What is the difference between digital PR and media relations?
Media relations aim for editorial coverage across all media, print, radio, TV and online, with a credibility and awareness goal. Digital PR focuses on online media and websites, and measures its results in mentions and links. Neil Patel defines it as a strategy that increases a brand's visibility by working with online media (June 2025).
In practice, the two overlap a lot: an article in an online outlet is both a piece of press coverage and a digital PR result.
Digital PR and link building: what changes?
Link building means acquiring links to your website, often by buying sponsored articles. Digital PR earns links because an outlet finds a story interesting: a study, new data, expertise. The links obtained are editorial, and therefore more credible.
The two can coexist. Google simply asks that paid links be flagged as such, with the rel="sponsored" attribute.
Which formats work in digital PR?
- Original data: barometers, studies, internal figures. 40% of journalists say they value original data in a pitch (Muck Rack, State of Journalism 2026).
- Expert commentary: reacting quickly to the news with a well-argued view.
- Rankings and comparisons: they are picked up by the media and read by AI tools.
- Newsjacking: linking your story to a news event.
What can a startup expect from it?
A startup can expect three effects: authority for its website, qualified traffic from the articles, and third-party sources that AI tools read before recommending it. Not every piece of coverage includes a link, and some outlets make their links nofollow. A mention on its own still has value, for readers and for AI tools.
To go further
Digital PR extends press relations and produces earned media. To see how Linker builds it into its support: our PR agency.
Last updated: October 2026
