The web is filling up with content that costs nothing to make and means nothing to read. AI can produce an endless supply of plausible, polished, empty words, and a lot of brands are quietly relieved - it’s cheaper than the alternative. I’d argue they’ve got it backwards.
When everything can be generated, the things that can’t are the ones that hold their value. A journalist choosing to write about you. A critic putting you on a list. An editor deciding you’re worth their readers’ time. None of that can be manufactured, which is exactly why it’s becoming more valuable, not less.
When anyone can generate something that looks like coverage, the thing that can’t be faked - a credible third party choosing to say it - is worth more, not less.
People assume earned media is the old-fashioned bit of the mix, the thing AI makes obsolete. The opposite is happening. As the cost of fake credibility drops to zero, the premium on real credibility goes up. Trust is the scarce resource now, and trust is the one thing PR has always traded in.
There’s a practical edge to this too. The AI tools your customers increasingly use to research you are trained on, and cite, credible published sources. Genuine coverage doesn’t just persuade the human who reads it - it teaches the machine that recommends you. The slop doesn’t.
So the brands that lean harder into earned credibility, rather than cheaper content, will look smart in a couple of years. Not because they were nostalgic, but because they understood what was actually getting scarce.
Chapter is a communications agency for landmark venues and luxury events. If this is the kind of thinking you want pointed at your brand, start a conversation.