Using AI & Custom GPTs To Take Your Digital PR Campaigns To The Next Level

In this session, Amanda will cover how to utilise GPTs and AI to monitor trends and coverage, evaluate complex data sets for new angles, perform advanced link gap analysis, streamline compliance and highlight where additional topical authority is needed, ultimately enabling smarter, more effective and more efficient Digital PR campaigns.

She will discuss a framework of purpose-built GPT ideas and AI uses which are designed to streamline operational workflows across digital PR & drive competitive advantage, enhancing every stage of your campaigns and identifying themes and placements that resonate with journalists allowing you to stand out in a crowded inbox.

Transcript

1. Using AI & Custom GPTs To Take Your Digital PR Strategies To The Next Level Amanda Walls Cedarwood Digital @amandajwalls
2. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Who Are We? • Owner & Director @ Cedarwood Digital 8 Awards Including: WINNER: Best Small Integrated Agency WINNER: Best SEO Campaign • Qualified Journalist • 15+ Year’s Industry Experience • YMYL/Regulated Sector Specialists 10 Awards Including: WINNER: Best Small Integrated Agency WINNER: Best PPC Agency WINNER: Best SEO Campaign
4. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Let me start off by saying…
5. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level AI shouldn’t replace agencies At no point in this talk will I: • Tell you to spam journalists with AI releases • Tell you to cut corners by faking real expertise • Tell you that AI will replace journalist relationships • Tell you that AI should automate mass outreach without oversight • Tell you that AI should fabricate data or insights.
6. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level AI should be used to help efficiency not replace human intelligence.
7. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Why am I qualified to talk about this? • Fully qualified journalist (degree and masters) • Worked across broadcast & print journalism for five years • Owner of a digital agency for 10 years - Cedarwood Digital • I’ve seen both sides • I’ve been on the receiving end of press releases, I understand how a newsroom works, I’ve worked in some of Australia’s busiest newsrooms.
8. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Five GPTs To Maximise Efficiency
9. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Compliance & Risk GPT
10. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Compliance & Risk GPT Pre-Publication Claim Verification Regulatory Alignment Reputation Scoring Trust-Debt Prevention
11. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Compliance & Risk GPT How To Build It: • Define risk appetite • Create a policy pack • Train on sector rules • Standardise input template • Enforce structured output
12. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Example One - Insurance Comparison Website Input to GPT: Client: Insurance comparison website Sector: Financial services Campaign claim(s): • “Drivers can save up to £500 a year by switching car insurance providers.” • “Millions of UK drivers are massively overpaying for cover.”
13. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Example - Insurance Comparison Website Sources provided: • Internal price comparison data • Analysis of 50,000 quotes from January–March 2026 Draft quote: “Many drivers are unknowingly paying hundreds more than necessary for their car insurance. Switching providers could easily save motorists up to £500 a year, yet millions continue to renew without checking the market.”
14. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Example - Insurance Comparison Website Compliance & Risk GPT Output Decision: Revise before publication Risk score: 46 / 100 (moderate)
15. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Example One - Insurance Comparison Website Key Compliance Flags: Financial claim substantiation • The statement “save up to £500” must be supported by clear methodology explaining how savings were calculated. Implied universal savings • Language suggests that switching will reliably produce savings for most drivers, which may be misleading.
16. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Example One - Insurance Comparison Website Key Compliance Flags: Evidence transparency • The data source (50,000 quotes) should specify: a. Timeframe b. Methodology c. Whether savings represent average or maximum outcomes.
17. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Example One - Insurance Comparison Website Evidence Requirements: Include clarification such as: “Based on analysis of 50,000 UK car insurance quotes between January and March 2026.” Specify whether £500 represents: • • • maximum observed saving average saving potential saving for certain driver profiles.
18. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Example One - Insurance Comparison Website Suggested Safer Rewrite: Original: “Switching providers could easily save motorists up to £500 a year.” Suggested revision: “Our analysis shows that some drivers could save as much as £500 by switching providers, although the amount varies depending on individual circumstances.”
19. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Example One - Insurance Comparison Website Reputational Risk Assessment: Topic sensitivity: Medium Potential criticism themes: • • misleading savings claims oversimplifying financial decisions Mitigation recommendation: Use conditional language and emphasise that savings vary between drivers.
20. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Benefits Campaign Idea Risk GPT Safer Outreach Trusted Coverage Authority Signals
21. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Newsjacking Scout GPT
22. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level
23. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Newsjacking GPT - Input How To Build It: • Define the purpose & workflow - regions, dates, frequency, volume of outputs • Added detailed client rules - i.e. sentiment, specific topics/targets • Structured output format - clear bullet points, source link, expert comment hook • Content filtering safeguards - avoid restricted topics, duplicates • Integrated trend awareness - TikTok, Pinterest, Google Search
24. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level
25. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level
26. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Benefits Faster Opportunity Discovery Better Story Relevance Improved Media Success Rates Reduced Manual Monitoring Consistent Coverage Opportunities
27. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Coverage Scanner GPT
28. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level
29. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Coverage Scanner - Input How To Build It: • Brand and brand name variations • Spokespeople names • Keyword and topic universe • Link and citation detection rules • List of publications previously contacted (upload)
30. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level
31. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Benefits Monitor Brand Mentions Track Valuable Measure Traffic & Links Impact Identify Trends & Report ROI Risks Automatically
32. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Link Gap Analyser GPT
33. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level In competitive niches, link gaps matter - building and closing link gaps play a key role in digital pr performance.
34. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Area Traditional Link Gap Tool Custom GPT Link Gap Analyser Why It Matters for Digital PR Data Source Pulls backlink data from a fixed index of crawled links within the tool. Can combine backlink data with scraped articles, brand mentions, journalist coverage, and topical context. Creates a broader view of where authority and relevance exist beyond just link databases. Niche Targeting Primarily compares domains linking to competitors but not to you. Can filter opportunities by niche, topic clusters, journalist beat, or publication relevance. Helps teams prioritise highly relevant publications rather than generic high-DR domains. Context & Insight Shows link metrics such as DR, traffic, and anchor text with limited context. Can analyse article context, sentiment, topic relevance, and why competitors earned coverage. Provides strategic insight into how links were earned, not just where they came from. Opportunity Prioritisation Opportunities are usually ranked by link metrics and domain authority. Can score opportunities using relevance, topical authority, editorial style, and likelihood of coverage. Enables smarter outreach targeting aligned with brand expertise and PR angles. Workflow Integration Requires manual analysis, filtering, and exporting into spreadsheets. Can summarise gaps, generate outreach angles, and identify journalists automatically. Reduces manual analysis time and turns link gap data directly into campaign ideas.
35. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Link Gap Analyser - Input How To Build It: • Define competitor and brand inputs • Integrate backlink and coverage data sources • Create topical and niche classification rules • Build an opportunity scoring framework • Automate insight and outreach outputs.
36. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Niche Client Links Competitor Links (Combined) Link Gap Technology & Digital 120 1,213 +1,093 News & Media 147 505 +358 Finance & Lending 44 361 +317 Business & Trade 22 153 +131 Blogs & Personal Sites 14 125 +111 Entertainment & Gaming 3 90 +87 Home & Property 5 83 +78 Education 0 49 +49 Health & Lifestyle 5 43 +38 Government & Nonprofit 3 39 +36 Comparison & Directories 99 122 +23
37. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Niche Client Links Competitor Links Link Gap Description Technology & Digital 120 1,213 +1,093 Covers links from tech news, AI blogs, digital innovation sites, and IT resources. Indicates competitors are earning links through fintech and digital transformation stories. News & Media 147 505 +358 Editorial mentions, finance commentary, and data-led PR coverage in consumer or national media outlets. Finance & Lending 44 361 +317 Core industry links from lenders, financial comparison websites, and credit advice platforms — highly authoritative and directly relevant Business & Trade 22 153 +131 B2B, SME, and trade portals where competitors are featured as business resources or contributors. Blogs & Personal Sites 14 125 +111 Individual and lifestyle blogs offering reviews, opinion pieces, and backlink opportunities via guest content or partnerships. Entertainment & Gaming 3 90 +87 Broader cultural and entertainment outlets that cover finance through lifestyle, games, or pop-culture-related PR campaigns. Home & Property 5 83 +78 Property, mortgage, and home improvement sites where financial content intersects with lifestyle and borrowing topics. Education 0 49 +49 Financial literacy, student finance, and educational resource websites — valuable for building trust and authority.
38. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Niche Client 1 Client 2 Client 3 Client 4 Client 5 Client 6 News & Media 180 111 37 54 35 88 Finance & Lending 181 83 10 29 24 34 Business & Trade 28 69 10 13 13 37 Comparison & Directories 20 47 9 47 7 7 Blogs & Personal Sites 55 32 5 10 7 22 Entertainment & Gaming 68 17 4 6 6 12 Home & Property 41 26 4 4 9 2 Education 8 31 3 4 5 8 Health & Lifestyle 15 18 1 1 6 5 Government & Nonprofit 15 14 1 9 3 3
39. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Link Gap Analyser GPT - Benefits Competitor Link Discovery Missed Link Opportunities Authority Gap Analysis Topical Link Clustering Priority Outreach Targets
40. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Journalist & Outlet Intelligence GPT
41. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level PR Story Generic Media List Many Journalists Low Response
42. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Journalist & Outlet Intelligence GPT Key Takeaways So let’s use AI to understand how journalists actually write: • Analyse journalists past articles • Identify topics they covermost • Detect how they frame stories • Recommend the best reporters for each story.
43. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Journalist & Outlet Intelligence GPT To build it: • This is perhaps the GPT with the biggest input required • Collect journalist articles • Analyse topics and sentiment • Build journalist profiles • Match stories to reporters.
44. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Journalist & Outlet Intelligence GPT To collate journalist information: • Identify journalist author pages • Crawl those pages to extract articles • Supplement with Google Discovery • Capture new articles via RSS feeds • Store articles in structured datasets.
45. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Journalist & Outlet Intelligence GPT
46. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level Benefits Competitor Link Discovery Outlet History & Preferences Beat & Coverage Mapping Pitch Relationship Personalisation Insights
47. Closing & Expanding Authority Gaps With Hyper-Relevant Digital PR
48. Using AI and Custom GPTs to Take Your Digital PR Strategies to the Next Level The future of Digital PR isn’t AI-driven creativity - it’s AI removing the busywork so humans can build the stories that actually earn coverage.
49. Thankyou Amanda Walls @amandajwalls