Hi there! The Comms Stack officially launches in January, Today’s email is just a quick note explaining why I created this newsletter and some initial content you’ll find in future editions.
Let’s get started!
THE LEDE
😀 Welcome to The Comms Stack!
Hi, I’m Dan.
I’ve spent decades working at the intersection of technology and communications. I built my first website in 1995, helped build Sesame Street’s social media presence from the ground up, launched an email newsletter (called Now I Know) years before Substack existed, and have held communications leadership roles at two Fortune 150 companies.
I’ve seen firsthand how technology reshapes how communicators create — and prove — value. AI is doing that again, faster than anything I’ve experienced before. I’ve learned a lot about how to use it well, I’m learning more every day, and I wanted a place to share what actually works. That’s why I created The Comms Stack.
The Comms Stack is a weekly newsletter focused on the tools, techniques, and practical workflows that help communicators work faster, smarter, and with more measurable impact. Each issue is designed to deliver something immediately useful — whether that’s a tactical idea, a repeatable process, or a new way to think about how technology supports communications work.
Rather than chasing headlines, The Comms Stack focuses on applied use: how AI and modern tools can strengthen planning, execution, and evaluation across communications functions. You’ll find concise insights, concrete examples, and frameworks you can put to work right away.
I’m glad you’re here.
AROUND THE COMMS+AI WORLD
🌎 Earned Media Is Driving Gen AI Results
Here’s what The Observer reported recently:
Answers from generative search are overwhelmingly pulled from credible national and industry publications, rather than company-owned web pages. Research indicates that 89 percent of links cited by AI originate from earned media sources. In this new landscape, visibility hinges less on what brands publish and far more on what trusted third parties say about them.
Why it matters: Gen AI search is quickly becoming the go-to way people find information — and if you’re not optimizing for that, you’re invisible.
Your next step: The Observer is citing a report — I suggest reading the report itself. You can get the report here. Created by Generative Pulse, a new product from communications leader MuckRack, it provides valuable insights into this emerging reality and the opportunities it can create. (I grabbed that image from the report overview.)
But don’t overcorrect: Your corporate website, blog, newsroom, and other owned web channels are still critical for AI search success. AI search — like more traditional search — has a lot of rare and unique queries, and you’ll never drive enough earned media to fill those nooks and crannies. (And those gaps add up!) Your owned media channels are critical if you want to appear in those long-tail results.
💪 The C-Suite Gets It: Comms is Key in an AI World
Communication leaders are continuing to gain influence in the C-suite and are making more money than ever before, according to a new report from executive search firm Korn Ferry, shared exclusively with Axios.
A function that used to be seen as a cost center is now an indispensable alignment mechanism, guiding businesses through AI transformation, political upheaval and a fractured information landscape.
Why it matters: AI-first communicators are already critical to their company’s success. And C-suite leaders get that — and are acting accordingly.
Your next step: If you’re a leader, model great behavior and integrate AI into your workflow — and hire people who have already shown a dedication to doing so. If you’re an individual contributor, let your curiosity lead you — the AI world is just emerging, and new paths forward haven’t been discovered yet. Be the explorer!
🎯 Quick Hits
Outsourcing repeatable tasks to AI chatbots should be easier, right? Anthropic thinks so. Enterprise customers of their Claude chatbot now have an upgraded version of their “Skills” feature. Per ZDNet, “with the Skills feature, users can provide Claude with a set of instructions, including resources like brand guidelines, so that the chatbot can reference them when performing specialized tasks autonomously.”
McDonald’s AI-generated Christmas ad came across like the Grinch.
SEO company SemRush introduces the Semrush AI Visibility Awards, “a recognition program honoring top-performing brands across some of the most prominent AI search engines.”
STEAL THIS PROMPT
🥇 Tell Me About Yourself!
I want to learn more about you — and I want you to use AI to make it dead simple for you to share 😀 So I made a prompt for you! (Yes, you probably saw this in the automated message you got when you subscribed, too.)
Download the prompt and run it. Then reply to this email with whatever it gives you. (Feel free to make any edits/changes first, and add some stuff outside of work, too!)
Download the prompt ⬇
WHAT I’M TESTING
🧪 Image Generation: Let’s Go Bananas!
I have no design chops. None. I’ve managed designers, given design direction, and the like, but if you put me in front of Photoshop or Canva, well, it’s not going to turn out well. So I’m very excited about generative AI image creation. I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT’s improved image creation tool and with Google Gemini’s Nano Banana. But this applies to most, if not all, gen AI image tools.
👍 What worked for me: See the title image on this page? And the “Welcome!” image above? Yep — Nano Banana made those. ChatGPT built a square logo for me that I really liked, and Nano Banana riffed on those… with pretty good results!
👎 What, uh, didn’t: There are a few wonky things with the images if you look closely, though. It’s more obvious in the Welcome image — the text isn’t quite aligned right. Neither platform could fix it. And to make matters worse, neither could generate the image in the specs (700×200) that I specified. I had to manually crop them.
⚖ My verdict: Good enough for me — but not good enough for high-stakes comms work.
Great designers will notice a ton of problems with what I created, and it’s that keen eye that drives subtle but important value.
Use these tools to create inspiration and help you visualize your thinking to share with others, but it’s not quite production ready (startup newsletters notwithstanding!)
YOUR FEEDBACK WANTED
🔊 Help The Comms Stack Improve
Here are three things I’d love your help with as I get this off the ground:
1) Ask a friend to subscribe. They can, here.
2) Tell me what you’d love for this newsletter to do for you. All ideas, big or small, are welcome! A section I should consider, a prompt you’d like me to cook up for you, anything — let me know!
3) Have a Comms+AI win you’d like to share with others? Send it over and I’ll add it to a future newsletter.
See you in January!
Dan