Press Release Format: The Standard Structure (With Checklist)

Key takeaways

A press release opens with a release line: "For immediate release", or "Under embargo until" a date when the news can't be published yet.
The body follows news style: headline, optional subheadline, dateline, summary lead, then the inverted pyramid.
It ends with a boilerplate About paragraph, a media contact and ### (or -30-) to mark the end.
Online, short paragraphs, bullet points and real statistics help: the releases AI cites most have 2x the statistics and 2.5x the bullets.

Press releases follow a format that has barely changed in decades, and for good reason: editors know exactly where to look for each piece of information. Today AI assistants read releases too, and a predictable structure helps them as well. This is the standard format, line by line. If you just want something to fill in, grab our free press release template.

The standard press release format, top to bottom

Part	What it looks like
Release line	"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" or "UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL [date, time]"
Media contact	Name, email and phone, at the top or the bottom
Headline	One plain line stating the news
Subheadline	Optional: one supporting detail
Dateline	CITY, State, Month Day, Year --
Lead	Who, what, where, when and why in the first paragraph
Body	Supporting details, most important first
Quotes	A named spokesperson, ideally plus a third party
Boilerplate	"About [Business]": one short paragraph
End mark	### (or -30-), centered

The release line: immediate or embargoed

The first line tells editors when they can publish. "For immediate release" means the news can run as soon as it's received. If you need journalists to wait, for example until a product launches or an event starts, write "under embargo until" followed by the date and time. As Ohio State University's strategic communication textbook puts it, the embargo date is "when you will allow the journalist to publish the information." The release date goes just below this line.

For releases published through distribution networks, "for immediate release" is almost always right, since the release goes live on publication.

Headline and subheadline

Write the headline like a news headline, not an ad: who did what. Keep it to one line where you can. The optional subheadline adds the single most useful supporting detail, such as a date, a number or who it's for.

Dateline and lead

The dateline is the city and state where the news comes from, plus the release date, at the very start of the first paragraph: "TEMPE, Ariz., October 16, 2026 --". It's the date of the release, not the date of your event.

The first paragraph is the summary lead: the whole story in two or three sentences. Someone who reads only this paragraph should still know what happened.

Body: the inverted pyramid

Organize the rest in an inverted pyramid, most important information first and background last. Editors trim from the bottom, so nothing essential should live there. Online, keep paragraphs to two to four sentences and add a short bulleted list of key facts.

Quotes

Ohio State's guide recommends at least two quotes: one from the company or organization and one from a third party, such as a customer, partner or attendee. Each quote should add a point of view, a reason or a human detail, not repeat the facts.

Boilerplate, contact and end mark

The boilerplate is a short "About" paragraph, similar to the About Us section of your website: what you do, where, since when and your web address. Use the same wording every time so your business is described consistently everywhere it appears. Add a media contact, then mark the end with ### (or the older "-30-").

Length

Keep it as concise as possible, ideally one page. For most local and small-business news, roughly 350-550 words is plenty.

Formatting for online distribution and AI

Most releases are now read on screens, by people and by AI assistants. A few formatting habits make a measurable difference. Muck Rack's December 2025 report found the press releases AI cited most had, on average, 2x as many statistics, 2.5x as many bullet points and a 30% higher rate of objective sentences.

Use bullets for key facts like dates, numbers, locations and who it's for.
Use real numbers you can prove, not adjectives.
Write objectively, in the third person, with no hype words.
Keep links natural. Google's spam policies treat keyword-optimized anchor-text links in distributed press releases as link spam. Link your business name to your website and leave it at that.
Add an image with a descriptive caption where the distribution allows it.

Format checklist

Release line and date at the top
One-line, plain-language headline
Dateline at the start of the lead
Who, what, where, when and why in the first paragraph
Most important details first; bullets for key facts
At least one quote from a named person
Boilerplate, media contact and ###

For the writing itself, see how to write a press release that AI will cite. Or let us handle it: every AImpact plan includes releases written in this format, approved by you and published on news sites through our PR campaigns.

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.

Press release format: the structure editors and AI expect