We already pay for an SEO platform with a PR add-on. Why pay more?

Keep it. The outlet data is useful, and we use similar data ourselves. What the add-on does not do is find your story, write a pitch an editor opens, handle the reply, or publish the articles that turn a placement into an AI citation. That is what you are paying us for.

Is this a self-serve platform?

No. The platform runs the process and finds the angles. A Wishbone strategist reviews every angle, pitch and release before it leaves, and the outreach plan for each campaign is built by hand. You get a login to see what is happening, not a dashboard you have to operate.

Why do the pitches go out from my inbox?

Trade editors recognize a manufacturer's domain and open it. They are far less likely to open an agency's. We build the outreach, you send it, and we manage what comes back. If you would rather we send, ask about managed outreach.

Do you guarantee coverage?

No one honest does. What we commit to is the work: a campaign on the cadence of your plan, pitched to named editors at outlets that run stories like yours, with follow-up and a citation check afterward. The MCPU case study shows what that produced.

We only care about national press.

Your buyers do not read national press for sourcing decisions, and neither do the AI engines answering them. Trade, local and niche coverage is more likely to run, more likely to be cited, and compounds. We will tell you when a national angle is real.

What if we have no news?

You have more than you think. A conference paper, a plant milestone, a hire, a material change, a customer problem you solved. The free Snapshot finds three angles from your website alone, in under a minute, with no card.

Compare

A PR tool tells you who to pitch. We get you placed.

There are three other ways to get press for a manufacturer: a software subscription, a traditional PR agency, or a wire release and hope. Here is what each one actually does, what it leaves on your desk, and what it costs once someone has to do the work.

Get my free Snapshot See the MCPU case study

Wishbone Media Engine is a managed press campaign, run on a platform, reviewed by people. Nothing goes to an editor that a strategist has not read.

Side by side

What you get, and what you still have to do

Comparison of PR software, agencies, wire releases and Wishbone
Service	PR software tools	Traditional PR agency	Wire release only	Wishbone Media Engine
Starting point	You type a topic	A kickoff call and a brief	You write the release	We read your business and bring you the angles
Story angle	AI suggestions from your topic	Account team brainstorm	Yours	Headline, hook, why now and target reader for each angle, reviewed by an analyst
Outlet targeting	Database ranked by score	Rolodex, mostly national	Wire's distribution list	Trade, local and niche outlets matched to the angle, with named editors
Pitch writing	AI draft; one blast pitch past a small number of contacts	Junior writes, senior edits	None	Analyst-reviewed pitch to each named journalist
Who sends it	You, from the tool	Agency, from its domain	The wire	You, from your own domain, with our outreach built for you; managed outreach on request
Follow-up and editor replies	You	Agency	No one	Wishbone manages follow-ups and flags risk before you answer
Press release	AI draft generator	Written	Written by you	Written, wire-released, then pitched by hand
Content after coverage	None	Rarely	None	4 AI-optimized articles a month, English and Spanish
AI visibility	Citation scores on outlets	Not measured	Not measured	Citation check across the major engines; quarterly authority gap report
Strategy	None	Monthly call at retainer level	None	Quarterly report; monthly executive call on Authority
Typical cost	$150 to $500 a month, plus your hours	$5,000 to $15,000 a month, 6 to 12 month minimum	$300 to $1,000 per release	$1,250 a month, no setup fee
Who does the work	Your marketer, 10 to 20 hours a month	The agency	You	Wishbone

Wishbone Media Engine

Starting point: We read your business and bring you the angles
Story angle: Headline, hook, why now and target reader for each angle, reviewed by an analyst
Outlet targeting: Trade, local and niche outlets matched to the angle, with named editors
Pitch writing: Analyst-reviewed pitch to each named journalist
Who sends it: You, from your own domain, with our outreach built for you; managed outreach on request
Follow-up and editor replies: Wishbone manages follow-ups and flags risk before you answer
Press release: Written, wire-released, then pitched by hand
Content after coverage: 4 AI-optimized articles a month, English and Spanish
AI visibility: Citation check across the major engines; quarterly authority gap report
Strategy: Quarterly report; monthly executive call on Authority
Typical cost: $1,250 a month, no setup fee
Who does the work: Wishbone

PR software tools

Starting point: You type a topic
Story angle: AI suggestions from your topic
Outlet targeting: Database ranked by score
Pitch writing: AI draft; one blast pitch past a small number of contacts
Who sends it: You, from the tool
Follow-up and editor replies: You
Press release: AI draft generator
Content after coverage: None
AI visibility: Citation scores on outlets
Strategy: None
Typical cost: $150 to $500 a month, plus your hours
Who does the work: Your marketer, 10 to 20 hours a month

Traditional PR agency

Starting point: A kickoff call and a brief
Story angle: Account team brainstorm
Outlet targeting: Rolodex, mostly national
Pitch writing: Junior writes, senior edits
Who sends it: Agency, from its domain
Follow-up and editor replies: Agency
Press release: Written
Content after coverage: Rarely
AI visibility: Not measured
Strategy: Monthly call at retainer level
Typical cost: $5,000 to $15,000 a month, 6 to 12 month minimum
Who does the work: The agency

Wire release only

Starting point: You write the release
Story angle: Yours
Outlet targeting: Wire's distribution list
Pitch writing: None
Who sends it: The wire
Follow-up and editor replies: No one
Press release: Written by you
Content after coverage: None
AI visibility: Not measured
Strategy: None
Typical cost: $300 to $1,000 per release
Who does the work: You

Tool and agency figures are typical published ranges for U.S. B2B PR as of October 2026. Your numbers may differ.

Where a tool stops

Four jobs the software hands back to you

PR software has gotten good at one thing: telling you which outlets AI engines cite and who writes for them. That is useful. It is also the easy part. Here is what is still on your desk after you subscribe.

01
Finding the story.
The tool starts when you type a topic. It does not know that your plant has run since 1937, that your new additive replaces a regulated ingredient, or that a trade editor has been waiting for exactly that angle. The angle is the whole job, and no database has it.
02
Writing a pitch an editor opens.
Generated pitches read like generated pitches, and trade editors now see hundreds of them a week. One blast to a list is how a manufacturer's domain ends up filtered.
03
Sending, following up, and answering.
An editor replies with a technical question on a Friday afternoon. Someone has to answer it correctly, quickly, and without wandering into an industry controversy. The tool does not know there is one.
04
Turning coverage into citations.
A placement is not the finish line. The engines need a primary source on your own site, structured so they can read it, published while the coverage is fresh. That is a content job the tool never starts.

Wishbone does all four. The platform underneath handles the angle discovery and outlet matching; a strategist reviews everything before it reaches an editor.

The real cost

A tool is a cost center until someone works it

The subscription is the small number. The hours are the big one. Here is an illustrative monthly workload comparison.

Illustrative monthly costs including marketer time
Cost	PR software tool	Wishbone Authority
Subscription or fee	$150 to $300 a month	$1,250 a month
Hours to run one campaign	12 to 20 hours of a marketer's time: angle, pitches, sends, follow-ups, press page, articles	1 hour: review and approvals
Loaded cost of those hours at $75 an hour	$900 to $1,500	$75
Monthly total	$1,050 to $1,800	$1,325
Articles produced	0	4, English and Spanish
Wire release included	No	Yes
Someone who has pitched a trade editor before	Only if you have	Yes

Illustrative assumptions: 12 to 20 marketer hours versus 1 client hour at a $75 loaded hourly rate. Software subscription range: $150 to $300 per month. Authority costs $1,250 per month and includes a monthly wire press release with curated manual editorial outreach, plus 4 English and Spanish articles.

And that assumes your marketer has the time. Most mid-market manufacturers have one person doing marketing, sales support and the trade show booth. The campaign that never gets sent costs the most.

Proof

What it looks like when the work gets done

5–6

Trade placements through editorial outreach

First four within 72 hours, including PU Magazine, Rubber World, Urethanes Technology International and Poly Mart.

Plant interview, article and live TV

The hometown press came to Pittsburg, Kansas.

Days to AI citation

MCPU's own press cited as the source on every major engine checked.

MCPU Polymer Engineering had a conference paper and no PR history. One release, one editor list, one press page, two articles, no ad spend. Hundreds of automated wire reprints extended the reach, separately from the 5 to 6 trade placements and local news secured through editorial outreach.

Read the MCPU case study

FAQ

Questions we get from people comparing us to a tool

Want the same for your next announcement?

Get a free Snapshot: three press angles, the outlets that would run them, and the timing. No card required.

Get my free Snapshot