---
title: "Insight Bite: Your PR budget will double in 2027"
description: 'Ben Thinking' - the newsletter for insights on leadership, labor, employee wellness and consumer trends. Comms leaders in manufacturing, take note!
---

[The latest news, trends and insights for manufacturers ](https://www.akhia.com/insights/benthinking)

# [Insight Bite: Your PR budget will double in 2027](https://www.akhia.com/insights/benthinking/insight-bite-your-pr-budget-will-double-in-2027)

 Written by [Ben Brugler](https://www.akhia.com/insights/benthinking/author/ben-brugler) | Jul 1, 2026 12:00:04 PM

*So make sure it's more than $0 in 2026.*

 

Insight Bite: July 1, 2026.

The marketing budget conversation may be changing faster than marketers realize. Gartner predicts earned media budgets will double by 2027. Why? AI is becoming a discovery engine, and AI appears to trust earned, credible, recent third-party content far more than paid promotion.

One cited stat makes the shift hard to ignore: roughly 94% of links in AI-generated answers come from non-paid sources. That matters because buyers are not just searching anymore. They are asking AI for a short list and trusting the recommendation.

For manufacturers, this creates a real opportunity: earned media is no longer just awareness. It is training data for future buyers. The brands investing now in credible stories, proof points and third-party validation may be the ones AI recommends later.

And as a company that has been recommended by AI, the instant credibility is somewhat surprising…

Full read [here at Inc.](https://www.inc.com/victoria-watters/gartner-says-pr-budgets-will-double-by-2027-ai-search-is-why/91345318)

[View full post](https://www.akhia.com/insights/benthinking/insight-bite-your-pr-budget-will-double-in-2027)

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