Every wave of technology in publishing comes with bold promises. Right now, AI is at the center of that conversation. But too often, the focus has been on the newsroom, like using AI to draft articles, generate summaries, or automate workflows. Those experiments may save publishers time, but they don’t address the core challenge every publisher faces: growing revenue.
At Admiral, we believe the real opportunity isn’t in replacing content creation. It’s in unlocking new ways to engage visitors so that publishers can build stronger relationships and generate more predictable revenue. That’s where AI-Generated Engagement — what we call MaiGIC™ — changes things.
Instead of thinking about AI as a cost-cutting tool, it’s time to think about it as a growth engine. One that helps publishers turn fleeting attention into lasting value.
Publishers Have Been Looking at AI the Wrong Way
For most publishers, the first wave of AI adoption has focused on efficiency, which may cut costs and save staff hours. But shaving expenses at the edges isn’t the same as solving the fundamental challenge of sustainable revenue.
The truth is, publishers can’t “save” their way into growth. The real opportunity with AI lies in driving conversions by turning casual visitors into subscribers, members, donors, and loyal readers. That shift requires thinking differently about where AI creates the most value.
Instead of asking, how can AI do what our teams already do, only faster? publishers should be asking, how can AI engage our audience in ways we never could before?
What “AI-Generated Engagement” Really Means
AI in publishing doesn't just refer to content creation. At Admiral, we use it where the stakes are highest, like the moment when a casual visitor decides whether to subscribe, register, whitelist ads, or leave. That’s the visitor relationship layer, and it’s where revenue is won or lost.
Context and Sentiment-Aware Offers
With MaiGIC, calls-to-action aren’t static. They’re drafted and tuned automatically to match the page, the audience segment, and the tone most likely to convert. That might mean a straightforward subscription ask on a news article, or a light, conversational appeal on an entertainment page. The point is simple: every visitor gets a message designed for them, in that moment.
Beyond Messages — Adaptive Journeys
This goes beyond changing a headline or button. Each journey adapts in real time. If a reader ignores a subscription offer but responds to an email capture, the system shifts. If adblock detection fires, the engagement changes again. Over time, the AI learns which combinations work and continuously improves results.
Revenue Growth on Autopilot
One of the most powerful shifts AI brings to publishers is its ability to work around the clock testing, refining, and optimizing every interaction without needing constant oversight. For years, publishers have understood the importance of experimentation and personalization, but the reality is that most teams don’t have the bandwidth to manage it at scale. With MaiGIC, that work happens automatically, and the impact shows up directly in revenue.
Intelligent A/B Testing
Traditional A/B testing is slow and resource-heavy. Teams set up an experiment, wait for enough data to accumulate, analyze results, and then roll out changes. By the time the winner is clear, audience behavior may have already shifted.
MaiGIC takes that process off publishers’ plates. It runs perpetual tests on every variation of messaging (copy, tone, offers, placement) and promotes the best-performing option in real time. There’s no waiting period or second-guessing. The system learns continuously, so each visitor sees the most effective message available at that moment, giving publishers a compounding lift in conversions that human teams simply can’t replicate at scale.
Surge Targeting for Real-Time Opportunities
Traffic spikes are gold for publishers, but they’re easy to miss. When a story trends on social media or a breaking event drives readers to your site, the window to act is narrow. Most publishers today serve the same static offers regardless of the situation, leaving significant revenue on the table.
With Surge Targeting, AI recognizes those spikes instantly and generates tailored offers to capture value in the moment. A viral entertainment story might trigger a special subscription trial; a surge of international readers might prompt an email sign-up or donation appeal. The engagement matches the opportunity automatically.
Together, these capabilities mean publishers don’t need to staff up operations teams or manually manage every test. The AI is always working in the background, finding wins, scaling them, and making sure no surge in attention goes to waste. It’s optimization on autopilot, with direct impact on the bottom line.
Why This Matters for the Future of Publishing
The pressures on publishers aren’t going away. Ad markets are unpredictable. Third-party cookies are disappearing. Audiences are fragmented across platforms that take more than they give back. In this environment, the margin for error is shrinking, and so is the time available to capture and grow revenue.
That’s why AI-Generated Engagement matters as a new way to build a revenue engine that adapts faster than the market changes. With MaiGIC, publishers gain a system that learns from every visitor, every journey, and every traffic surge, and turns those lessons into lasting value.
The future of publishing won’t be defined by how much content AI can produce. It will be defined by how effectively publishers use AI to strengthen their direct relationships with readers, and how much new revenue they can generate from those relationships.
Ready to See the MaiGIC?
At Admiral, we call this generative AI that generates revenue. And we believe it’s the most important innovation publishers can put to work today.
If you’re ready to see what AI-Generated Engagement can do for your business, we invite you to join our early access program. Let’s build the future of publisher revenue together.
