- Matt Allyn
- Oct 15
- 6 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
AI-powered search is changing how people discover products. LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity serve up answers, not links, pulling information directly from trusted sources, like media brands and publishers. (Read more about how AI is changing eCommerce.)
This means smart marketers are boosting their products’ visibility by getting them into the content AI scrapes and summarizes. One format shows up again and again in AI search results: third-party listicles. Think “Best Cheap Hiking Boots,” “Best Gifts on Amazon,” or “Best Free VPNs for 2025.” I've worked in this space for 15 years as an editor assigning and writing articles that recommend products to readers.
These “best of” lists are often the source of AI-generated recommendations, and digital PR teams are taking note. Jeremy Moser, CEO of digital PR firm uSERP, has tested how AI-powered search tools choose which content to surface for uSERP’s 70-plus clients and found that listicles dominate the results. When someone asks an LLM for a best product or service, the LLM will cite at least one third-party 'best-of' list nine times out of 10, he says. “More often, multiple listicles are cited.”
Profound research presented at brightonSEO in September 2025 shows that listicles and comparative content account for 25% of citations.
Why LLMs pull from “best” lists
Publishers have spent years fine-tuning these lists, adding credibility signals like hands-on testing, expert reviews, and side-by-side comparisons. The same features that helped them rank well in traditional search have made them a go-to data source for large language models trained to identify trustworthy, user-focused content.
“LLMs see these and they’re like, ‘great, somebody did my job for me,’ and take those answers,” says Amanda Milligan, a fractional CMO for SMBs, SEO consultant, and founder of the Brand Authority Club marketing community.
“This is why PR is becoming a bigger deal,” Milligan says, “because unless you’re already a legacy brand, your own content probably isn’t going to get picked up [by LLMs], to get featured on an authoritative site.”
Moser adds that his clients see a dual win when they target these “best” lists: brands get more LLM mentions for decision-buying prompts, plus traditional SEO and referral benefits.
On top of this, OpenAI has a direct content partnership with Hearst, meaning that ChatGPT will incorporate content from Hearst brands into its outputs. Many of these publications are known for their extensive product reviews (see: the Good Housekeeping Institute), making it both logical and valuable for ChatGPT to include content of this type in its responses.
How to get media coverage for your products
Want your product to show up when someone asks ChatGPT for “the best gift for runners” or “a great bourbon under $100”? It helps to get into the third-party lists that feed those answers.
I’ve produced hundreds of those listicles for brands like Men’s Journal, Popular Mechanics, and Runner’s World—and I wrote this article in between a couple “best of” lists featuring men’s grooming products. I’m going to share how you can give your product the best chance of getting placements and coverage.
As an editor, I’d get dozens of email pitches on a slow day, and more than a 100 daily in the run up to holiday gift guide season. I couldn’t open most of them—let alone respond. And even when I requested a product to test, I’d put it through weeks, if not months, of testing, often head-to-head with competitors and following detailed testing frameworks to suss out weaknesses that would disappoint readers.
Getting third party mentions is hard, but you can give your product its best shot at the editorial limelight by understanding how editors work and think.
Focus your efforts
Experts like Milligan and Moser will tell you to target the brands that are authorities in your space. This seems obvious, but I still get pitches (plus four follow-up emails) on products or announcements I have no business covering. Spray and pray—hitting every journalist’s email you can—is not an outreach strategy, it’s a waste of energy and money. At worst, editors won’t bother to open your emails when you actually have a solid pitch.
Target the people who actually write
Pitch editors in the bottom half of a masthead (assistant editors, associate editors, staff writers). They’re the ones most hungry for great ideas to send up the ladder—and they usually have the highest content quotas. Generally speaking, avoid pitching the top editor (deputy editor, executive editor, site director). Those folks are not deciding what makes the cut in the next holiday gift guide. More likely, their underling’s underling is running the spreadsheets that make their seasonal and evergreen listicles happen.
Send samples, then chill
Here’s the most common way a product pitch turns into coverage: I get an email for something that our readers might like. I ask for a sample, test it, and like it enough that I’d recommend it to a friend. Then, nothing happens for a while. Eventually a fresh batch of gear lists are added to my content calendar and this product fits one.
Rarely have I been pitched a product, tested it, and promptly written a review. And never have aggressive follow up emails forced coverage. More likely, you’ll make a journalist reluctant to reach out if they need more details or art.
For launch coverage, seed your products
If you want rich, thoughtful content around a product launch, send the product to journalists at least a month in advance. They need time to test it and slot it into their lineups. Give them the opportunity to find their story to tell around it.
When I get even the most exciting product on the same day the rest of the world learns about it, there’s not much to publish beyond regurgitated specs and a shallow first impressions. (“Looks promising. Can’t wait to really try it.”) And you’ve got to have the following of a Nike or Apple for that sort of thin content to attract readers and be worth publishing.
Seasonality is a spectrum
I wish I could tell you exactly how far out to pitch a holiday gift guide or Father’s Day product, but every publisher is fighting their own battle with an editorial calendar. I’ve seen seasonal content come together the week before its target date (and this still gives me nightmares). Many well-run digital brands are planning and reporting two to three months out. Print brands are usually working about six months out.
For a safe bet, start pitching four months ahead of the intended holiday or event. It’s early enough to get in front of the better-organized editors, and for the brands riding out more chaotic planning, you’re not so far out you’ll be completely forgotten.
Think long-term, not transactional
Yes, you need a win right now. But to get the next placement at a brand, and the one after, you need to build a basic working relationship. Coffee and lunch dates are unnecessary and most journalists can’t spare the time. Just be prompt, helpful, and pleasant. That’s all it takes to stand out as a PR or marketing rep.
To ensure journalists can reach out when the time is right, make all your emails searchable by brand, product, and category. We treat our inboxes like rolodexes and while we may not remember your name a couple months post-pitch, if a quick search can surface your email, we can be in touch.
Craft your pitch like an editor
That means you always aim to serve the reader first. Ideally, your product solves a specific problem for a brand’s reader. Then the editor gets to be the hero that delivers the solution (via your product).
Most pitches miss this mark. Easy example: I just got an email for a “New Functional Beverage for Performance & Wellness.” Why do readers need a functional beverage, let alone a new one? The email that followed listed zero specific benefits readers would get by using the product—aside from an upcoming 20% discount that wouldn’t impress the most desperate commerce editor.
Bonus: Include easy art
This won’t determine whether something makes a cut or not, but it can determine how prominently it's featured on a page. Have a Dropbox or Google Drive folder handy with product images with a clear background, and it’s more likely to get picked by a photo editor for a lead image collage.
