Performance PR in the AI era: how PR, affiliate, and performance marketing now work together

The traditional boundaries between public relations (PR), affiliate marketing, and performance marketing are no longer holding. This shift is becoming clearer as AI driven discovery changes how people research, compare, and decide what to buy. In this environment, editorial content is not only a brand building tool. Editorial content can also act as a measurable and scalable driver of performance, but only when a brand is set up to activate it properly.

This article is written for brand and growth teams that manage PR, affiliate, social, and performance budgets and need a practical way to connect earned editorial influence to measurable commercial outcomes. Across a portfolio of more than 230 brands globally, Acceleration Partners reports growing success when teams create real operational synergy between PR, social, and affiliate, rather than running each function in isolation. The approach described as “performance PR” is positioned as a response to this new reality.

What is performance PR?

Performance PR is an approach to earned media that treats editorial coverage as part of the performance infrastructure. Performance PR is not “PR with links”, and it is not affiliate activity presented as brand spend. Performance PR focuses on influencing early discovery and consideration through trusted editorial voices, then connecting that influence to measurable downstream impact using the affiliate channel.

Performance PR is designed for a new editorial era where trusted publisher content increasingly informs AI driven discovery and shapes how categories are framed. The intended outcome for brands is greater influence over how a brand is discovered, understood, and ultimately chosen.

How AI driven discovery is changing where the customer journey begins

AI driven discovery is changing when and how people start researching. Consumers are increasingly describing problems, needs, and aspirations directly to large language models (LLMs) before they know what product they are looking for or which brand to choose. According to eMarketer, more than half of U.S. consumers already use LLMs to conduct shopping research. In these moments, AI is not creating new opinions. AI is synthesising what already exists across trusted, high quality content ecosystems.

This shift matters because it changes what influences a buyer before purchase intent fully forms. It also changes which sources shape the language, comparisons, and frames that consumers adopt when they later evaluate options.

Why category perception is now shaped before intent forms

When consumers ask LLMs early stage questions, the responses can influence how the consumer thinks about the entire category, not only which link they might click later. Performance PR treats this as a primary performance concern because early discovery shapes downstream efficiency. If a brand is absent from the narratives and sources that LLMs synthesise, the brand can lose influence before a traditional conversion journey even begins.

A practical implication is that brands need to pay attention to the content ecosystems that LLMs draw from. In this model, the goal is not only to capture demand at the bottom of the funnel. The goal is also to influence how demand is defined and which brands are considered credible options.

Why editorial voices matter more in AI answers

Established, credible publishers consistently appear as cited sources in AI driven responses. The source material argues that conversational, high quality editorial content is prioritised over keyword led optimisation tactics that were more central in earlier search led strategies. This is one reason upper funnel editorial content has returned to focus as a strategic lever for AI era visibility, with affiliate playing a crucial role in activation and measurement.

For brands, this increases the value of editorial influence because editorial content can shape how a brand is introduced, compared, and recommended in AI mediated discovery experiences.

Why the old PR versus affiliate split no longer reflects reality

Historically, PR and editorial were treated as brand building activities, while affiliate was evaluated almost exclusively on last click performance. The source material argues that this split no longer matches how consumers discover and decide, because editorial content can inform LLM outputs and LLM outputs can inform consumer decision making.

In this environment, earned media becomes part of the performance infrastructure even when it does not convert immediately. Performance PR is described as the mindset shift required to operate effectively, because it values influence in early decision moments and recognises that discovery, problem definition, and category framing can occur long before conversion.

How performance PR connects influence to measurable outcomes

Performance PR treats editorial as an upper funnel performance driver rather than a passive awareness play. The affiliate channel is presented as the connective layer that links brand storytelling to measurable outcomes, bringing PR, content, and partnerships together as one accountable growth engine.

A key operational shift is changing the evaluation question. The source material suggests brands can unlock gains when they stop asking, “Did this article convert?” and start asking, “How is this content shaping discovery, consideration, and downstream efficiency?” This framing supports measurement approaches that look beyond last click attribution and towards contribution across the journey.

What changes in a zero click environment

The source material describes a “zero click environment” where performance cannot be defined solely by capturing the last click. When AI systems synthesise answers directly from editorial content, brands that are cited can effectively win the interaction even when no immediate click occurs.

One implication described is that traditional cost per click (CPC) may lose relevance over time, particularly for publishers. The source material states an expectation of a shift from cost per click to cost per citation, where being referenced by trusted editorial voices becomes a measurable indicator of performance. In this model, citations are treated as signals of influence that shape discovery and category perception before traditional attribution models register impact.

The main blocker: internal silos between PR, affiliate, and growth teams

The largest blocker described is not budget or ambition. The blocker is internal structure. PR, traditional media, affiliate, and growth teams often operate in isolation with separate calendars, budgets, and publisher relationships.

This creates a situation where a brand can be investing heavily in a publication externally, but those investments are not viewed holistically internally. Performance PR requires operational coordination because the same publisher relationships, narratives, and commercial terms can often support both editorial influence and measurable commerce outcomes if teams plan together.

What happens when brands break down silos

When brands break down silos, the source material describes several outcomes that can occur quickly. Each outcome is tied to a practical change in how teams plan, negotiate, and activate.

Editorial and affiliate can compound rather than compete

When PR calendars are aligned with affiliate cost per acquisition (CPA) strategies, brands can reinforce the same narratives across channels and support upper funnel editorial with performance led amplification. The source material states that brands can see correlating improvements in return on ad spend (ROAS) through media mix modelling (MMM) data even when last click attribution stays flat.

This point matters because it separates measurement from attribution. The goal is to observe whether editorial influence improves the efficiency of downstream channels, not to force every editorial placement to prove immediate conversion.

Affiliate can become a strategic negotiation lever

When affiliate teams have visibility into broader brand spend with a publisher, minimums can become more flexible, flat fees can be reduced, and hybrid editorial commerce packages can become viable. The source material states that brands have secured stronger placements and better economics by enabling collaboration rather than increasing spend.

This positions affiliate not only as a channel for tracking and payout, but also as a commercial framework that can improve deal structure across publisher relationships.

Consistency can strengthen discovery and engagement

A consistent message and voice across PR, editorial, and affiliate channels can strengthen brand equity and engage consumers as needs emerge. The source material frames this as reaching consumers where they are, using consistent narratives that align editorial influence with performance activation.

In practice, consistency reduces friction for consumers who see a brand across multiple touchpoints and need coherent language and positioning to build trust and move towards selection.

What brands should do now to operationalise performance PR

AI has changed where discovery starts, but the source material argues it has not changed the fundamentals of how brands grow. The recommended approach is practical rather than dependent on perfect attribution. The focus is on how teams work together and how success is defined upstream.

Leading brands are described as aligning PR, affiliate, and performance teams around a shared objective: influence discovery early and make downstream channels work harder as a result. The following shifts are presented as concrete actions.

1) Treat editorial as upper funnel performance, not a separate brand expense

Editorial coverage should be evaluated based on contribution to discovery, consideration, and efficiency, not only immediate conversion. The source material suggests looking for correlation with branded search, assisted conversions, and performance channel ROAS over time.

This approach treats editorial as an input that can improve conversion conditions, such as trust and consideration, even when the final conversion happens elsewhere.

2) Share plans before results

PR calendars, affiliate activations, and publisher spend should be aligned in advance. When affiliate teams understand where brand investment is already going, affiliate teams can reinforce it through negotiation and activation.

This planning first approach is positioned as a way to prevent duplicated spend, conflicting messaging, and missed opportunities to turn editorial influence into measurable commercial impact.

3) Measure contribution, not perfection

The source material recommends using MMM trends, AI visibility benchmarks, and publisher level performance to understand whether editorial is strengthening a brand’s position in the ecosystem. The stated goal is not to prove single touch causation. The goal is to identify whether the brand is becoming easier to discover, easier to trust, and easier to choose.

This measurement philosophy supports decision making under uncertainty, where AI mediated discovery and zero click experiences reduce the amount of direct click data available.

4) Use affiliate as the connective layer

Affiliate is described as sitting at the intersection of content, commerce, and accountability. When treated strategically, affiliate can turn editorial influence into scalable, measurable growth without sacrificing long term brand equity.

In performance PR, affiliate provides the operational mechanisms that connect publisher relationships, commercial terms, and measurement practices to the editorial narratives that shape discovery.

What changes next and how to prepare

The source material describes an environment where AI systems increasingly synthesise answers from editorial content and where citation can matter even when clicks do not occur. Brands can prepare by building integrated planning between PR, affiliate, and growth teams, and by adopting measurement approaches that can detect contribution over time.

The expectation described is that commercial models may evolve, with a potential shift in emphasis from cost per click to cost per citation. Regardless of how pricing models change, the operational requirement remains the same: brands need coordinated publisher strategy, consistent narratives, and a measurement framework that reflects how discovery and decision making now occur.

Takeaway framework: the performance PR operating model

Performance PR can be implemented as a simple operating model that aligns teams and measurement around the same objective.

1. Influence discovery early by prioritising credible editorial ecosystems that shape category framing.
2. Align teams and calendars so PR narratives, social distribution, and affiliate activations reinforce each other.
3. Use affiliate to operationalise outcomes through publisher relationships, commercial terms, and accountability.
4. Measure contribution over time using signals such as MMM trends, assisted conversions, branded search, and publisher level performance.

This model is designed to help brands adapt to AI driven discovery without relying on last click attribution as the only definition of performance.

FAQ: performance PR, affiliate marketing, and AI driven discovery

What is AI driven discovery in marketing?

AI driven discovery is when consumers use AI systems, including large language models (LLMs), to describe needs and questions and receive synthesised guidance based on trusted content sources, often before they search for specific products or brands.

Why does editorial content matter more for AI search and LLM answers?

The source material states that established, credible publishers consistently appear as cited sources in AI driven responses and that conversational, high quality editorial content is prioritised over older keyword led optimisation tactics.

What is performance PR, in simple terms?

Performance PR is earned media designed to influence early discovery and consideration, then connected to measurable downstream impact through the affiliate channel.

Does performance PR replace traditional PR?

The source material positions performance PR as an approach to earned media built for a new editorial era. It reframes how editorial influence is planned and measured, rather than describing a complete replacement of PR.

How should brands measure performance PR if articles do not convert directly?

The source material recommends focusing on contribution and correlation, including MMM trends, AI visibility benchmarks, publisher level performance, branded search, assisted conversions, and downstream ROAS over time.

Why are silos between PR and affiliate a problem?

Silos create separate calendars, budgets, and publisher relationships, which prevents brands from viewing publisher investment holistically and reduces the ability to reinforce narratives and improve commercial terms through coordinated planning.

What does “cost per citation” mean?

The source material describes an expectation that measurement may shift from cost per click to cost per citation, where being referenced by trusted editorial voices becomes a measurable indicator of performance in AI mediated discovery.

What role does affiliate marketing play in performance PR?

Affiliate is described as the connective layer between content, commerce, and accountability. In performance PR, affiliate links editorial influence to measurable outcomes through publisher partnerships, activation, and performance measurement.