Content for Brands: Owning Your Earned Media in the Age of AI: A Big Dogs Network Leadership Conversation with Michael Schreiber
In today’s digital marketplace, where attention is scarce and competition is relentless, brands are asking a vital question: How do we rise above the noise without relying solely on paid campaigns or fleeting social trends? Michael Schreiber, Emmy and duPont Award winning journalist and media leader, has a clear answer: create and own editorial content.
Speaking to the Big Dogs Network on Content for Brands: Earned Media That You Own, Schreiber laid out why this strategy has become not only powerful but essential. Through his own career journey, spanning The New York Times, Frontline, ABC News, NBC News, and later founding his company MediaFeed, he illustrated how owned editorial content can build organic visibility, establish brand authority, and now, in the age of AI, determine whether a brand shows up in large language model (LLM) outputs.
From Journalism to Brand Storytelling
Schreiber’s perspective is grounded in decades of experience in the media business. He began as a newspaper reporter, later producing documentaries, including a landmark New York Times/Frontline investigation into the credit card industry. That project unexpectedly made him a financial journalist, leading to leadership roles at TheStreet.com and Credit.com.
At TheStreet, Schreiber learned the power of syndication. In the early 2000s, landing a story on Yahoo’s homepage meant a “firehose” of traffic, sometimes tens of millions of visits in a matter of days. This early lesson in content distribution shaped his belief that editorial storytelling, when strategically syndicated, could build lasting organic growth.
At Credit.com, he built a full editorial team to educate consumers about credit, syndicating articles to MSN and Yahoo while optimizing for SEO. This combination of high-quality content and wide distribution signaled credibility to search engines, driving organic growth and ultimately increasing the company’s value ahead of its acquisition.
This experience became the blueprint for MediaFeed, the company Schreiber launched in 2016.
MediaFeed’s Mission: Turning Brands Into Publishers
MediaFeed helps brands, whether B2B, B2C, nonprofits, or startups, become true publishers. The approach is simple but disciplined:
- Editorial, not promotional: Content should engage audiences with genuine value, as opposed to a sales pitch masquerading at true editorial content
- Multi-channel distribution: MediaFeed syndicates content to outlets like MSN, AOL, and Newsbreak while also advising brands on newsletters, social media, and other owned channels
- Content as a flywheel: A single editorial piece can be adapted into multiple formats, creating efficiencies while reinforcing a consistent brand voice
Revenue comes from three complementary streams: client work, MediaFeed’s own editorial platforms, and revenue shares from syndicated partners. Together, these reinforce each other, building brand visibility, diversifying income, and creating stability.
Measuring Success: SEO, Organic Reach, and Now AI
Traditionally, the success of editorial content has been measured in traffic, brand awareness, and SEO rankings. Schreiber still emphasizes these, but he now highlights a new frontier: visibility in large language models.
As platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and others become primary sources of information, brands want their content to be cited in AI-generated answers. While click-throughs may decrease in a “zero-click” world, the value of being recognized as an authoritative source within these AI systems is immense.
Schreiber advises clients to track:
- SEO rankings across search engines
- SERP performance (search engine results pages)
- LLM citations, that is, whether brand content appears in AI responses
Although measurement frameworks for AI are still evolving, he sees this as the next major arena for brand visibility.
The Role of AI: From Threat to Force Multiplier
Many marketers fear that AI will replace external partners, enabling brands to churn out content internally. Schreiber acknowledges the risk but positions AI differently: as a force multiplier.
At MediaFeed, AI is already assisting human editors by:
- Flagging factual inconsistencies and broken links
- Screening third-party submissions for quality issues
- Accelerating production workflows
Rather than replacing editorial expertise, AI enables teams to scale while maintaining standards. Schreiber is also investing in building specialized AI agents to streamline these processes further.
This perspective resonated with the audience. While some companies view AI as a way to cut costs, Schreiber demonstrated how it can enhance quality, speed, and strategic outcomes.
Syndication and Authority in the LLM Era
One of the session’s most valuable insights was how syndication intersects with AI. Just as Google has historically rewarded credible backlinks, LLMs appear to recognize content syndicated through reputable channels.
By syndicating content with canonical links (which identify the original publisher), brands increase their chances of being cited as authoritative sources in AI-generated responses. This early evidence suggests syndication is not just an SEO tactic, it is a critical lever for AI visibility.
Challenges and Investment Decisions
Investing in editorial content is not always an easy sell. Unlike paid ads, which deliver trackable clicks and conversions, editorial strategies resemble long-term health habits: essential for growth but less immediately measurable. Budgets may come from PR, SEO, or marketing, and leadership commitment is often decisive.
Schreiber compared it to exercise and eating vegetables: not always glamorous, not instantly rewarding, or easy to measure, but undeniably healthy for the brand.
This philosophy explains why brands like Red Bull invest heavily in content that bears little direct connection to their products. The goal is not immediate ROI but embedding the brand into culture.
The Competitive Landscape
While agencies and publishers offer pieces of this puzzle, content creation, distribution, or branded storytelling, Schreiber sees MediaFeed’s integrated approach as distinctive. By blending editorial expertise, syndication networks, and consulting, the company positions itself as a partner in helping brands truly “think like publishers.”
Q&A: The Future of LLMs
The session included robust discussion, particularly around how LLMs prioritize content. While no one fully understands the algorithms, Schreiber emphasized that authority, syndication, and objectivity matter. Brands seeking to appear in AI outputs must position themselves as reliable resources, not self-promoters.
He also acknowledged potential shifts toward closed LLMs, especially in industries like healthcare where privacy and compliance are paramount. These bespoke systems could allow brands to leverage AI internally without exposing sensitive data, creating new opportunities for differentiation.
Key Takeaways
- Brands must become publishers: Owned editorial content provides sustainable organic reach that advertising alone cannot deliver
- Syndication builds authority: Distributing content through trusted outlets signals credibility to both search engines and AI platforms
- AI is an enhancer, not a replacement: Used wisely, AI accelerates content creation and discovery while amplifying human expertise
- Visibility in LLMs is the next frontier: Being cited as a source in AI-generated answers may become as important as traditional SEO rankings
- Commitment is key: Like long-term health habits, editorial content requires consistent investment, but the payoff is durable brand equity
Why It Matters Now
Michael Schreiber’s career journey, from investigative journalism to leading MediaFeed, underscores a powerful shift in modern marketing. Brands no longer have to rely solely on third parties to tell their stories. By investing in editorial content that is authentic, broadly distributed, and strategically optimized, they can own their earned media and shape how audiences, and now AI platforms, perceive them.
In a world where algorithms increasingly decide what we see, brands that act like publishers will control their own destinies. As Schreiber reminded the audience, this work is not about quick wins or self-promotion, it is about building trust, authority, and long-term relationships. And in the age of AI, those who embrace this strategy will be the ones whose voices are heard.
This conversation reflects the essence of Big Dogs Networking programming: practical, experience-driven insights leaders can put into action.
Learn More About Big Dogs Network
The Big Dogs Network connects marketing professionals experienced with $500M+ organizations to collaborate, share ideas, and elevate the marketing profession. To learn more, contact Ron Snyder rsnyder@innovations86.com or Kirsty Nunez kirsty.nunez@q2insights.com.
For information about MediaFeed’s services, contact Michael at michael@mediafeed.org.
This article is part of a continuing series sharing insights from Big Dogs events and conversations with leaders in large-scale marketing organizations.
Article by Kirsty D. Nunez, President and Chief Research Strategist at Q2 Insights, and member of the Big Dogs Network leadership team.
