How to use AI to write a simple media pitch or press release when your small business does something newsworthy and you have no PR budget

You just won a local business award, or you're opening a second location, or you did something genuinely cool for your community — and someone says "you should send a press release" and your stomach drops a little. This post walks you through how to write a press release for your small business using AI you already have access to, from scratch. It's a lot more straightforward than it sounds, and you won't need to hire anyone.

What you need before you start

ChatGPT{:target="_blank"} — a text-based AI tool where you type a request and it writes back; the free version works fine for this, and the paid version (about $20/month) gives you access to a slightly sharper model that handles longer drafts more cleanly.

Time required: About 45–90 minutes the first time you do this. Once you've done it once, repeats take closer to 20–30 minutes.

Skill level: If you can write an email and copy-paste text, you have every skill you need.

Understand what you're actually writing — before you type a word

This is the step most people skip, and it's why their AI output ends up sounding like a corporate robot.

A press release is a one-page document (400–600 words) written in news style — most important information at the top, supporting detail in the middle, a short company description at the bottom. It follows a structure called the inverted pyramid{:target="_blank"}: lead with the news, follow with the context, end with the basics.

A media pitch is the short email you send to a journalist — 3 to 5 sentences explaining why this story is right for their readers, right now. The press release either gets pasted below it or attached.

These are two different things, and mixing them up is one of the most common small business PR mistakes. Think of the pitch as the movie trailer and the press release as the actual film. The trailer gets them interested. The film delivers the story.

Once you're clear on that, you're ready to gather your material.

Gather your information before opening the AI

Vague inputs produce vague outputs. This is the single most important thing to understand about working with AI. If you drop in "I opened a new bakery, write a press release," you'll get something so generic it's basically useless.

Answer these eight questions in writing before you open ChatGPT. Plain sentences are fine — you're not writing the release yet, you're collecting the ingredients.

1. What is the news? (Award won, product launched, milestone reached, event happening — be specific)
2. Who does this involve? (Your full name, business name, any other people or organizations)
3. When and where? (Exact date, city and state)
4. Why does this matter? (What does it mean for customers or the community?)
5. What specific detail makes this interesting? (A number, a story, something surprising)
6. What would you say in a quote? (Write a sentence or two as if you're being interviewed — informal is fine)
7. Who is your target reader? (Local community? A specific industry? Customers in your city?)
8. What do you want someone to do after reading it? (Visit your website, attend an event, place an order?)

That's your raw material. Now you can actually use the AI.

Use AI to write a small business press release — first draft

Open ChatGPT (or Claude{:target="_blank"} or Google Gemini{:target="_blank"} — any of them work well for this task). Start a new chat.

Here's the prompt to paste in. Fill in the bracketed sections with your answers from the eight questions above.

This prompt gives the AI a clear format, a target length, and your specific details — which is why the output will actually be usable instead of generic.

You are a PR writer helping a small business owner draft a press release. Write a press release using the inverted pyramid structure: lead with the news, follow with context and detail, end with a 3–4 sentence "About" boilerplate. Target length: 400–600 words. Use a professional but warm tone appropriate for local and trade media.

Here is the information to work with:

• News: [your answer to question 1]
• People involved: [your answer to question 2]
• When and where: [your answer to question 3]
• Why it matters: [your answer to question 4]
• Key detail: [your answer to question 5]
• Owner quote: [your answer to question 6]
• Target audience: [your answer to question 7]
• Call to action: [your answer to question 8]

Format it with: a headline, a dateline (City, State — Date), body paragraphs, a quote in the second or third paragraph, and an "About [Business Name]" section at the end. Add "###" centered below the boilerplate to signal the end of the release.

Read what comes back carefully before you do anything else. The structure will likely be solid. What usually needs fixing is the lead paragraph and the quote — and there's an easy process for both.

Fix the two most common AI press release problems

Problem 1: The lead paragraph sounds like every other press release ever written.

This happens when the AI defaults to a formula: "[Business Name], a leading provider of [service], today announced..." That's the kind of opener that makes a journalist's eyes glaze over.

The fix: Ask the AI to rewrite just the lead paragraph three different ways, each one starting with a different angle — the community impact, the specific accomplishment, or the customer story. Pick the one that feels most like news, not marketing.

Rewrite just the first paragraph of that press release three different ways. Each version should open with a different angle: one focused on community impact, one on the specific accomplishment, and one on what this means for customers. Keep each version to 2–3 sentences.

Problem 2: The quote sounds like a robot said it.

Journalists use quotes to add a human voice to a story. A quote that sounds like it came from a corporate press kit will either get cut entirely or make the whole release feel fake.

Read the AI's draft quote out loud. If you wouldn't actually say it that way, fix it. You can ask the AI for help: "Rewrite this quote to sound more like how a real person talks — casual, direct, maybe a little proud but not boastful." Then adjust it further until it actually sounds like you.

Write the media pitch email that gets the release opened

The pitch is short. Three to five sentences. Here's what it needs to do: tell the journalist what the story is, why their readers will care, and why now.

Use this prompt to draft it:

Write a short media pitch email for a journalist at [type of outlet — e.g., local newspaper, regional TV station, industry trade publication]. The pitch should be 3–5 sentences. It should explain what the news is, why it's relevant to their readers, and why the timing matters. End with a one-sentence offer to provide more information or an interview.

The news: [paste your press release headline and first paragraph] The outlet: [name of the specific outlet] The journalist's beat: [what topics they cover — e.g., local business, food and drink, home services]

Then ask it to generate five different subject line options. According to journalistic best practice, a good subject line leads with the angle, includes your city if it's a local story, and stays under 50 characters. Something like: Local florist hits 20-year milestone — story idea. That's it.

Build your media list and send it yourself

Wire services like PR Newswire{:target="_blank"} or Business Wire can distribute a press release to hundreds of outlets — but they charge $400–$1,000 per release. Not the move for most small businesses.

Instead, build a short, targeted list of 5–15 journalists and send personal emails. A small targeted list almost always beats a broad blast.

Find contacts via:

• The outlet's website (look for a Staff or Contact page)
• LinkedIn (search the outlet name + "reporter" or "editor")
• Muck Rack{:target="_blank"} — a media database with a free tier that lets you search journalists by beat and outlet

When you email, personalize each pitch slightly — one sentence referencing something they've recently covered is enough. It signals that you actually read their work. That one detail dramatically improves open rates.

If you don't hear back in five days, it's fine to follow up once — briefly. Ask the AI to draft a short follow-up email: two sentences, no guilt-tripping, just a friendly nudge asking if they had a chance to look at it.

What to do next

Save your eight-question input form and your boilerplate "About" section somewhere you can find them — a Google Doc, a folder, wherever. Next time something newsworthy happens in your business, you'll already have the structure ready. The second press release takes a fraction of the time.

If you want to take this further and think about how AI can help with your broader marketing content, check out the post on using AI to maintain consistent brand voice across marketing channels.

FAQ

Does my small business actually have a shot at getting coverage, or do journalists only want big company stories?

Local and community media genuinely need stories from small businesses — they're filling editorial space every week and a local angle is often more valuable to them than a national one. The key is matching your story to the right outlet. A regional TV station wants community impact. A trade publication wants industry relevance. The same story, pitched differently, can work for both.

What counts as newsworthy for a small business? I'm not sure mine qualifies.

More things qualify than you'd think. Winning an award (local or industry), hitting a milestone like 10 years in business or 1,000 customers, launching something new, hiring a notable person, hosting an unusual event, or responding to something happening in your community — any of these are legitimate news triggers. When in doubt, ask yourself: would my neighbor find this interesting? If yes, a journalist might too.

Can I just use the AI-written press release as-is, or do I need to edit it?

You should always read it carefully and adjust it. The structure will usually be good, but you'll almost certainly want to tweak the quote to sound like you, double-check every fact and date, and make sure the lead paragraph isn't too generic. Think of the AI draft as a very strong first attempt, not a finished product.

Is it okay to send the same press release to multiple journalists at the same time?

Yes, sending to multiple outlets at once is standard practice — it's called a simultaneous pitch, and journalists expect it. What you want to avoid is sending the exact same pitch email to every journalist without any personalization. The press release document can stay the same; the pitch email should have at least one sentence tailored to each outlet or journalist.

What if a journalist asks for an interview and I've never done one before?

That's a good problem to have. Ask the AI to help you prepare: "Here's my press release. Generate 10 questions a journalist might ask me about this story, and suggest a brief answer for each." It won't be perfect, but it'll help you think through the angles before the call. Keep your answers short and plain — you know your business better than anyone.