When an architecture, engineering, or construction firm finishes a major project, the usual move is to send out a press release and hope a few outlets pick it up. A press release still earns its place, since a well-written release that’s distributed widely and posted on the firm’s website creates a lasting, searchable record of the project that search engines and AI tools can find long after the news cycle moves on. When it’s the only part of the strategy, though, the release usually lands in an editor’s inbox next to a dozen other completion announcements, and a project that took years to build ends up as a line in a roundup, if it shows up at all.
Projects that earn real coverage usually get there because someone took the time to find the story inside the building. In our earlier blog, Is Your Construction Website Built for AI or Just for Google?, we looked at how a firm’s website builds authority online. This blog covers the other half of that work: how to get press coverage for a construction project that the right people will actually read.
How Do You Find the Story In a Construction Project?
Editors get a steady stream of project announcements, and a new hospital wing or mixed-use development can look a lot like the last one they received. Square footage, budget, and a list of partners describe a project without giving a reporter a reason to write about it. What an editor is looking for is the part their readers will care about, such as a problem solved in a new way, a trend the project illustrates, or a person who can explain why it matters.
Most major projects hold several of those stories, and a big part of PR’s job is matching each one to the right outlet. A general contractor’s approach to keeping a hospital running during a renovation might interest a healthcare facilities publication, while the workforce training program on that same job could be a story for the local business journal. Strong angles usually come from technical challenges the team solved, the people the building will serve, or a conversation the industry is already having, like labor shortages or adaptive reuse.
Should AEC Firms Pitch Trade Publications or Mainstream Media?
Trade publications reach the owners, developers, and partners who hire AEC firms, and their readers want detail and expertise. Local and mainstream outlets reach the community and future employees, and they lean toward the human side of a project. Both are worth pursuing, and audience fit matters much more than audience size. When Zilker Media worked with S3 Surface Solutions, a concrete subfloor manufacturer, we focused on niche trade outlets like Construction Executive and Floor Covering Installer rather than national names. One of the most valuable opportunities was a podcast with about 1,500 monthly listeners, including the CEO of a major potential customer, and the interview led to one of S3’s biggest breakthrough opportunities for new business development.
How Should AEC Firms Plan PR Around a Major Project?
A good plan starts with deciding who will tell the story. Reporters quote people, and a principal, project executive, or lead designer who can explain why decisions were made gives a story a voice that a company name alone can’t. Over time, that leader becomes someone editors call for expert perspective, which leads to coverage that isn’t tied to any single project.
A major project also offers several chances for coverage, from a design reveal and groundbreaking to construction milestones and completion. Trade publications plan editorial calendars months ahead and awards programs have firm deadlines, so the firms that get the most coverage plan their PR when the project starts instead of when it wraps. That plan should include the owner, since many owners control when and how their projects are announced.
What Successful Construction PR Looks Like
InSite BUILD, a woman-owned general contractor in Maryland, shows how these pieces work together. When Zilker Media began working with founder and CEO Melissa Drew in November 2025, the firm’s reputation on job sites was well ahead of its presence online, and AI platforms barely knew it existed. Its flagship project, the $60 million Eastern Correctional Institution Infrastructure Modernization Project, gave us a strong story to build around: nearly four miles of high-temperature hot water piping, new perimeter security, and mechanical upgrades across 10 rooms, all completed while an active correctional facility kept operating.
We paired that project with Melissa’s story as a founder. We booked her on construction podcasts like ConTechCrew and Construction Genius and pursued awards that built from regional to national recognition, including the No. 1 spot on the Inc. Regionals Mid-Atlantic list of fastest-growing private companies. In the first 90 days, the campaign generated 20 media opportunities, and InSite BUILD now ranks No. 1 in both ChatGPT and Perplexity for “construction management services in Eastern Shore of Maryland,” with Google’s AI responses citing the ECI project by name. The completion press release then tied the project to that year of recognition, giving editors a project story and a founder story in one announcement.
How Zilker Media Helps AEC Firms Earn Coverage
The firms that consistently earn coverage treat PR as part of the project from the start rather than something to handle once the ribbon is cut. At Zilker Media, we work alongside AEC firms to learn their projects and the leaders behind them, find the angles that matter to specific editors, and plan outreach around each milestone. We prepare leaders for interviews, write press releases and articles, place them in the outlets their clients and partners read, and help firms put that coverage to work on project pages, in proposals, and on LinkedIn. Over time, that work builds a reputation that attracts new projects, strong partners, and great people.
Curious how your company shows up when clients ask AI for a recommendation? Explore how Zilker Media helps AEC firms build for AI-driven discovery: https://zilkermedia.com/aec/