Posted By Kathy Wilson on March 10, 2026
To build a meaningful earned media measurement process and program, you first have to know what success means to your business. Identifying your key performance indicators (KPIs) is an essential step towards establishing a baseline for the growth and progress of your earned media program.
Most of your KPIs will need to be tailored to your specific program needs (more on that here!), but at Tier One, these earned media KPIs are an essential part of every PR measurement program:
KPI #1: Share of Voice
What SOV tells you:
- What topics resonate best and drive coverage for you and your competitors
- Where and how visibility is shifting over time
- Where you have whitespace opportunities to own a narrative
Share of voice (SOV) has been a key component of PR programs since we were cutting out newspaper clips and building coverage books. But that image can make SOV feel like an outdated metric. Instead, take a more tailored approach to get the most value from your share of voice measurement.
Whether you’re doing it for your own brand or a client, think about your stakeholders when deciding how to filter and focus your SOV metrics. Are your executives interested in everywhere your brand is (or could be) being seen? Do you have a subset of outlets your insights team knows your audience likes and wants to track against? Are you in a complex market and need to measure two subsets of competitors or topics? There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to SOV (even if sometimes we wish it could be that easy!).
Numbers are just as important as what they tell you. Think about what’s driving SOV for you. What about for your competitors? Is a large chunk of the coverage negative? How is it changing over time? (We recommend measuring year over year, because quarterly coverage can shift throughout the seasons.) Look for the story SOV tells, not just how big your pie slice is.
KPI #2: AI Share of Voice
What AI SOV tells you:
- What narratives AI associates with your brand (and what’s missing)
- The channels that matter most to AI
- Where you have opportunities to earn more citations and shape perception
Marketers are adjusting to a world increasingly filtered through algorithms and generative AI. While humans may be the ultimate decision-makers, they’re not your only audience anymore. Now, you’ve got to talk to the bots too.
A recent report from Muck Rack found 95% of AI citations come from non-paid media. Of that, 89% come from earned media (including review sites, analyst coverage, and news coverage) and more than a quarter from journalistic content. This proves PR can meaningfully influence how AI understands and depicts brands.
Because this is an emerging space, PR pros are looking to external platforms to help measure it. HubSpot’s AEO Grader, for example, can give you an idea of how and where your brand is showing up in AI search. SEO tools like SEMrush also offer AI visibility tracking, similar to how they track traditional search. Muck Rack also has its own AI measurement solution. Find the tool that works best for you.
KPI #3: Reporter Relationships
What Reporter Relationships tell you:
- Who you’re building trust with
- Where your brand resonates best
- Where you can expand coverage and deepen relationships
As traditional newsrooms shrink, many reporters feel overrun with PR pitches. AI tools make it easy to spray and pray, and it can be frustrating for reporters to receive pitches unrelated to their beat. Being a trustworthy, useful, and insightful source for a reporter is maybe the most important thing you can be.
We like to look at how we’re moving the media needle by tracking our contacts in a 3-tier matrix. We’ll determine who our media friendlies are — people who recognize our names in their inboxes, have met with us before, and trust our insights. Then we’ll look at where we’re closing the gap, such as new introductions or reporters who have expressed interest in learning more. Finally, we track aspirational relationships — journalists covering our space who would be a great target for big announcements or exclusives, or who we’d love to start getting to know better. The goal is to move every reporter forward by building trust and adding value.
Unlocking Earned Media Success
While these critical KPIs help evaluate how well your current PR program supports overall business goals, keep an open mind about adjusting your strategy as you learn what’s working — and what’s not. Continue to monitor your progress, and let measurement help shape your success story.
Want help landing quality coverage for your brand? Our expert team of media whisperers can help.
