Quick answer
What is a press release? A press release is a short, factual announcement an organisation publishes to tell journalists and the public about something newsworthy, such as a product launch, a funding round or a new hire. It follows a fixed format (headline, dateline, lead, body, quote, boilerplate and media contact) so it can be republished or quoted without rewriting.
Most press releases fail before anyone reads them. Not because the news is weak, but because of how they're written, when they're sent and where they end up.
Most guides on this topic were written for a media world that no longer exists. They assume journalists have time to read a full page. They assume a bulk wire send equals coverage. They assume your job ends when you hit send.
None of that holds in 2026. A reporter at a mid-sized outlet might cover three beats and file five stories a week, and their inbox is full before lunch. There's also a new reader: AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode, which people now use to look up companies before they ever visit a website. Muck Rack's research found that AI citations of press releases grew fivefold between July and December 2025. How you write a release now affects what those tools say about you.
This guide covers the anatomy of a release, how to write one AI tools can quote accurately, eight common release types with templates, the mistakes that sink most releases, distribution, timing and a checklist you can use every time.
What makes a press release work in 2026
Before you pick a template, decide what you want the release to do. A release can work at three levels, and most fail because they're written for one and judged on another.
Level 1: Syndication and search. The release is distributed and republished across a network of news sites. That puts your announcement on the record, gets your company name onto indexed pages and gives anyone searching for you something to find. It doesn't produce journalist-written stories on its own. This is the baseline.
Level 2: Earned coverage. A journalist reads the release, finds a story in it and writes something original. This is what most founders picture when they think of press, and it's valuable because you can't buy it.
Level 3: A source of record for AI tools. When a release lands on a recognised domain and states its facts plainly, AI assistants can use it to answer questions about your company: what you do, what you launched, who leads it. Releases are rarely what puts you on an AI shortlist for a whole category, though. In our own test of three B2B category questions, only 2 of 129 cited pages were press releases. Shortlists lean on editorial coverage, review sites and companies' own pages. So treat the release as the record, and the coverage it leads to as the reach.
Most releases aim for Level 2 while being written for Level 1, and miss both. The rest of this guide is built to cover all three. If AI search is your main concern, we go deeper in Press Releases and AI Search in 2026.
The anatomy of a press release that gets read
Every release has the same parts. Knowing why each one exists changes how you write it.
Headline. The whole story in one line. Write it last. Lead with the most interesting fact, include a number if you have one, and keep it to about 70 characters so it isn't cut off in search results and news feeds. Test it by asking whether you'd click it if a competitor had published it.
Subheadline (optional). One line that adds a second key fact the headline couldn't fit.
Dateline. City, state or country, and date. It tells the reader where the news comes from and when. Use the city where the company is based or where the news happened.
Lead paragraph. Your most important 40 to 60 words. Answer who, what, when, where and why. A journalist decides in the first sentence whether to keep reading, and an AI tool may quote only that sentence, so it has to carry the news on its own. Never open with "We are thrilled to announce."
Body. Context, figures and detail. Each paragraph should add something the lead didn't. Give every figure a source. Muck Rack found that the releases AI tools cited contained roughly twice as many statistics as those they didn't.
Quote. One quote from a named person with their title. It should say something a real person would say, such as a view, a reason or a number, not a rewording of the headline.
Boilerplate. An "About" paragraph of three or four sentences: what the company does, for whom, where it's based and since when. Write it once and use the same version everywhere.
End mark and media contact. "###" marks the end of the release. Below it, give a name, title, email and phone number. A journalist who can't find a contact moves on.
[HEADLINE: Company + what happened, factual, about 70 characters]
[Optional subheadline: one more key fact]
[CITY], [State/Country], [Month Day, Year] – [Company name], a [one-line description], today [announced/launched/appointed] [the news]. [Why it matters, in one sentence.]
[Body paragraph 1: supporting detail and context.]
[Body paragraph 2: figures, each with a named source.]
"[Quote that adds a view or a reason]," said [Full Name], [Title] at [Company].
[Body paragraph 3: availability, timing or next steps.]
About [Company]
[Three or four factual sentences. The same text every time.]
Media contact
[Name], [Title]
[Email] | [Phone]
###
If you're publishing on a premium outlet, check its own format rules first. Our guide to publishing a press release on USA TODAY lists what that channel accepts and rejects.
How to write a press release AI tools can quote
AI assistants don't read a release from top to bottom. They search, pull out the passages that answer the question, and check them against other sources. A few habits make your release easier to pull from, and none of them hurt it for human readers.
Make the first sentence complete on its own. Company name, what happened, when. If an assistant lifts only that sentence, the reader should still get the news.
Use numbers, and say where they came from. "Revenue grew 42% year on year, according to the company's audited accounts" is quotable. "Significant growth" isn't. The Princeton research that coined "generative engine optimisation" found that adding statistics and attributed sources made content noticeably more visible in AI answers.
Describe your company the same way everywhere. One boilerplate, one product name, one job title per person, matching your website and LinkedIn. Two versions of the same fact give an assistant a reason to trust neither.
Leave out "best" and "leading". Editors cut superlatives first, and they don't help with AI either. Research by Lily Ray found that pages ranking their own brand as the best were often cited while a competitor got the recommendation. We saw the same in our own test: a release that ranked its issuer first among seven platforms was cited in every run, and the issuer was never named in the answer.
Keep a copy on your own site. Publish every release on a newsroom or press page on your own domain as well as through distribution. It gives search engines and AI tools a stable page that belongs to you.
Skip the AI-only tricks. Google says its AI features need no special schema, llms.txt file or "AI-friendly" rewriting. A clear, factual release on a page search engines can index is the whole job.
One more thing: a release helps most when people ask about your company by name. If you want to appear when buyers ask for the best tools in your category, you'll also need coverage on publications your buyers read, which is where digital PR and bylined articles come in.
8 types of press releases, with templates
The examples below use a fictional company, Halden Software, so you can see the structure without confusing it with real news. Swap in your own facts.
1. Event announcement
When to use it: a conference, summit, webinar, trade show appearance or launch event.
What it must include: the event name, date, location or online format, who it's for and why it matters now.
The angle: don't write an invitation. Write a news story about something happening in your industry that happens to include an event. Send it two to three weeks before the date.
Halden Software to Host Finance Automation Forum in Chicago as AP Teams Face New E-Invoicing Rules
One-day forum for 250 finance leaders focuses on preparing accounts payable teams for 2027 compliance deadlines
CHICAGO, Illinois, March 3, 2027 – Halden Software, a provider of accounts payable automation tools for mid-sized companies, will host its first Finance Automation Forum on March 24, 2027, at a conference venue in downtown Chicago. The forum will bring together around 250 finance directors and AP managers to discuss new e-invoicing requirements taking effect in 2027.
Sessions will cover vendor onboarding, fraud controls and how finance teams are measuring the time saved by automation. Speakers include practitioners from manufacturing, healthcare and retail.
"Most AP teams we talk to know the rules are changing but haven't mapped what it means for their own workflow. We wanted a room where they can compare notes with peers who are a few months ahead," said Maria Okafor, Chief Executive Officer of Halden Software.
Registration details are available on the company's website.
Why it works: the headline ties the event to a real industry change, the lead gives date, place and audience size, and the quote explains why the event exists.
2. Product or service launch
When to use it: a new product, feature, service line or tool going live.
What it must include: the problem it solves, for whom, what's different, and a measurable outcome if you have one.
The angle: feature lists don't get covered. Outcomes do. Lead with what changes for the customer.
Halden Software Launches Invoice Matching Tool That Cuts AP Processing Time to Under Two Days
New feature matches invoices to purchase orders automatically and flags exceptions for review
CHICAGO, Illinois, April 8, 2027 – Halden Software today launched Halden Match, a tool that automatically matches supplier invoices to purchase orders and delivery records. In a three-month pilot with 40 customers, median invoice processing time fell from 6.2 days to 1.8 days, according to the company's pilot data.
Matching invoices by hand remains one of the slowest steps in accounts payable, particularly for companies with hundreds of suppliers. Halden Match handles standard matches automatically and sends mismatches, such as price or quantity differences, to a named reviewer.
"Our customers weren't asking for more dashboards. They were asking to stop spending Monday mornings chasing mismatched invoices," said Daniel Reyes, Head of Product at Halden Software.
Halden Match is available now to all customers on the Business plan.
Why it works: the lead gives a specific, sourced result, the second paragraph names the problem, and the quote sounds like a person.
3. Funding round
When to use it: a seed, Series A or later round, a strategic investment or a grant.
What it must include: the amount, the lead investor if named, what the money is for and the milestone it unlocks.
The angle: the amount is the hook, but the story is why now and what happens next. Startup funding announcements are among the most searched release types, so get the basics in the first line.
Halden Software Raises $12 Million Series A to Expand AP Automation Into Europe
Round led by Northgate Ventures will fund a London office and support for EU e-invoicing standards
CHICAGO, Illinois, June 2, 2027 – Halden Software today announced a $12 million Series A round led by Northgate Ventures, with participation from existing investors. The company will use the funding to open a London office, add support for EU e-invoicing standards and grow its customer team.
The raise follows a year in which Halden's customer base grew from 180 to 410 mid-sized companies, according to the company.
"European customers kept finding us before we were ready for them. This round lets us support them properly instead of turning them away," said Maria Okafor, Chief Executive Officer of Halden Software.
Why it works: amount, investor and use of funds are all in the lead, and the growth figure explains why investors bought in.
4. Executive appointment
When to use it: a new C-suite hire, board member or senior leader.
What it must include: the person's track record, what the hire signals and why now.
The angle: a title isn't news. The experience the person brings and what it says about the company's direction is.
Halden Software Appoints Former Treasury Executive Priya Nair as Chief Financial Officer
Nair joins from a payments company where she led finance through two acquisitions
CHICAGO, Illinois, July 15, 2027 – Halden Software today appointed Priya Nair as Chief Financial Officer. Nair spent eight years at a European payments company, most recently as Vice President of Finance, where she led the finance team through two acquisitions and the opening of three international offices.
She will oversee finance, investor relations and the company's expansion into Europe following its Series A round.
"Priya has run finance through exactly the kind of growth we're heading into, across borders and currencies," said Maria Okafor, Chief Executive Officer of Halden Software.
Why it works: the subheadline gives the track record, and the body links the hire to a stated company goal.
5. Partnership announcement
When to use it: a partnership, integration, distribution agreement or alliance.
What it must include: both parties, what the partnership makes possible and what it means for customers.
The angle: "two companies agreed to work together" isn't news. The customer impact is.
Halden Software Integrates With Corvan ERP, Letting Mid-Sized Firms Approve Invoices Without Switching Systems
Two-way integration syncs suppliers, purchase orders and payments between the two platforms
CHICAGO, Illinois, August 19, 2027 – Halden Software and Corvan, an ERP provider for mid-sized manufacturers, today launched a two-way integration that syncs supplier records, purchase orders and payment status between their platforms. Approvers can review and approve invoices inside Corvan without logging into a second system.
About 120 companies use both products today, according to the two companies.
"Every extra login is a reason an invoice sits unapproved for another week. This removes one," said Daniel Reyes, Head of Product at Halden Software.
Why it works: the headline states the customer benefit, and the overlap figure shows who it matters to.
6. Award or recognition
When to use it: an industry award, ranking, certification or other third-party recognition.
What it must include: the award name, who gave it, why, and, if the awarding body isn't well known, what the award measures.
The angle: use the award as a way into something substantive about the work behind it. "We won a thing" is a missed chance.
Halden Software Named Finance Technology Product of the Year by the Midwest Finance Association
Judges cited a 71% drop in late supplier payments among the company's customers
CHICAGO, Illinois, October 7, 2027 – Halden Software has been named Finance Technology Product of the Year by the Midwest Finance Association, a professional body for finance directors in 12 US states. Judges cited data showing that late supplier payments among Halden customers fell 71% in their first year of using the product.
"The number we're proudest of isn't ours. It's that our customers' suppliers get paid on time," said Maria Okafor, Chief Executive Officer of Halden Software.
Why it works: it explains who gave the award and leads with the result that earned it.
7. Earnings or financial results
When to use it: quarterly or annual results, ARR or growth milestones. Public companies issue these as a matter of course; private companies increasingly use milestone releases too.
What it must include: the main figure, the comparison period and what the number means.
The rule: lead with your strongest metric and state the comparison every time. Never write "significant growth" when you can give the percentage.
Halden Software Reports 64% Revenue Growth for 2027 as Customer Count Passes 600
CHICAGO, Illinois, February 10, 2028 – Halden Software today reported full-year 2027 revenue of $18.4 million, up 64% from $11.2 million in 2026. The company ended the year with 612 customers, up from 410.
Highlights for 2027:
Invoices processed: 9.3 million, up 88%
European customers: 74, following the opening of the London office
Median invoice processing time across customers: 1.9 days
"Most of our growth came from customers adding more entities, which tells us the product is doing its job," said Priya Nair, Chief Financial Officer of Halden Software.
Why it works: the headline figure has its comparison, and the highlights block makes the numbers easy to scan and quote.
8. Rebrand or change of direction
When to use it: a name change, a new visual identity, a strategic shift or a repositioning.
What it must include: what changed, why, what it means for existing customers and what the company is becoming.
The angle: "we changed our logo" isn't news. The reason behind the change is the whole story.
Halden Software Renames to Halden Finance as It Expands Beyond Accounts Payable
New name reflects addition of expense and treasury tools; existing contracts and integrations are unchanged
CHICAGO, Illinois, May 4, 2028 – Halden Software today changed its name to Halden Finance, reflecting its move from accounts payable software into expense management and treasury tools. More than half of customers now use two or more Halden products, according to the company.
Existing contracts, pricing, logins and integrations stay the same.
"Our old name described what we sold in 2024. The new one describes what customers actually buy from us now," said Maria Okafor, Chief Executive Officer.
Why it works: it leads with the reason, gives a figure that proves it, and tells existing customers what changes for them (nothing).
Disclaimer: Halden Software, Halden Finance, Corvan, Northgate Ventures, the Midwest Finance Association and every person, figure and date in these examples are fictional and used only to illustrate format. Every release you publish should contain accurate, verifiable information.
The 7 mistakes that kill press releases
1. You wrote an announcement, not a story. Company-first, feature-heavy releases get deleted. Lead with what changed, not what you did. The test: why would a journalist covering this beat want their readers to know this today? If you can't answer in one sentence, rewrite the lead.
2. The headline is forgettable. "Company Launches New Platform" tells nobody anything. Vague, jargon-heavy headlines, or ones that bury the interesting part, lose in a split second. Write the headline last and put a number in it if you have one.
3. The news isn't news. Not every company update deserves a release. As I tell clients: "The question isn't whether you have news. It's whether anyone outside your company would genuinely find this interesting today." If the honest answer is no, wait until it's yes.
4. It reads like an advert. Calls to action like "buy now" or "sign up today", second-person copy ("you'll love") and claims nobody could verify are the fastest route to rejection, both by editors and by premium outlets' review teams. A release informs. An advert persuades.
5. The boilerplate is generic. "A leading provider of innovative solutions" says nothing. Your boilerplate is often the first thing a journalist reads to work out who you are, and the paragraph AI tools reuse to describe you. Write it as three factual sentences and keep it identical everywhere. On the releases we place, a weak boilerplate is one of the most common reasons a release is sent back.
6. Wrong distribution, or none. Emailing eight journalists isn't distribution. Neither is blasting the release to hundreds of low-quality sites with no targeting. Distribution is a separate skill from writing, covered below.
7. One send and done. Releases that earn coverage almost always involve follow-up: a short, personal pitch to the right journalists alongside the distribution, and a follow-up a couple of days later. One touch rarely does it.
For more on what goes wrong after a release goes out, see our guide to affordable press release distribution, which covers what you actually get at each price point.
Distribution: from one outlet to full wire coverage
A great release that nobody sees does nothing. Distribution decides who reads it, and which pages search engines and AI tools can find later. There are three layers, and most companies need more than one.
Named premium placements
If your audience reads specific publications, a single placement on one of them can be worth more than a broad send. These go out as labelled press releases, subject to the publisher's own review, and you get the live link back.
Outlet | Best for |
|---|---|
A recognised national name for consumer and business news, with syndication across the USA TODAY Network | |
Funding rounds, acquisitions and company milestones read by investors | |
B2B, SaaS and leadership news | |
News that matters to traders and analysts | |
Fund, listing and corporate financial announcements | |
An international investor audience |
You can see every outlet we place on in our outlet network.
Packages and wire distribution
For news that needs wide reach at once, such as a funding round, results or a major launch, a package or a wire send is the right layer. Our distribution packages start with the USA TODAY Network, StreetInsider and Digital Journal, and add Yahoo Finance, AP News and Benzinga at the Business level. Where a client needs a major wire such as GlobeNewswire or PR Newswire, for example for regulated financial disclosures, we arrange that too.
Some industries need their own route because mainstream wires and outlets restrict them. We cover what's accepted, and where, in our pages for fintech, healthcare, crypto and iGaming releases.
If you're comparing services, our budget distribution comparison and our review of which wires get cited by AI set out the trade-offs.
Bylined articles and thought leadership
This is the layer most companies skip, and it often lasts longest.
A release puts your news on the record. It doesn't make you the person a journalist calls for comment, or the name a buyer recognises before a sales call. A bylined article in a publication your buyers read does that: it's your expert's own view, published in the outlet's voice, not a company announcement.
It also matters for AI search. When buyers ask an assistant for the best options in a category, the answers lean on editorial and trade coverage far more than on releases. In our own test, fintech trade publications were both the sources AI tools cited and the places they recommended for thought leadership.
We've written about why guest posts still work in the age of AI, and about the quality problems to avoid when buying placements. If you'd like help pairing a release with a bylined piece, get in touch.
The release gets you on the record. The article makes you worth quoting.
Timing: what the data shows
The old advice, "Tuesday to Thursday, mid-morning", is roughly right. The data adds some nuance.
Thursday has the highest open rate. Prowly's analysis of more than 55,000 press releases put Thursday opens at 26% or more, against about 15% on Wednesday and Friday (summary of the Prowly data).
Late morning to early afternoon beats early morning. In the same data, editors opened about a third of the emails they received between 10am and 2pm, while open rates for releases sent between 6am and 10am dropped to around 20%.
Thursday is also the busiest day. A 2026 analysis of 56,606 releases by PR Gun found Thursday carried the largest share of the week's releases, so you're competing with more noise. That's a reason to make the headline sharper, not to avoid Thursday.
Use US Eastern time for US media, since New York, Washington and Boston hold the biggest concentration of newsrooms. For UK media, aim for mid-morning London time.
One small tip: most scheduling tools send on the hour or half hour, so releases arrive in clusters. Scheduling for 10:17am or 10:43am puts yours between them.
For events, send two to three weeks ahead. Earlier gets forgotten; later misses planning calendars.
And the honest caveat: a perfectly timed weak release still gets ignored. Timing breaks ties. It doesn't rescue a story nobody needs.
Your pre-send checklist
Content
The headline is factual, about 70 characters, and leads with the most interesting fact
The first sentence names the company, the news and the date
The lead answers who, what, when, where and why in 60 words or fewer
Every figure has a named source
The quote is from a named person and says something the headline doesn't
No superlatives (best, leading, first, revolutionary) unless independently verified
No calls to action or second-person sales copy
The boilerplate matches your website word for word
The media contact has a name, title, email and phone number
Distribution
Outlets chosen for the announcement and the audience, not only the budget
Named placements picked for priority readers (for example Yahoo Finance for investors)
A copy published on your own newsroom page
A short, personal journalist pitch written separately from the release
Timing
Scheduled Tuesday to Thursday, late morning in the audience's time zone
Not landing on a public holiday or against a major industry event
Event releases sent two to three weeks before the date
After it goes out
Follow-up pitch ready for two days after the send
Live links collected and added to your press page
Strongest placements added to your sales deck and investor updates
FAQ
How long should a press release be?
Most releases work best at 400 to 800 words: enough for context and figures, short enough to read in two minutes. Some premium outlets prefer a little more; for USA TODAY we recommend 500 to 1,000 words. If you're well past that, cut adjectives before you cut facts.
What is the purpose of a press release?
To put a company's news on the record in a standard format that journalists, search engines and AI tools can use and quote without rewriting it.
Do I need a distribution service, or can I email journalists directly?
Use both. Distribution gets the release onto indexed news sites where people, search engines and AI tools can find it. A personal pitch to five to fifteen journalists who cover your beat is what earns original coverage. They do different jobs.
Do press releases help SEO?
They can help people find your company and help search engines understand it, mainly through brand mentions on recognised news sites. Most syndicated links are nofollow, so don't buy distribution for link value alone.
How do I write a press release that AI tools will cite?
State the news in the first sentence, give every figure a source, describe your company the same way everywhere and leave out superlatives. Publish it on recognised sites and on your own newsroom page. Nobody can guarantee a citation.
Does a press release need special schema or an llms.txt file for AI search?
Not for Google. Its guidance says AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special structured data or AI-specific files, and normal SEO applies. Article schema on your own newsroom copy is still good practice.
What's the difference between a press release and a guest post?
A press release is your company's announcement, published in a standard format on your schedule. A guest post, or bylined article, is your expert's own view published by a publication. Releases put facts on the record; bylined articles build reputation. A good PR plan uses both.
Can I send the same release to several outlets?
Yes, that's what distribution does. When pitching journalists directly, use the release as the base but write each pitch email for that journalist's beat, and never send one email to a long, visible list.
Wrapping up
A press release in 2026 does more jobs than it used to. It's a pitch to journalists, a record search engines can index and a source AI tools can use to describe your company. That's good news: one well-written, well-placed release has more ways to pay off than it ever did.
The method is simple. Write the story, not the announcement. Put the news and its numbers in the first sentence. Describe your company the same way every time. Choose outlets your audience actually reads, send when journalists are reading, and pair the release with bylined articles that make your team worth quoting.
If you'd like help with a specific announcement, from writing to choosing outlets, contact the TS Newswire team or see our press release packages.
By Vivek Sharma, Founder, TS Newswire · Updated October 2026
Distribute your next announcement with named outlets
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