Research
Original research, benchmark reports, and market intelligence on PR, media outreach, AI, and startups.
All research
Reports, living benchmarks and original experiments. Every figure is sourced and dated.
The Startup Media Index 2026
Our annual index scoring hundreds of startups on media visibility, announcement cadence, funding news and founder presence, built entirely from public information.
The State of Startup PR 2026
Reply rates, coverage volume and outreach cost across 41 metro markets, benchmarked by stage and industry.
AI vs Human Press Pitches
A blind test of 1,200 pitches scored by working journalists. Which performed better, and where the AI version lost.
Media Outreach Benchmarks
Open, reply and placement rates across twelve business types, updated monthly from aggregated platform metrics.
How Many Follow-Ups Increase Reply Rates?
We tracked follow-up sequences from one to six touches. The return curve flattens earlier than most teams assume.
Journalist Response Time Analysis
When reporters actually reply, measured in hours from send, split by beat, outlet size and day of week.
PR Trends Report
What changed in earned media this year: newsroom headcount, inbound volume, and the shift toward newsletters.
The Startup Press Coverage Index
Coverage received per funding round, by stage and sector, from Series Seed through Series C.
Subject Line Benchmark Report
48,000 subject lines by length, structure and specificity, mapped against open and reply rate.
Best Time to Pitch Journalists
A send-time heat map by hour and weekday, with the windows that measurably move reply rate.
The Rise of AI PR Teams
How eleven lean comms teams restructured around AI-assisted outreach, and what they stopped doing.
How We Conduct Research
Where the numbers come from, and what we will not do to get them.
Public datasets
Government filings, funding databases and published circulation data, cited in every report.
Industry surveys
Founders, comms leads and working journalists. Sample size and margin of error stated up front.
Media databases
Our verified outlet index: type, beat, metro and format, checked against live sources.
Original experiments
Controlled A/B and blind-panel tests we run ourselves, with method published alongside results.
Platform analytics
Aggregated, anonymized delivery metrics, used only where the sample is large enough.
Peer review
Every figure reproduced by a second analyst. Corrections logged and dated.
“We never access or analyze customer email content for research. Reports are based on public information, original studies, surveys, or aggregated anonymized metrics.”
Publifia Newsletter
New research, benchmark reports, experiments and market intelligence, sent as we publish.