How to Use AI to Write a Press Release (6 Steps + Prompts)

You have real news. A new product, a second location, a partnership you worked on for months. Now someone says “send out a press release” and you’re staring at a blank page, wondering how the big companies make it sound so official. You don’t need an agency for this. You need your facts in order and a good first draft.

Here’s the short answer. To use AI to write a press release, first write a short fact sheet yourself (what happened, who, when, where, why it matters, one real quote, one contact). Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini with a prompt that asks for the standard press release structure and forbids hype words. Then run two checks: a hype pass and a fact pass. The AI handles the format and the wording. You own every fact.

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Why most AI press releases get ignored (and how to avoid it)

Press releases are not dead. In Cision’s 2025 State of the Media survey of more than 3,000 journalists, 72% called press releases the most useful resource PR teams can give them. The same survey found that 72% worry about factual errors in AI-generated PR content.

That’s the whole story in two numbers. Reporters want releases. They don’t trust sloppy AI ones. Among newspaper journalists, Cision reports that half are opposed to receiving AI-generated pitches or press releases.

Muck Rack’s 2025 State of Journalism survey points the same way: the top reasons journalists delete a pitch are that it’s irrelevant to them (86%) or overly promotional (71%). And what does a chatbot do when you ask it to “write an exciting press release”? It reaches for “revolutionary”, “game-changing” and “industry-leading”. Exactly the tone that gets deleted.

So the trick is not to ask AI for a press release. The trick is to give it facts and rules, and let it do the part it’s actually good at: structure, clear sentences and the right length.

Step 1: Write a 5-minute fact sheet (this is the part AI can’t do)

Before you open any chat, answer these in plain notes. Half sentences are fine.

• The news in one line: what is new, today, that wasn’t true yesterday?
• Who: your company, plus any partner, with names spelled correctly.
• When and where: the date of the announcement and the city it comes from.
• Why it matters, and to whom: the customer, the town, the industry. Be specific.
• Two or three facts with proof: numbers you can back up, a price, an opening date, how many people it affects.
• One quote in your own words: say out loud why you did this, record it on your phone and type what you said. Rough is fine.
• Media contact: a real name, email and phone number.
• Boilerplate: three sentences about your company that you’d be happy to see printed.

If you can’t fill in “why it matters, and to whom”, stop here. That’s not a writing problem, and no AI will fix it. Find the angle first, then write.

Step 2: Use the drafting prompt

Paste your fact sheet into a new chat, then paste this underneath. It works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot.

Act as an experienced PR writer who used to be a journalist. Above is my fact sheet.

Write a press release using ONLY the facts above. Do not add numbers, names, dates or claims that are not in my notes. If something important is missing, ask me instead of guessing.

Structure:
* Headline: under 12 words, states the news plainly
* Subheadline: one sentence with the most useful detail
* Dateline: [CITY], [DATE]
* First paragraph: who, what, when, where and why, in 2 to 3 sentences
* Second paragraph: the most important supporting facts
* One quote, based on my words, kept sounding like a real person
* Practical details: price, date, address, link, availability
* About [company]: use my boilerplate
* Media contact
* End with ###

Rules:
* Keep it to one page
* No hype words: revolutionary, game-changing, cutting-edge, leading, innovative, excited to announce, thrilled
* Short sentences. Write for a busy reporter who reads only the first paragraph.

The line “ask me instead of guessing” is the most important one. Without it, many chatbots fill gaps with plausible numbers. With it, you’ll often get two or three good questions back, like “Is the opening date confirmed?” Answer them, and the draft gets better.

Step 3: Run the hype pass

Even with rules, adjectives sneak back in. Ask for a second look:

Read the press release again as a skeptical local reporter.
* List every word or sentence that sounds like marketing instead of news.
* For each one, suggest a plain replacement that uses a fact from my notes.
* Tell me which sentence a reporter would most likely copy into their story. If none, say so and tell me what is missing.

That last question is a good test. A reporter with little time often lifts the first paragraph and the quote. If neither works on its own, rewrite them before anything else.

Step 4: Run the fact pass (never skip this one)

This is where AI press releases go wrong, and where journalists lose trust. Ask the AI to show its work:

Make a table of every factual claim in the press release: names, numbers, dates, prices, places, titles.
For each claim, quote the line from my fact sheet it came from.
Mark any claim that is NOT in my fact sheet with "CHECK".

Then you go through the table yourself. Check the spelling of every name, every date against the calendar, every number against your own records. Anything marked “CHECK” either gets a source from you or gets deleted. Two minutes of checking protects your name with the reporter for the next five releases.

Step 5: Make the quote sound like a person

AI quotes all sound the same: “We are thrilled to bring this exciting solution to our valued customers.” Nobody talks like that, and a reporter has no reason to print it.

Use the voice memo from Step 1. Ask the AI to tighten what you actually said, not to invent a new quote:

Here is what I said out loud about why we did this: [paste your words].
Turn it into a quote of 2 to 3 sentences. Keep my words and my opinion. Remove filler words only. No new claims.

A good quote says something the facts can’t: a reason, a story, an opinion. “Half our customers drove 40 minutes to reach us. Now they don’t have to.” That’s a quote someone will print.

An example: before and after

A made-up example, so you can see the difference. A bakery opens a second shop. Here’s the kind of opening paragraph a chatbot writes when you just say “write a press release about our new bakery location”:

Sunrise Bakery, a leading artisanal bakery, is thrilled to announce the exciting launch of its innovative new location, bringing its passion for exceptional baked goods to even more valued customers.

And here’s what the same prompt gives you after the fact sheet, the rules and one hype pass:

AMERSFOORT, 14 November 2026. Sunrise Bakery opens its second shop on Langestraat on Saturday 21 November, three years after starting from a single oven in Leusden. The new shop bakes on site from 6:00 and adds a lunch counter with 20 seats.

The first version tells a reporter nothing. The second one answers who, what, when and where in two sentences, and they could paste it straight into a short local news item.

Step 6: Write the pitch email (shorter than you think)

A press release on its own doesn’t get coverage. The email you send it with does the work. In the same Muck Rack survey, 69% of journalists preferred pitches under 200 words, and half said one follow-up is fine.

Write a pitch email to [reporter name] at [outlet], who covers [beat]. Here are two of their recent articles: [titles or short summaries].
* Under 150 words
* First line: why this matters to THEIR readers, not to us
* Subject line: plain, no capitals, no clickbait
* Mention the press release is pasted below the email, not attached
* Offer one concrete thing: an interview, photos, or a visit

Notice the prompt asks you to name the reporter and their recent stories. That’s the relevance part, and irrelevance is the top reason journalists give for deleting a pitch. If you write outreach emails often, our guide to ChatGPT prompts for cold email outreach goes deeper on the first email and the follow-up.

Which AI is best for writing a press release?

Honestly, the prompt matters more than the tool. All the main assistants can follow the structure above. Some practical differences:

• ChatGPT is quick and handles the structure well, but tends to add enthusiasm. Your hype pass will catch it.
• Claude often writes a calmer, more natural tone, which helps with quotes.
• Gemini or Copilot are handy if your notes already live in Google Docs or Word.

If you’re choosing between them for writing in general, we compared ChatGPT vs Claude for writing side by side.

What about dedicated “AI press release generators”? Many are a form with fields (headline, quote, boilerplate) on top of the same kind of model. They’re fine if you like filling in boxes, but the fact sheet and the two passes on this page do the same job in the chat tool you already use.

Where to send it, and one SEO trap

• Your own website. Put the release on a news page on your site. It’s the version you control, and you can link to it from your pitch.
• Directly to the right reporters. Five well-chosen local or trade reporters beat a list of 500 random ones.
• A wire service, if it fits. Useful for companies that need broad distribution, but it costs money and doesn’t replace a personal pitch.

The trap: some people stuff press releases with keyword links to push their Google rankings. Google’s spam policies list links with optimized anchor text in press releases distributed on other sites as an example of link spam. Keep links in a distributed release plain and few, like your company name and homepage. Write the release for reporters, not for search engines.

What not to paste into an AI chat

Press releases often deal with news that isn’t public yet: an acquisition, a funding round, a launch date. Before you paste anything confidential, check how your AI account handles your data. OpenAI explains the options, including turning off training on your chats, in its data controls FAQ, and business plans usually have stricter settings. If your company has an AI policy, follow it. When in doubt, use placeholders like [PARTNER] and [AMOUNT] in the chat and fill them in yourself afterwards.

Common mistakes

• No news. “We updated our website” is not a press release. Ask the AI: “Would a local reporter care about this? Be honest.” It’s a useful gut check.
• Burying the news. If the first paragraph is about your company history, the reporter has already moved on.
• Trusting the numbers. Every figure in the release must come from you. The fact pass exists for this.
• The same release to everyone. Keep one release, but change the pitch email for each reporter.
• Forgetting the contact. A reporter on deadline who can’t reach you will write a different story.

And when the release is out and a reporter replies, answer in your own voice. If you want help polishing a reply, these prompts to make an email sound more professional keep it friendly without the stiff tone.

FAQ

Can AI write a press release for me?

It can write a solid draft in a few minutes, and it’s good at the standard format. It can’t know your news, your numbers or why it matters to a specific reader. Give it a fact sheet, and check every fact before you send anything.

Is there a free AI press release generator?

You don’t need a separate tool. The free versions of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can all follow the drafting prompt on this page. Paid generators mostly add templates and distribution, and distribution is the part worth comparing if you need it.

Will journalists know it was written with AI?

They notice the signs: hype words, vague claims, quotes nobody would say out loud, and factual errors. A release built from your own facts, your own quote and a hype pass reads like a careful human wrote it, because a careful human checked every line.

How long should a press release be?

Aim for one page. The news belongs in the first paragraph, so a reporter who reads only that still gets the story. Everything after it is supporting detail.

Should I attach the press release or paste it?

Paste it into the email below your short pitch, and link to the version on your website. Many people prefer not to open attachments from senders they don’t know.

Write your first one this week

Pick a piece of real news, even a small one. Write the fact sheet, paste the drafting prompt, run the hype pass and the fact pass, and send it to three reporters who actually cover your area. That’s an hour of work, and most of it is thinking, which is exactly the part that should stay yours.

If your news is a client win, the same facts can also become a story for your own site. Here is how to write a case study with AI.

And if you share news like this with your list every month, here is how to use AI to write a newsletter people actually read.

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