In this episode of the Gloria Chou PR Podcast, I share why right now is the golden window of opportunity for small businesses to land press, boost SEO, and get discovered on AI search before the competition.

We’re in what I call the holy trifecta—gift guide season, the rise of AI-driven product recommendations, and the explosion of free, easy-to-use AI tools that make PR faster than ever.

If you’re a product-based founder who wants to ride this wave and finally get featured without expensive agencies or endless hours of pitching, this episode breaks it all down.

The Holy Trifecta: Why This Window Won’t Last

Gift guides are evergreen. AI search is exploding. And AI tools have lowered the barrier to entry for small businesses. Put these three forces together, and you have the most powerful PR opportunity in years.

The 3 AI Tools I Use Every Day for PR

Forget shiny-object overload. I go deep with just three:

• Perplexity → my go-to research brain for real-time insights, competitor analysis, and gift guide discovery
• Claude → my authentic marketing brain for writing compelling emails, captions, and sales pages in my own voice
• ChatGPT → my Swiss army knife for synthesis, quick pitches, charts, and repurposing

Why Perplexity Is a PR Game-Changer

Instead of staring at a blank screen, Perplexity gives you instant angles journalists actually care about—pop culture, trends, and consumer insights. It even shows you where your competitors have been featured so you can pitch smarter.

Claude: Your Marketing Brain That Writes Like You

Claude helps me write polarizing, authentic emails that spark real conversation—something my old $3,000/month CMO couldn’t do. With “project knowledge,” you can train it to sound exactly like you and even use it as a personal assistant for email and calendar management.

ChatGPT: The Swiss Army Knife Every Founder Needs

From reworking pitches into journalist-friendly copy to summarizing books and podcasts into action steps, ChatGPT saves hours every week. It’s not fancy—it’s functional.

The Final Takeaway

AI is no longer optional for small business PR—it’s your ticket to getting featured, building SEO, and staying ahead of the curve.

What you need is:

✅ A simple, streamlined AI tech stack

✅ The right angles that tie into trends and gift guides

✅ Consistency before the golden window closes

If you’ve been waiting for the “right time” to start pitching, this is it.