Digital PR glossary

Data-led PR

Data-led PR is a digital PR approach that builds stories around original data, such as a commissioned survey, an analysis of public datasets or a brand's own anonymised figures, and offers the findings to journalists. The data gives the story news value and gives publications a reason to cite and link to the source.

Reviewed by Gareth Hoyle, Managing Director
Last reviewed 31 October 2026

Why journalists use data stories

In Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2026, 40% of journalists said original data or research is one of the most valuable things a pitch can include, behind clear relevance to their beat (70%) and interview access (58%). Data gives a reporter a fact no other outlet has, and a regional breakdown lets one dataset become a different story for each local paper.

Figures also travel into AI answers. The 2023 GEO paper by Aggarwal et al. found that adding statistics to a source page was one of the most effective ways to raise its visibility in generated answers.

Where does the data come from?

Commissioned surveys run through a research panel
Public datasets, such as ONS releases, police.uk crime data or HM Land Registry price paid data
Freedom of Information requests to public bodies
The brand's own anonymised customer, sales or search data
Compiled data, such as prices or listings, where the source's terms allow it

How to make the data credible

Journalists check methodology before they publish. For published polls, British Polling Council rules require members to disclose the client, fieldwork dates, method, population and sample size, and to post full computer tables within two working days. That is a sensible standard even where it does not formally apply.

A methodology page with the sample, dates, question wording and who carried out the research also gives journalists an obvious page to link to.

Example

A used car marketplace analyses five years of its own listings to find which models hold their value best, then breaks the results down by region. Motoring sections take the national ranking, regional papers take the best performer in their area, and the methodology page collects the links.