The Media Division of CherryRoad® is thrilled to announce that it will introduce hyper-local AI search functionality across its community newspapers leveraging ProRata’s Gist Answers AI search platform.
CherryRoad leverages AI-powered search to make local journalism more discoverable and sustainable in the digital era.
ProRata plans to scale Gist Answers, an AI-as-a-service solution enabling publishers to embed custom AI-search, summarization, and recommendation tools directly on their websites. Gist Answers empowers publishers like CherryRoad to regain control of the search experience, opening the door to deeper reader engagement and entirely new revenue streams.
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What this means for the readers and advertisers of CherryRoad owned newspapers:
- Hyper-local AI-powered discovery: Readers can now search using AI across their community news – covering local politics, schools, events, businesses, and more –and receive accurate results directly sourced from trusted CherryRoad content to provide answers tailored to their specific needs and experiences.
- Stronger reader engagement: AI-driven summaries and recommendations may keep readers on-site longer, enhancing interaction with the local journalism that’s foundational to keeping communities informed and connected.
- Ethical content monetization: Through Gist Answers, CherryRoad can embed targeted, native conversational ads adjacent to AI responses—i.e., Gist Ads—opening additional revenue opportunities while maintaining editorial integrity.
- Expanded content reach: CherryRoad’s reporting can be optionally licensed across broader networks via ProRata, extending the audience and generating additional revenue to help local news thrive.
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“Our mission has always been to serve our communities through trusted, localized journalism,” said CherryRoad® CEO Jeremy Gulban.
“By integrating Gist Answers across our properties, we’re not only enriching how readers discover the news that matters to them, but also charting a sustainable, ethical path forward for community journalism in the AI era by ensuring that we source from quality local publications to get them hyper-local answers they can actually use.”