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AI agents in PR and comms: What they are and how to make them work for you

August 28, 2025 (3 min read)

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are the next critical step for any AI-savvy PR & communications firm. Generative AI has already transformed how PR & communications teams write, summarize, and brainstorm. But agentic AI goes beyond tools to create systems that can process information, make decisions, and cat. 

Unlike chatbots or prompt-based assistants, AI agents don’t wait for instructions. And they’re already starting to reshape how communications teams monitor reputation, analyze sentiment, engage stakeholders, and respond to risk. In this article, we'll help you understand what an AI agent actually is and then detail how you can use them in PR. Read straight through or skip to what you need:

Are AI agents effective? 

The concept of AI agents isn’t new, but three key developments have made them both practical and valuable for public relations & comms teams:

  1. Mature LLMs: Models like GPT-4 can now analyze unstructured language and generate fluent, relevant outputs across a variety of formats.
  2. Visual orchestration tools: Platforms such as RelevanceAI and LangFlow allow teams to build multi-step agent workflows without writing code.
  3. Enterprise-grade data access: APIs like those from LexisNexis now provide licensed, structured, GenAI-ready content, solving the "garbage in, garbage out" problem that often plagues AI systems.

This convergence has shifted AI agents from concept to capability. And for teams managing brand narratives in real time, the timing couldn’t be better.

Why are AI agents useful in PR & comms? 

Communications teams deal with a unique kind of complexity: reputational nuance, rapidly shifting sentiment, high visibility, and high stakes. An agent that simply summarizes headlines or suggests copy isn’t enough.

To truly add value, agents must do three things well:

  • Ingest trusted information from sources that are relevant, licensed, and context-rich
  • Interpret meaning in a way that aligns with brand tone, stakeholder sensitivity, and strategic goals
  • Deliver output at the right time and through the right channels, whether that’s an executive briefing, a crisis alert, or a campaign summary

The sophistication isn’t in the model. It’s in how the system is architected around your real-world workflows.

AI agents in the workplace: What’s already happening

Some of the most compelling uses of AI agents in communications today aren’t flashy—they’re practical. Examples include:

  • Sentiment monitoring agents that track media coverage across trusted news sources and flag early reputational risks
  • Briefing agents that prepare executive updates using internal campaign data plus external news coverage
  • Campaign review agents that benchmark earned media impact and summarize key takeaways automatically

In each case, the agent functions quietly in the background, saving time, surfacing insights, and giving communicators the space to think strategically instead of reactively.

From experiment to infrastructure

Perhaps the most important shift happening right now is mindset. AI agents are moving from novelty to necessity. They’re no longer experiments sitting on the fringe of innovation, they’re becoming core infrastructure for how modern communications functions operate.

But the difference between a helpful agent and a harmful one often comes down to what powers it. Systems built on unstructured or unlicensed content risk reputational error. Systems grounded in trusted data, like GenAI-licensed content delivered through LexisNexis APIs, ensure that insights are not only accurate, but defensible.

Now is the time for communications leaders to understand how these systems work, where they fit, and how to shape them. Agents don’t replace strategy. They amplify it.

Learn more: Download the white paper for PR & comms

Download the whitepaper, The AI Agent Technology Stack: What Every PR & Communications Leader Should Understand,” to learn more about:

  • The architecture behind agents
  • How they perceive, reason, and act
  • How you can integrate them into your own environment using structured data and scalable workflows.

Curious about how LexisNexis can support your PR & comms team with AI? Contact us to learn more

Download the AI Agent ebook    Buy Nexis+ AI

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