16 Years Later, the SEO-PR Partnership is Stronger than Ever: A Hamsterdam History Lesson

By Ethan Lazuk

Welcome to another edition of Hamsterdam History!

This is a series of posts where we look at “vintage” SEO articles to celebrate their contributors, gain historical knowledge, and discuss how things have changed (or haven’t) since.

In this edition, we’re going back exactly 16 years and looking at a post by Trond Lyngbo for SEOMoz called “6 Big Benefits of Partnering SEO and PR.”

When thinking about PR and SEO/GEO, my mind immediately went to AI search. If you look in any prompt-tracking tool, you’ll likely see that PR (part of Editorial) is an important component of sources for AI-generated answers:

But the context back in 2010 was obviously different — no AI search.

So why was PR being spoken of as a beneficial partner for SEO?

The author explains:

“… search engines like Google and Yahoo! are picking up more and more press releases which are optimized effectively. Not only are these press releases being found by journalists, they’re also being found by bloggers and buyers.”

Already we see some differences in tactics.

Back in 2010, the focus was on press releases. Today, they’re still a component of the game, but the broader emphasis is on digital PR connected to original research or reporting.

But let’s continue by examining the author’s example of a bookstore writing a press release:

“There are thousands of bloggers who blog about art topics like films and books. If one blogger decides to search for used books, your press release can give him all the necessary information he needs to help his readers who in turn will be buying from you. See how that works?”

In terms of practical takeaways, the author first talks about how SEO can benefit press releases:

“SEO extends the reach of PR and communications. It allows you to reach not only buyers, but those who communicate with your buyers.”

The second benefit speaks to brand awareness:

“Online, journalists and bloggers are constantly on the hunt for items which may help their readers. By partnering SEO and PR, you created more name power for your company, more traffic to your site, more sales opportunities, and a highly effective marketing system with longevity.”

Another benefit speaks to the link-building aspect of PR:

“By getting relevant incoming links from respected sites and blogs, your search engine rankings go up. Simply having press releases point to your site is good, but if 10 top blogs and some newspapers pick up the release, that increases your search engine ranking greatly.”

There’s also the benefit of garnering a journalist’s interest for a broader story:

“A journalist or blogger you never solicited may contact you for more information on your product. This may create a more relevant article or blog post about your business and product in general.”

The final benefit is about brand protection:

“By building optimized press releases, you can give your audience relevant, positive, and brand building messages about why you stand behind your product or service.”

A commenter on the article also speaks to the ability of press releases to outrank websites due to freshness:

“I have actually been considering partnering with a PR agency to help them offer SEO optimized press releases/serivces. When I wrote the SEO manual for the last company I worked for I really made a point of how important PR was in building your online presence. Also, a press release can rank higher than a website as we know from the QDF factor that we are seeing more often”

I don’t see a lot of press releases outranking websites, personally. But we have heard about press releases getting picked up raw as sources for AI assistants:

press releases winning in AI Overviews #SEO pic.twitter.com/8Z2Dh1zjPX

— Gagan Ghotra (@gaganghotra_) August 30, 2026

Albeit, some of this is in a spammy context:

Press Release Spam – AI Optimization edition is BACK.
While I am searching Google here, I can't help but think this raw repetition could work in AI answers – I see it helping a bit in ChatGPT for this brand, anyone else got tests?

First time I tested a press release for an… pic.twitter.com/I2vnZDoVvp

— Wil Reynolds (@wilreynolds) June 1, 2026

On the legitimate side, there are tips around how to incorporate press releases within the site architecture for maximum effect:

Important point – if you are buying press release to influence AI Search surfaces and it's going to be published in a subfolder or subdomain! #SEO

Probably pay them more and ask that publisher to publish that press release as a normal blog page URL on their domain.
Over time…

— Gagan Ghotra (@gaganghotra_) June 4, 2026

I think the bigger takeaway from press releases is they can lead to news coverage, and those editorial brand mentions can contribute to your AI visibility (as well as provide links that help your traditional search rankings).

But what the 2010 article didn’t elaborate on is original research or reporting as part of a digital PR strategy.

Checking our clients' digital PR campaigns we did 6+ months ago, I am seeing them become the top cited sources for LLMs, even for pretty huge sites.

There's, of course, a lot into that (apart from the fact that LLMs do love citing stats):

✅ Solid organic findability (direct… pic.twitter.com/NTexbklLHy

— Ann Smarty (@seosmarty) March 16, 2026

Therein lies the real value of PR, in my opinion — creating original research and distributing it so that it gets featured itself or picked up by journalists and credited back to you with mentions or links.

What that 2010 article did portend, however, is the importance of the connection between PR and SEO/GEO.

Just had dinner at Cannes with a bunch of agency owners that do AI Search work.

I was the only one from an SEO agency.

Everyone else was PR, web dev, creative, digital, or management consultancy, etc.

The category is being formed whether the SEO community likes it or not.

— Mic King (@VeryWellVersed) June 22, 2026

The AI search discussion is a broad one. It’s not limited to owned media on websites (let alone rankings on Google) but rather a brand’s entire presence in the digital (and arguably offline) information ecosystem.

Takeaways

Just as PR was an important partner for SEO back in 2010, so it is today, perhaps even more so given the realities of AI search.

While the value of press releases on their own is questionable, they can garner news coverage, and those mentions or links can help your organic visibility.

But the broader emphasis should be on digital PR efforts centered on original research and reporting. That’s the type of non-commodity content that can stand on its own but also earn you third-party mentions and links.

You just need to check your prompt-tracking tool to see that Editorial sources are an important component of most brands’ AI visibility.

Digital PR is one way you influence those sources. Start today.

Outro

I hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of Hamsterdam History!

Stay tuned for another edition soon, or check out related history articles below.

Until next time, enjoy the vibes:

Thanks for reading. Happy optimizing!

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