TL;DR

The PESO Model® hasn’t stood still—it has evolved to meet the realities of how marketing and communications operate in 2026. As AI accelerates execution and teams are asked to deliver more with fewer resources, the challenge is no longer whether to use AI, but whether organizations have a system strong enough to govern it. The evolved PESO Model functions as that system, providing structure, integration, and clarity before speed.

Used as an operating system rather than a channel framework, PESO helps marketers align teams and agencies, integrate AI without amplifying chaos, and measure what truly drives business outcomes. It replaces fragmented execution with intentional sequencing, anchored in owned media and reinforced through earned, shared, and paid—so influence, credibility, and growth compound instead of compete.

Key Insights

• The PESO Model’s evolution isn’t about renaming channels—it’s about how the system is run in an AI-embedded, resource-constrained environment
• In 2026, alignment matters more than speed; PESO provides clarity before AI accelerates execution
• Owned media now serves as the strategic anchor for credibility, authority, and AI discovery
• Earned, shared, and paid media work best when used as reinforcement and acceleration, not starting points
• PESO gives leaders one integrated view of the work, enabling outcome-based decision-making instead of channel management

The PESO Model® in 2026

For the past several years, marketing leaders have asked themselves or their teams the same question, just phrased differently, “How are we supposed to do more with fewer people, tighter budgets, and higher expectations?”

AI has already reshaped how work gets done inside marketing and communications departments. Teams are smaller. Output expectations are higher. Discovery has shifted. Measurement is murkier. 

The challenge isn’t whether to use AI. The challenge is whether your organization has a system strong enough to make AI work for you, rather than amplifying chaos.

Which is why it has been surprising of late to hear some respected voices suggest that the PESO Model® hasn’t evolved.

It has. Substantially. Into a system that is strong enough to make AI work for you.

The claim that it hasn’t evolved usually comes from a surface-level understanding of PESO—as a framework, a diagram, or a set of channels—rather than how it has been operationalized over the past several years. 

It typically comes from someone thinking, “Oh, it’s more than a decade old. Maybe I’ll update it myself.”

Um, no. 

What’s been overlooked in those critiques is that the PESO Model hasn’t stood still. It’s been rebuilt around how modern organizations actually operate: with AI embedded across workflows, fewer people doing more strategic work, and leadership demanding clarity instead of channel chaos.

We aren’t going to defend a framework.

We’re going to talk about how PESO has evolved into an operating system—one designed to help senior marketers integrate AI, align teams and agencies, standardize measurement, and scale results without increasing headcount.

And what that evolution means for how you run marketing and communications in 2026 and beyond.

What the PESO Model Is—and What It Is Not

At its simplest, the PESO Model integrates paid, earned, shared, and owned media so that they work together, rather than competing for attention, budget, or credit.

Most leaders understand that part.

Where the misunderstanding begins is assuming PESO is primarily a channel framework—something teams “apply” after strategy is set, content is created, or campaigns are already in motion.

It’s not.

The PESO Model was designed to be a planning and decision-making system, not a list of executional tactics. 

Its purpose is to force alignment before work begins—across teams, agencies, regions, and disciplines—so marketing and communications operate as a single system rather than a collection of well-intentioned silos.

Here’s what PESO is not:

• It is not a PR-only framework
• It is not a content distribution checklist
• It is not a media mix diagram
• It is not something a single team “owns” in isolation

PESO is:

• A shared operating language for marketing and communications
• A structure that connects strategy to execution across all media types
• A way to prioritize work when resources are constrained
• A system that makes integration measurable—not aspirational

For senior leaders, this distinction matters more than ever.

AI has made execution faster and cheaper. It has not made decision-making easier. 

In fact, without a governing system, AI tends to amplify fragmentation—more content, more activity, more noise, and less clarity about what’s actually driving outcomes.

PESO exists to solve that problem.

When used as intended, it provides leadership with a clear view of how media investments support business goals, a framework for evaluating trade-offs, and a system for holding teams accountable to results rather than activities.

That is the foundation on which the PESO evolution has been built, and in how it has evolved.

The PESO Model Evolution

When people say the PESO Model hasn’t evolved, what they usually mean is that the acronym hasn’t changed.

That’s true—and it’s very intentional. There have been others who’ve tried to “update” the PESO Model and call it something else—AIPESO, iPESO, OSEP, OESP—but they never stick.

You know why they don’t stick? Because PESO is so much easier to remember. 

But evolution in a system like PESO was never about renaming components or redrawing a diagram for novelty’s sake. 

It was about adapting how the model functions in the real conditions under which senior marketers are now operating.

In 2026, those conditions are defined by three realities:

1. AI is embedded across marketing and communications workflows
2. Teams are smaller, flatter, and expected to produce more results
3. Leadership demands clearer connections between activity and business outcomes

Those pressures have driven the evolution of PESO.

Instead of asking, “What channels should we use?” the model now answers more challenging questions executives care about, such as:

• How do we prioritize work when everything is possible, but not everything is valuable?
• How do we integrate AI without creating more fragmentation?
• How do we create consistency across agencies, markets, and teams without slowing execution?
• How do we measure results in a way that leadership can trust?

That evolution is evident in how PESO is run, not just in its description.

The modern application of PESO emphasizes:

• Strategic sequencing over simultaneous channel activation
• Integration points instead of isolated deliverables
• Governance and guardrails that allow AI to accelerate work without eroding trust
• Measurement frameworks designed to support executive decision-making, not just reporting

In other words, PESO has shifted from a conceptual framework to an operational discipline.

The result is a system that helps leaders reduce wasted effort, eliminate redundant work, and focus teams on what actually drives business growth—while still providing them with the flexibility that AI enables.

This is the version of PESO that organizations are using today. And it’s the foundation for everything that comes next.

How AI Fits Into the PESO Model

AI didn’t break marketing and communications. It exposed what was already fragile.

When teams lack alignment, AI accelerates confusion. When priorities aren’t clear, AI produces more work—not better work. And when measurement is inconsistent, AI makes it harder to tell what’s actually driving results.

This is where the evolved PESO Model becomes essential.

Rather than treating AI as a separate capability or a productivity hack, PESO integrates AI inside the operating system, governed by the same strategic discipline as every other decision.

Let me walk you through exactly what that means.

Owned Media: Visibility, Authority, and AI Discovery

Owned media has become the primary source of truth for AI systems deciding what to surface, cite, or summarize. We’ve seen this over and over in research, and a recent Muck Rack survey confirmed it.

Under the modern PESO Model, owned content is no longer just “where we publish”—it’s where credibility is established.

AI is used to:

• Identify buyer and stakeholder questions that matter most
• Structure content for machine readability and human trust
• Strengthen authority signals through consistency, sourcing, and expertise

The result isn’t more content. It’s more visible, more defensible content.

Earned Media: From Coverage to Corroboration

Earned media has evolved from volume-based coverage to one that reinforces credibility. 

AI tools help teams identify where authority already exists and where third-party validation will carry the most weight.

PESO uses AI to:

• Spot earned opportunities that reinforce owned authority
• Prioritize placements that matter for both humans and machines
• Measure earned media as a corroboration signal—not a vanity metric

Shared Media: Proof, Not Noise

While what shows up in AI search and answers is driven by owned and earned media, shared and paid still play a significant role among humans. 

As well, AI can generate endless social content. PESO puts guardrails around it.

Shared media is treated as a proof loop—circulating what audiences have already validated rather than flooding channels with untested ideas. AI helps analyze what resonates, but PESO determines what’s worth amplifying.

Paid Media: Precision and Acceleration

Paid media in PESO isn’t used to prop up weak ideas. It’s used to accelerate what’s already working.

AI supports smarter targeting and optimization, faster testing cycles, and more efficient spend allocation.

But PESO ensures paid investment is tied to integrated goals—not isolated performance metrics.

PESO as an Operating System

For years, marketing and communications have operated on good intentions and heroic effort.

Talented teams. Smart agencies. Endless activity.

And yet—misalignment persists. Priorities shift mid-quarter. Agencies optimize for their lane. Internal teams measure different things. Leadership gets reports, but not answers.

AI didn’t create this problem, but it sure did make it impossible to ignore.

That’s why PESO’s most important evolution wasn’t conceptual—it was structural.

The PESO Model is no longer just a way to think about integration. It now functions as a marketing and communications operating system.

An operating system like this does a few critical things well:

• It creates shared rules so different tools and teams can work together
• It standardizes how decisions get made
• It reduces friction without reducing control
• It allows innovation inside guardrails

That’s exactly how PESO is now being used inside organizations that are serious about scale.

From Campaigns to Continuous Operations

In its earliest applications, PESO often showed up at the campaign level. Today, it’s being used at the organizational level.

Leaders use PESO to:

• Align internal teams and external agencies around the same priorities
• Create consistency across regions, brands, and business units
• Establish a repeatable planning cadence that survives team turnover
• Reduce duplicated work and conflicting strategies

Instead of reinventing the wheel every quarter, PESO provides a repeatable system for deciding:

• What work matters most right now
• Where AI should accelerate execution
• Where human judgment must remain in control

One System, One View

Perhaps most importantly for senior marketers, PESO creates one view of the work.

Not a PR view. Not a paid media view. Not a social view. Not a marketing view. Not a data view.

A leadership view.

That means you have one planning structure, one set of integration expectations, and one measurement framework tied to business goals.

This is what allows leaders to stop managing channels and start managing outcomes.

And once PESO became an operating system—rather than a diagram—it created the foundation for something new.

How to Use the Evolved PESO Model in 2026

Using the PESO Model in 2026 looks very different than it did even a few years ago—not because the media types changed, but because the role of leadership did.

In an AI-saturated environment, speed is no longer an advantage. Alignment is.

The evolved PESO Model gives senior marketers a way to create that alignment—before AI accelerates execution in the wrong direction.

The first shift is where planning begins. In many organizations, work still starts with channels: what to post, pitch, promote, or publish. 

PESO flips that order. 

Planning starts with the business outcome you’re accountable for and the decision an audience needs to make differently as a result of your work. Only then does the question of media enter the conversation.

That sequencing matters. It forces teams to stop treating paid, earned, shared, and owned media as parallel streams and start treating them as interdependent levers. 

In practice, this reduces duplicated work, eliminates competing priorities, and makes it much easier to decide what not to do—one of the hardest leadership challenges in a resource-constrained environment.

PESO Anchors In Owned Media

From there, the evolved PESO Model anchors everything in owned media. 

In 2026, owned content is no longer just where brands “publish.” It’s where authority is built, expertise is demonstrated, and credibility is established for both humans and machines. 

AI systems increasingly rely on owned sources to determine what to surface, summarize, or cite. That makes owned media the strategic center of the system—not a supporting player.

Using PESO effectively means treating owned media as the place where your organization clearly answers the questions your buyers, stakeholders, and partners actually ask. Not with generic positioning or marketing language, but with depth, specificity, and proof. 

When owned media does this well, it simplifies everything that follows.

Earned Trains the LLMS

Earned media then becomes a mechanism for corroboration, not volume. Instead of chasing coverage for its own sake, teams focus on earned opportunities that reinforce what they already own. 

The goal isn’t to say something new—it’s to have credible third parties validate what’s already been established. 

In a world where trust is fragile and AI is synthesizing information from multiple sources, this kind of reinforcement matters more than ever.

Shared and Paid Still Play Critical Roles

Shared and paid media still play critical roles, but their function becomes more disciplined. 

Shared media circulates proof rather than testing unproven ideas. It’s used to demonstrate resonance, not generate it from scratch. 

Paid media, in turn, accelerates what’s already working. It’s applied with intention, not desperation. 

This approach allows teams to move faster without wasting spend or attention on ideas that haven’t earned amplification.

The 2026 Version of Measurement

Perhaps the most significant change in how PESO is used in 2026 is measurement. 

The evolved model pushes leaders away from channel-specific metrics and toward system-level insight. 

Instead of asking how each media type performed in isolation, leaders can see how they worked together to influence outcomes. 

Measurement becomes a decision-support tool, not a reporting exercise.

That shift is critical in an AI-driven environment, where activity is easily generated but insight is harder to extract. 

PESO gives leaders a way to evaluate what’s actually contributing to progress—and what’s simply adding noise.

When run this way, the PESO Model becomes less about managing programs and campaigns and more about governing them. It provides structure without rigidity, speed without chaos, and flexibility without fragmentation.

That’s what makes it viable in 2026 and beyond—not as a legacy framework, but as a modern operating system for how influence, credibility, and growth are built today.

What Changes for Leaders

One of the most important aspects of PESO’s evolution is that it clarifies who is responsible for what.

In 2026, the mistake many organizations make is asking teams to “use AI better” without changing how leadership governs the work. The evolved PESO Model corrects that imbalance.

For leaders, PESO becomes a decision-making system.

Their role is no longer to weigh in on channels, content formats, or tactical execution. 

Instead, leaders use PESO to define the conditions under which work happens. They set the outcomes the organization is accountable for. They establish what integration looks like. They decide how success will be measured and what trade-offs are acceptable when resources are constrained.

Most importantly, leaders use PESO to create clarity before speed. 

In an AI-enabled environment, execution will happen quickly whether leadership is ready or not. PESO ensures that speed compounds value rather than confusion. It gives leaders a single view of how paid, earned, shared, and owned media are working together—and where they aren’t.

And What Changes for Teams

For teams, PESO becomes an execution framework with guardrails.

Instead of guessing priorities or reacting to the loudest request, teams operate inside a shared system. They know where owned content must lead. They understand how earned media reinforces credibility. They recognize when shared and paid amplification is warranted—and when it isn’t.

AI becomes a productivity multiplier for teams, not a source of anxiety. 

PESO provides the structure that tells teams where AI can accelerate work and where human judgment must remain in control. That clarity reduces rework, minimizes internal friction, and allows teams to focus on quality rather than volume.

The result is a healthier operating dynamic.

Leaders stop managing execution and start managing outcomes. Teams stop chasing activity and start delivering results.

That separation of responsibility is what allows PESO to function as an operating system—not just a model—and why it’s proving so effective as marketing and communications continue to evolve.

What This Means for 2026 and Beyond

The PESO Model didn’t evolve because it was broken.

It evolved because marketing and communications reached a point where frameworks alone were no longer enough.

In an environment shaped by AI, constrained resources, and rising accountability, leaders don’t need more tactics. They need systems that bring coherence to complexity and discipline to speed. They need a way to align teams, guide decision-making, and evaluate results without slowing progress.

That is what the evolved PESO Model provides.

Used as an operating system, PESO helps marketers move from managing channels to governing outcomes.

It creates clarity before execution, integration before amplification, and insight before optimization. It allows organizations to scale influence without scaling headcount—and to adopt AI without surrendering control.

Most importantly, it gives us confidence.

Confidence that our teams are working toward the same goals.  Confidence that AI is accelerating the right work. Confidence that results can be understood, explained, and defended.

As marketing and communications continue to evolve, the organizations that succeed won’t be the ones chasing every new capability. They’ll be the ones running a system strong enough to make all of it work together.

That’s what PESO has become.

And that’s why it will continue to matter—well beyond 2026.

© 2026 Spin Sucks. All rights reserved. The PESO Model is a registered trademark of Spin Sucks.

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