The PR ask lands on every small agency eventually — press, placements, “can you get us covered?” This is the walk that answers it with evidence: map who's already shaping the client's category, read every source before calling it an opportunity, and hand across graded, earned coverage — with the door in and the angle to use. The craft is included: how each lane becomes a conversation, and how the conversations become a program.
Every earned-coverage engagement follows the same five stops. The rest of this page walks them one at a time — what you run, what comes back, and how it becomes work a client renews.
1. Point it
client + up to 5 rivals
2. Map the category
the picture, sized free
3. Open the sources
read, graded, with the angle
4. Work the lanes
five lanes, moves attached
5. Land the retainer
report · pitch · cadence
The PR ask never arrives on schedule. It just arrives.
A client you run ads for asks about press. A prospect wants to know why their rival keeps showing up in the roundups. You can say no and leave the money on the table — or walk in with a map.
Step 1 · Point it
Start with the client's website — discovery finds the rest
A discovery run needs just one thing: the client's domain. Everything else is optional. Name up to five competitors if you know them; if you don't, the category search finds the roundups they appear in, and you add them to the next run.
Run name
September coverage push
optional — rename any time
Client website
their-website.com
who this run is for
Competitors
up to five domains
optional — the category lanes run either way
Category themes
derived from the brand kit when blank
optional
Name the runs the way you'll bill them — “September coverage push” — because each run is a snapshot the next one gets compared against. The runs themselves become the monthly rhythm.
Minutes later, the category has a shape.
Not a spreadsheet of raw rows — a picture: who covers the rivals, which doors are open, who's already mentioning the client, and how the coverage race actually stands.
Step 2 · Map the category
The whole picture, sized before anything deeper runs
Discovery pulls four instruments into one ranked map: who links to the competitors, who ranks for the category, which pages invite contributions, and who mentions brands without linking. Thousands of sources become one picture you can read in a minute.
1,214
sources analyzed
21
cover 2+ of the competitors
731
credible candidates
12
link to the client today
96
web mentions found
The coverage scoreboard — referring domains on file
Rival One
1,940
Rival Two
88
your client
17
Bars are log-scaled so the gap stays visible — the numbers carry the truth.
This scoreboard is the page's boardroom number: one line per brand, and the client's line is the one that moves month over month. Show it in the first meeting, then show it again in every meeting after — the delta is the program.
Then the reading starts — so you never pitch blind.
A link tells you almost nothing. What's on the page tells you everything: who wrote it, who's named on it, and whether there's a genuine opportunity to help get your client cited.
Step 3 · Open the sources
Every candidate opened, read, and graded
Pick a lane and a depth, and the AI opens each page: who wrote it, when, which competitors it names — verbatim — whether there's a real door in, what kind of site it actually is, and the specific angle that earns a place. Rows upgrade in place from “not yet read” to a graded verdict.
The 12 Best Creative Tools for Small Teams (2026)· The Marketing Ledgerpursuenamed contact
“Written by Maya Torres, Senior Editor — last updated August 2026”
updated quarterly · listicle-roundup
Competitors on the page: two of the client's rivals — the client absent
→ Pitch Maya an update featuring the client alongside the tools already listed — the roundup reviews exactly what they make, and the quarterly refresh window is open.
Every read carries a verdict
pursuea real venue, a real path in, a written angle
monitorworth watching — thin contact or unproven fit
no fitgraded out, with the reason shown — mills, wires, rivals' own blogs
The dividing lineContact quality. A named human with a real channel beats ten generic forms — and every row says which it found.
Step 4 · Know their link machine
What a rival's coverage is really made of
Each competitor gets its own section: how much of their profile is junk and link networks, how much actually ranks, which sources started linking in the last 90 days, and their newsletter-and-podcast circuit — with a plain-English analysis written only from the measured numbers.
Rival One — the profile, measured
2,100
referring domains
23%
junk / networks
2%
directories
71
pages that actually rank
Rising — started linking in the last 90 daysa category newslettera reviews sitea creator bloga tools directory
Nearly a quarter of the profile is junk and link networks — quantity over quality. The part that matters is small: the pages that rank, the circuit that repeats, and the sources that arrived this quarter. That shortlist is where the pitching goes.
This is the anti-shady wedge, drawn: their thousands of domains are mostly noise, and the client doesn't need to out-farm them — they need the short list of earned placements that actually rank and actually repeat. Evidence-backed coverage beats link-exchange receipts, and now you can show a client why.
This is where it stops being research and becomes a work order.
Five lanes of graded sources, each analyzed for you — with the action items tagged for whoever owns them.
Step 5 · The lanes, worked one by one
Five lanes, and every one arrives with the moves attached
Each lane comes back the same way: an analysis written from the graded rows, action items tagged for who owns them — agency or client — and every source carrying its verdict, its contact path, and the specific angle that earns a place.
Competitor coveragethe pages already covering the rivals
The analysis — written for you
The pursuable half of this lane concentrates in named-author publications — real editors with real bylines — while the no-fit mass is rivals' own vendor blogs and unpitchable news-wire placements. The grades do the sorting; the named humans do the converting.
AGENCYPitch the freshest-stamped list first — a page with an explicit refresh signal is the cleanest inclusion ask in the lane.
AGENCYWork the one open write-for-us path — it converts on process, not relationship.
CLIENTSupply the documented case study the logged angles explicitly require.
pursue / monitor / no fitnamed contacts flaggedrivals' own blogs graded out
The Complete Guide to Creative Automation for Small Teams· The Growth Deskpursue
“Written by Daniel Reyes on June 12, 2026 — we feature practitioner case studies in every guide.”
editorial article · updated twice a year
Competitors on the page: two of the client's rivals, both quoted — the client absent
Contact path: Daniel Reyes, contributing editor (verify before sending — resolve confirms it)
→ Pitch Daniel a documented case study with real performance numbers — his guide's own format asks for exactly that.
The work it becomesAn outreach list where every row carries its evidence — and its writer's name.
They already mention youpages naming the client today
The analysis — written for you
Two states, both useful. Pages that mention the client without linking are the easiest wins on the board — the writer already cared. And when this lane comes back empty, the page says it plainly: every competitor page above is talking about someone else. That gap is the work.
AGENCYAsk the writers who already mentioned the client to make it a link — the warmest email in PR.
CLIENTPublish the page worth linking to, so the ask has a destination.
unlinked mentionsthe honest zero statewarmest outreach first
9 Ways Lean Teams Scale Their Video Creative· The Funnel Revieweasiest win
“…and newer platforms in the client's category make this workflow practical for a two-person team.” — the client named in paragraph four, never linked.
editorial article · by Priya Shah · March 2026
Contact path: Priya Shah, staff writer
→ One email: “Thanks for the mention — here's the page worth pointing at.” The warmest ask in PR.
The work it becomesThe shortest path to new links: people already writing about the client.
Submission doorspages that publicly accept contributions
The analysis — written for you
Most of this lane is guest-post mills and vendor-blog programs — and the grades say so instead of making you find out by pitching. What survives is the short list of real venues: named editors, stated submission paths, publication-grade formats.
AGENCYPitch the door carrying an explicit invitation and a fresh update stamp first — while the window is open.
CLIENTSupply a named expert with a title, a bio, and a concrete case study — real venues require a real attributable human.
real venues vs. millsstated submission pathscontact tiers
Write for Us — Contributor Guidelines· The SaaS Signalpursue
“Pitch a feature or volunteer your expertise as a source — send Anna or Tomas an outline with your author bio.”
contributor page · guidelines updated February 2026
Contact path: Anna Keller & Tomas Ruiz, editors — a stated submission path, not a guessing game
→ Send the outline their page literally asks for: the hands-on workflow guide, with the client's case study attached.
The work it becomesA submission plan that converts on process — not on who you happen to know.
Comparison listiclesthe roundups ranking the category right now
The analysis — written for you
This is where buyers actually compare — and the lane knows which roundups carry a year in the title and refresh on a cycle, which rank in Google's top ten today, and which are rivals' own blogs wearing an editorial costume, where inclusion means a competitor's editor seating the client next to itself.
AGENCYSend tailored inclusion asks to the pursue rows — each one names what its list grades on.
CLIENTSupply the one-page submission kit — screenshots, samples, verifiable results — the material these lists gate inclusion on.
CLIENTRule on rival-owned roundups before any cycles are spent there.
Best Creative Tools for Lean Marketing Teams — 2026· The Shortlistpursue
“Updated for 2026 — we retest every tool each quarter.” — and it ranks on page one for the buying search.
listicle-roundup · by Jordan Blake · refreshed August 2026
Competitors on the page: three rivals ranked — the client absent
Contact path: Jordan Blake, reviews editor
→ The missing-tool ask: submit the client for the next retest — screenshots, samples, and verifiable results attached.
The work it becomesInclusion asks aimed exactly where buyers are already comparing.
Calendar opportunitiesrefreshed editions — pitch before the next one
The analysis — written for you
Roundups that refresh on a cycle are timed opportunities. Rows with refresh signals carry a date rail — when the page was last updated, and the inferred window to pitch before the next edition. When the refresh signals are dense, the problem isn't scarcity — it's sequencing.
AGENCYWork the calendar in refresh order — freshest window first, next edition before it closes.
CLIENTFeed the agency fresh material — new features, launches, results, anything newsworthy — so there's something worth pitching when each window opens.
timed windowsrefresh ordersequencing, not scarcity
The Annual Creative Stack Report — 2026 Edition· The Ops Almanactimed
“Every summer we re-rank the category from scratch.” — the cycle is the opportunity.
listicle-roundup · by Sam Okafor · updated July 2026
Contact path: Sam Okafor, managing editor
→ Queue the pitch for the window — the report refreshes every summer, and the ask lands best just before it.
updated Jul 2026watch May–Jul 2027inferred from one edition
The work it becomesA pitch calendar the category wrote for you — outreach becomes a schedule, not a backlog.
The AGENCY / CLIENT tags matter in the room. Agency moves are your scope — the pitching, the sequencing, the outreach. Client moves are the support only they can give: fresh features, product launches, real results, the newsworthy details that make a pitch land. Writing it down row by row keeps both sides accountable — and nothing stalls waiting on the other.
None of it asks you to go digging.
That's the difference this page exists to show: the grade, the evidence, the contact path, and the angle arrive together — and the move is billable.
Step 6 · The judgment layer
Spot the opportunity, take the action, bring the client along
Everything you've walked through lands here as one working list: every opportunity graded, with its evidence, its contact path, and its angle already attached. Building the action plan becomes the easy part — pick the rows worth doing, run the tagged moves, and coordinate the client's side from the same page. The judgment is already done; you're just choosing.
The insight written from the graded rows
The tagged move agency · client
Next month's scoreboard the line that moves
The insightwritten from the graded rows
The tagged moveagency · client
Next month's scoreboardthe line that moves
The loop closes monthly — every move is a line item, and the scoreboard measures every line item on the next run.
And then you land the work — in whichever shape the moment calls for.
Step 7 · Land the retainer
Two ways this lands — the coverage program, and the pitch
The same instrument serves both ends of the pipeline — and this one is built for recurring work.
Shape one: the monthly coverage push
This is the retainer, and it writes its own cadence: the calendar lane hands you next month's windows, the rising-sources strip hands you the fresh targets, and the scoreboard hands you the number that moved. Run it monthly and every meeting opens with progress, not promises.
And the work compounds twice: earned coverage builds the links that move SEO — and feeds the sources AI assistants read. One deliverable, both conversations.
Shape two: the new-business pitch
Run discovery on a prospect before the first call. The client report arrives in the agency's own name — executive verdict, the scoreboard, one chapter per competitor, every lane, the calendar, and the full every-candidate appendix — and you choose which chapters each report includes.
The same over-the-top move as the Lead Gen and AI Visibility walks: deliverable-grade value that shows you've done the homework, you want to help them grow — and you're the agency to do it.
The hand-off move
The report — one self-contained page
Dropped on your own website
The client opens one link
Download the report as a single self-contained page — or save it as a PDF — drop it on your own website, and send one link. It opens wearing your name, your logo, your domain, with a headline the client can read in five seconds and an appendix that answers every “how do you know?”
Good to know
Calendar windows are inferred from the editions on record — and every date rail says so until more editions confirm the cycle.
The scoreboard's bars are log-scaled so a big gap stays visible on one chart — the numbers carry the truth.
Every grade is checked against its own evidence — a verdict that doesn't match what the page actually says gets challenged, not shipped.
The walk loops — next month's run is next month's meeting: new windows, new rising sources, and a scoreboard line that moved.