Will chatbots be the primary interface for PR software [PR Tech Sum No. 61]

Summary of news from PR software vendors: SignalAI rolls out a chatbot; Dazzle unveils 2.0; PRophet adds influencer marketing; Equiniti (EQ) to Acquire Notified; Semrush names Bill Wagner new CEO

One of the biggest technology vendors in the communications space was talking about a new interface for PR software years ago – but it’s the startups that seem to be making it a reality.

As you’ll see below, two startups that have come out with a chatbot. One of those vendors is on the media contact side, where the chatbot helps you create a list of reporters to contact. Instead of sorting through a database, the chatbot does it for you.

The other vendor is on the monitoring side. Their chatbot can be used to query for issues that have been monitored. Consider for example, if you have years of clips about your company in your system. Instead of filtering and reading each of those pieces, you can just query the chatbot for the answers.

Each vendor is using a common approach to solve very different business problems in PR. Perhaps they should get together.

And now on with the PR Tech Sum.

Note to readers: I’ve changed the cadence of these summaries from the first Tuesday of every month to the first Tuesday of every quarter. It allows me to be more discerning in the announcements that I will cover.

1. SignalAI rolls out a chatbot

SignalAI has been working to carve out a niche in media monitoring. Where most monitoring tools will notify you of a mention in the media, SignalAI strives to enable companies to spot issues that may pose reputational risks. In other words, where media monitoring allows you to react to issues, SignalAI aims to help you get ahead of them.

This week it announced that it added a new chatbot called Ask AIQ, which is “designed for reputation and risk intelligence.” It’s effectively an interface where you can ask questions in plain English and the chatbot answers them based on the data points it’s monitored in the system.

That’s a big part of what SignalAI says distinguishes it from other chatbots – the content the chatbot pulls from is “premium and licensed content.” The company says Ask AIQ, “processes premium and licensed data from 226 markets in 75 languages” which enables businesses to pull insights from “across news, social media, broadcasts, and regulatory documents.”

The quality of the content inputs also means says Ask AIQ is hallucination-resistant, the company says. It provides an auditable trail so that customers can see “how insights are derived” and “understand the reasoning behind the results.” The word “reasoning” is buzzy across generative AI circles pitched as the anecdote to hallucinations.

A company spokesperson said in an email that Ask AIQ is currently in beta with about 80 customers and expects the product to be generally available in Q2 of 2025. The spokesperson also indicated the chatbot will be part of the product, rather than an add on:

“We’re testing out the value that the tool brings to our users during the beta period but we see this as the future of how users fundamentally interact with the Signal AI platform, not an add on feature.”

2. Dazzle unveils 2.0

Speaking of chatbots, you might remember Dazzle from this roundup in December. The company was brand new at the time – offered a chatbot as an interface – and has now unveiled its version 2.0.

Dazzle promises to help you build a media list – but its approach is different than traditional tools. Instead of searching and sorting through a database, you just tell Dazzle’s chatbot (“Dazz”) what your pitch is about, and it goes out to search for relevant reporters and influencers based on what they have written.

If you like the results, you can click on a button to add “more like this.” When you are ready, you can add all of the reporters discovered to a list inside Dazzle. The benefit of this approach is the currency. Reporters change beats and publications quite often and static databases and quickly go stale.

The company offers a free trial and pricing for premium accounts starts at $175 a month, or about $2,000 annually.

3. PRophet adds influencer marketing

PRophet, which develops software for public relations that centers on pitching, said it added influencer marketing to its tool. PRophet takes a different approach to finding media contacts to pitch. As you write a pitch, it uses generative AI to build a media list based on the text of your pitches. Now it says you can do the same for influencers.

This concept diverges from traditional PR outreach efforts. Typically, that involves building and maintaining a list – something like CRM for media. The challenge is, that reporters change beats and employers often; even those that remain in one place often cover several topics. This means lists can go stale and pitches that were once a fit are now off-topic.

Of course, as widely reported fewer people trust the media. Many have turned to influencers and non-traditional media platforms for news. Prophet cites Pew Research data – “that one in five Americans now regularly get their news from social media influencers” – as part of its motivation to add influencer marketing to its product.

“The new integration enables brands and agencies to identify relevant influencers and content creators for news stories and announcements across platforms including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and podcasts,” the company said in a press release. “Users can review the influencers’ audience quality score, engagement rate, follower credibility, and advanced insights such as popular hashtags or direct mentions.”

4. Equiniti (EQ) to Acquire Notified

Equiniti, which provides investor relations services to FTSE 100 and the S&P 500, has entered an agreement to acquire Notified. The price tag is $534.5 million and includes an $80 million earnout, PRWeek reported. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025.

According to a press release:

“With Notified’s focus in IR webcasting, earnings communications, and stakeholder engagement, EQ expands its service offering to provide a holistic solution that meets the evolving needs of corporate issuers, investors and financial stakeholders. Notified’s PR and IR platforms provide world-class media monitoring, audience insights, and award-winning solutions like GlobeNewswire, a leading global news distribution network for press releases, financial disclosures, and multimedia content, enhancing engagement and shareholder confidence.”

If you are not familiar with Notified, that is understandable. The business unit has changed names (West, Intrado, Notified) and owners several times over the last few years. Currently, the company operates as a business unit of West Corporation. It was spun out of NASQAQ which had previously acquired MarketWire. Later it acquired a slick looking PR startup called Notified and eventually took its namesake.

The wire service, Globe Newswire, is a solid distribution service and is a viable alternative to PR Newswire, in my experience. It’s European distribution is better. Investor relations types tend to like Globe because of its history with NASDAQ, so it could be a fortuitous service for the acquiring company, Equiniti to own.

5. Semrush names Bill Wagner new CEO

Semrush (NYSE: SEMR) named Bill Wagner as its new CEO. It’s an interesting move given the company’s history – and Bill’s history.

Bill has been serving on the company’s board of directors since 2022. Prior to that he was CEO of LogMeIn and served as CMO and later, COO, of Vocus, a PR software company acquired by Cision in 2014.

For its part, Semrush has been fairly acquisitive too. For example, Semrush acquired Prowly, a PR software startup out of Poland, though Prowly seems to operate independently. I haven’t seen much in the way of visible product or team integration.

Semrush has also made two notable acquisitions of publishers – companies that have built audiences around marketing and SEO. For example, it acquired Backlinko in 2022, a popular SEO blog and consultancy.

Later in 2024, it acquired Third Door Media in a move I thought was brilliant (you can build an audience or buy one). Third Door Media publishes marketing trades including Search Engine Land and Martech. It also runs related conferences including the Martech Conference and SMX.

All three of these industries – PR, SEO and publishing – are all respectively experiencing changes. PR pros are getting into publishing with content marketing. Publishers are getting into PR with sponsored content and niche wire services. And search is on the cusp of upheaval as generative AI increasingly take center stage.

6. Cision is seeking more capital

Cision resumed on-and-off-again talks with lenders for new money, according to Bloomberg. “Talks are for about $250 million in new money,” according to unidentified sources. It’s not clear if that funding would be debt or equity.

As large as that $250m number seems, it’s a pittance compared to the reported $2.5 billion in debt Cision has racked up, which is, probably at least partially attributable to a 15-year shopping spree. Its conceivable that risk would be factored into the interest rate on any new debt.

Even so, it’s a surprising move given in November of 2024, Bloomberg also reported the private equity firm that owns Cision, “disclosed to some lenders that it created a new holding company on Nov. 1, a move some lenders are considering as the first step before an asset sale or collateral transfer, according to people familiar with the situation.”

The idea behind that move is often to put all the bad debt into one entity and then spin off the parts that still have value – a source familiar with the matter told me.

Separately, the PE firm that owns Cision, named Guy Abramo as the new CEO. He’s the fourth person to hold that job in about as many years.