their organizations. Waddington and Verinder have produced a management guide that moves the conversation beyond techno-optimism to a critical perspective on adopting AI at scale.

Simon Baugh CBE, Founder, Kingsford Strategy and former Chief Executive, UK Government Communications

There is no shortage of commentary about AI. What has been missing is a serious, practical handbook for communications professionals. This book is it. It guides readers through adoption, policy, workflow, risk, ethics and capability-building with clarity and realism. Whether you lead an agency or run an in-house team, you will find actionable insight on almost every page. A timely and much-needed guide for the AI-powered era of public relations.

Rupert Younger, Director, Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, Tutor in Management at Jesus College Oxford and Co-Founder, FGS Global

AI for Public Relations is being published at a pivotal moment for the communications industry. AI is disrupting content creation and distribution at pace, and this guide details how public relations professionals can shape, rather than be shaped by, its power.

Alex Aiken, Executive Director, UK Government Communication 2013-2024

This is a timely and comprehensive textbook asking communicators 'are you ready for the AI age?' It shows that most of us aren't, and maps out a credible and thoroughly researched path to enable public relations practitioners to use artificial intelligence strategically in their work. The combination of best practice, clear examples and a strong focus on ethical application means it is essential reading or communicators who want to thrive in the AI age.

AI for Public Relations tackles the oppressive professional challenge of our time. It shows how communicators can master the challenge of artificial intelligence, adopted strategically and ethically in their work and thereby place themselves in the centre of their client or organization's purpose. It's a handbook for those who are serious public relations practitioners.

Andrew Thomas, Publisher, Cravenhill Publishing

The book challenges communications practitioners to confront the implications of AI for their organizations, their practice and their own careers. It is both authoritative and actionable, featuring contributions from the sector's most respected thinkers and doers.

Johna Burke, CEO and Global Managing Director

This collaboration steps into uncertainty with marquee thinkers and provides calm where the industry is frantic, practicality where there is speculation and discipline where hype dominates. Teams facing anxiety about what's next will find peace in these pages. Verinder and Waddington chose the impossible task of producing an AI book with relevant staying power in a time of breakneck change, and they NAILED IT.

Yvonne O’Hara, Group Head of Internal Communication, Natwest Group

AI is reshaping the world around us - and AI readiness is now a leadership priority for organizations of all sizes. AI for Public Relations is an essential guide for communications practitioners who want to take a considered and ethical approach to ensuring their practice is fit for the future. Whether you lead an in-house corporate affairs team, agency or are a consultant, this book offers guidance about how to best support the leaders and organizations you represent, as well as integrating AI into your practice. It focuses on the importance of a mindset shift to encourage ethical adoption across content creation, planning, insight and measurement while balancing the risks inherent in over-reliance on AI.

Dr Tina McCorkindale, President and CEO, Institute for Public Relations

Convening leading experts and innovators, Waddington and Verinder examine AI through a public relations and communication lens, focusing on the issues that most directly affect our work, including critical topics such as strategy, ethics, governance and measurement. At a moment when adapting to and integrating AI feels existential, this book serves as a valuable resource, providing substantive research, practical models and frameworks, and thoughtful perspectives to help communicators lead responsibly through AI transformation.

Dr Sabine Einwiller, Professor of Public Relations Research, University of Vienna and President, EUPRERA

An essential guide to how AI is transforming public relations and corporate communication, this book offers practical insights, actionable guidance and real-world examples for strategic and tactical applications, while addressing ethical considerations, governance challenges and the risks communicators must manage. Beyond its value for practitioners, it also supports educators and students by outlining the competencies future professionals need to succeed in an AI-driven communications landscape.

Alison Arnot, communication consultant and trainer, and author of 'Internal Communication in Times of Crisis'

AI is redefining the PR industry, and practitioners need to keep pace. This rigorous, measured, and ultimately optimistic guide explores the diverse risks and opportunities this evolution brings. Written in clear and accessible language, it explains how PR professionals can use AI, and how they can play a thoughtful role as they integrate it into everyday practice, understand its impact on reputation, and advise on ethics, governance and trust.

Importantly, strategic leadership is a constant theme. This book reminds us that while AI may transform our tools and processes, human judgment, curiosity, and accountability remain central. It's a must-read for PR professionals seeking to understand and harness the emerging potential of AI for their organizations, their stakeholders and themselves.

Ben Wilson, Assistant Director of External Relations, Charity Commission for England and Wales

This book sweeps away binary thinking about AI as either threat or opportunity and in its place sets a challenge to the PR industry: will we step up and own the strategic deployment of AI, or will we leave it to others? Verinder, Waddington and their co-contributors set out a compelling vision for PR's responsibility to integrate AI as a creative and strategic partner, in a way that both embeds ethical considerations and reflects the expectations of our stakeholders. This book is like the best guides to travel destinations: understanding of the reader's preconceptions, critically honest about the subject matter, but ultimately pushing the reader to grasp the possibilities before someone else gets there and spoils it for us.

Shane Canning, Head of Communications, Generative AI Laboratory (GAIL), The University of Edinburgh

AI has the potential to change the way we work as public relations professionals forever. Throughout this book, leading experts in the field guide us on this journey, covering everything, including the practicalities, strategy, risk management and ethics. I know that I will be referring to this book time and time again for years to come.

Kim Sample, CEO, PR Council

AI for Public Relations equips public relations leaders with proven strategies to operationalize AI today and lead tomorrow. Editors, Verinder and Waddington, joined by a who's who of industry experts, deliver practical guidance for client and agency success.

AI for Public Relations is a timely and thoughtful guide for leaders navigating one of the most profound shifts our industry has faced. It cuts through the hype to focus on what really matters: judgment, governance and the human dimension of AI adoption. Practical, balanced and honest about the risks as well as the rewards, this is essential reading for anyone serious about the future of public relations.
Simon Lewis OBE, Managing Partner, Lewis Advisors

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