REAL-WORLD REPUTATION IS KEY TO DRIVING VISIBILITY. TRUST US.

Posted In: PR by Daisy Tucker,
October 2, 2026

By Daisy Tucker, PR Account Manager

You’ve probably heard that ‘PR is fashionable once again’ or that ‘brand is back’ a million times this year – but what does that REALLY mean?

According to recent research – and a hot take from Boutique’s PR Director, Sophie Gilbert – “AI has made reputation measurable for the first time.”

As more consumers turn to AI to discover and compare brands, what’s being said about you beyond your own website matters. AI platforms draw on trusted third-party sources, including news publications and earned media, to help shape their recommendations.

So, your real-world reputation increasingly influences your digital visibility.

As Sophie explains, ask ChatGPT or a similar platform to recommend a home or garden brand and trusted publishers and editorial coverage shapes the answer. That makes relationships with journalists and editors, and giving them stories worth telling, more valuable than ever.

SO, HOW DO YOU BUILD A REPUTATION JOURNALISTS BELIEVE IN, EARN MEANINGFUL COVERAGE AND ULTIMATELY GET SEEN BY THE RIGHT CONSUMERS?

For us, it’s all about people, participation and persistence.

UTILISING YOUR EXPERTS AND BRINGING THEM TO THE FORE

Your in-house designers, buyers and specialists are the people journalists really want to hear from – A PR partner is simply there to facilitate that connection. Build their profiles beyond individual campaigns or pitches by keeping LinkedIn profiles active and up to date, featuring them prominently on your website and across marketing content, and making them available for interviews and journalist calls. The more visible and credible your experts are, the easier it is for press to recognise, and return to, them as trusted voices in your industry.

PRIORITISE IN-PERSON EVENTS AND MAKING HUMAN CONNECTIONS

We might live in a digital-first world, but nothing builds relationships quite like getting people in a room together. It doesn’t need to mean a large-scale event either. Media house visits, new collection presentations and showroom hosting are all valuable opportunities to connect key editors and tastemakers with your experts and products. It’s relationship building at its best, creating memorable experiences and giving people the chance to see, touch and truly fall in love with what you do.

BE CONSISTENT IN YOUR APPROACH AND HOLD YOUR CONTACTS CLOSE

Strong media relationships aren’t built around one launch or seasonal campaign; they need a consistent drumbeat of activity to stay alive. Keep talking to journalists, sharing relevant stories and creating reasons to connect throughout the year to maintain relationships, secure ongoing coverage and protect your share of voice. It takes time, consistency and a strong understanding of what each contact cares about, which is why having a PR partner to manage and nurture these relationships can be invaluable – because doing it properly really is a full-time job.

If you’re sitting there thinking ‘I have so many ideas around what we should be doing but I simply don’t have the time to make a start’, simply drop us a note and we’ll do the rest.