How to get your Chicago business covered by local media

Press coverage is one of the few marketing assets that keeps working after you stop paying for it. A published story is a permanent, third-party page that search engines index, AI assistants cite, and customers trust more than anything you say about yourself. Earning it is a repeatable process, not luck.

Have something coverable

Editors cover events, changes, and expertise — not existence. Openings, expansions, hires, original data, a genuinely new offering, or a sharp point of view on something currently happening in your industry all qualify. "We'd like an article about our company" does not. The fastest path for most businesses is expertise: being the person a reporter can call for a clear, quotable explanation in your field.

Build the assets reporters need

Before pitching anything, make the reporter's job take five minutes: a press page on your site with a plain-language description of the business, founder names and titles, high-resolution photos, and a direct contact. Every missing piece is a reason to cover someone else on deadline.

Pitch like a person

Short, specific, and relevant to that outlet's actual beat. Two or three sentences: what's happening, why it matters to their readers, and what you can provide. No attachments on the first email. Follow up once. Reporters keep sources who make them faster; become one.

Use expert-source services

Reporter-query services connect journalists with sources daily. Answering queries in your field with fast, specific, quotable responses is the most reliable coverage channel available to a small business — the work is consistency, not connections.

Compound it

When coverage lands: link it from your press page, ensure the story links or names your business correctly, and share it on your channels. Each story makes the next one easier — and each one strengthens the citation graph that search engines and AI assistants read when deciding whether you're the answer.