Earned media
Definition: Earned media is coverage you do not pay for or publish yourself, such as press articles, reviews, forum recommendations and social shares, as opposed to owned media like your site and paid media like ads.
Also called: earned coverage, PESO model
Updated
Paid, owned and earned
| Type | Who controls it | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Paid | You, by paying | Search ads, sponsored posts, paid placements |
| Owned | You, by publishing | Your website, blog, newsletter, social accounts |
| Earned | Someone else, by choice | Press coverage, independent reviews, forum recommendations, unprompted shares |
Some marketers add a fourth category, shared media, for social distribution, which is where the PESO model gets its name.
Why it carries extra weight in AI search
When someone asks an assistant “what is the best invoicing tool for freelancers”, the answer usually leans on comparison articles, review sites and discussion threads more than on vendors’ own pages. That makes sense: a third party saying you are good is more credible than you saying it.
Our view: for commercial “best” and “versus” questions, earned coverage is often the largest single influence on whether an AI answer recommends you. You cannot optimize your way into those answers from your own site alone.
Earning it without buying it
- Publish original research, survey data or benchmarks that journalists and bloggers can cite.
- Answer journalists’ requests for expert comment in your field.
- Be useful in the communities where your customers ask questions, without dropping links.
- Give reviewers real access to the product.
The line to watch is payment. Google says links that are paid for must be qualified with rel="sponsored" or nofollow; buying editorial links to pass ranking signals is link spam (spam policies). Coverage you paid for is paid media, however it looks. The backlink analysis guide shows how to see which earned links you already have.