How to Write a Press Release in 2026 (That AI Will Cite)

Key takeaways

A press release follows a fixed structure: headline, subheadline, dateline, lede, body, quote, boilerplate and media contact.
Releases that AI cites most have more statistics, more bullet points and a more objective tone (Muck Rack, December 2025).
Research on AI answers found adding statistics, quotations and cited sources raised visibility 30-40%.
Keep links natural: Google treats keyword-stuffed links in distributed press releases as link spam.

A press release is a short, factual news story written by a business about itself, formatted so editors, readers and now AI assistants can quickly understand what happened and why it matters. Done well, it becomes coverage that keeps working for months. Done badly, it reads like an ad and gets ignored by people and machines alike.

Here's the structure, step by step, plus what the research says makes AI assistants cite a release.

The structure of a press release

Headline. One line that states the news plainly. Aim for under about 100 characters. "Mesa Roofer Launches Free Post-Monsoon Inspections for East Valley Homes" beats "Exciting News From Our Team!"
Subheadline. One sentence that adds the most important supporting detail.
Dateline. City, state and date at the start of the first paragraph: "MESA, Ariz., October 8, 2026 --".
Lede (first paragraph). Who, what, where, when and why in two or three sentences. If someone reads nothing else, they should still understand the news.
Body. Two to four short paragraphs with the supporting details, most important first (the "inverted pyramid").
Fact bullets. Three to five bullet points with the key specifics: dates, numbers, locations, who it's for.
Quote. One quote from a named spokesperson that adds a point of view, not a slogan.
Boilerplate. A short "About [business]" paragraph: what you do, where, since when, and your website.
Media contact. Name, email and/or phone.

What makes AI cite a press release

AI assistants now read press releases, and research shows which ones they favor. Muck Rack's December 2025 report found that press release citations in AI answers grew five-fold in the second half of 2025, and the releases AI cited most had, on average:

2x as many statistics
2.5x as many bullet points
30% more action verbs
A 30% higher rate of objective sentences

That matches the academic research. In the KDD 2024 study that introduced generative engine optimization, adding statistics, quotations and cited sources each raised a source's visibility in AI answers by roughly 30-40%. The lesson is the same either way: facts, numbers and clear statements get cited; adjectives don't.

Seven rules for writing it

Lead with real news. A launch, a milestone, a new location, a hire, a community project or genuinely useful seasonal advice.
Use numbers you can stand behind. "4,000 roofs since 2009" is citable; "industry-leading" isn't.
Write like a reporter. Neutral, third person, no hype words like "revolutionary", "world-class" or "best".
Name names. Use your exact business name, city and services, the same way they appear on your website and Google Business Profile.
Make the quote earn its place. It should say something only a person could: an opinion, a reason, a perspective.
Keep it short. Roughly 350-550 words is plenty for most local and small-business news.
Keep links natural. Google's spam policies list "links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts, or press releases distributed on other sites" as link spam. Link your business name to your website and leave it at that.

Common mistakes

Burying the news under background in the first paragraph.
Writing an ad instead of a story: no prices-as-headlines, no "call now".
Inventing or rounding up facts. Every number in a release should be one you can prove.
Forgetting the boilerplate and contact, which is where readers and AI find who you are.

Then: where it gets published

A great release only matters once it's published where people and AI will see it. Distribution puts your story on news sites, from local and national networks up to outlets like USA Today, TheStreet and Street Insider. (See what a premium placement does.)

At AImpact, our team writes every release in this format, you approve it, and we publish it across the news channels in your plan. Get a free AI visibility check to find your first story.

AImpact Editorial Team

Our team plans and writes press campaigns, builds cloud stacks and runs AI visibility tracking for businesses every month. We check every claim in our articles against the sources listed below.

Sources

Muck Rack (via MarTech Series): Earned Media Still Drives Generative AI Citations as Press Release Visibility Grows, December 2025
Aggarwal et al., "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization" (KDD 2024, arXiv 2311.09735)
Google Search Central: Spam policies for Google web search — link spam in distributed press releases

How to write a press release (that AI will actually cite)