🔍 Overview
Once a press release is submitted and distributed to our publishing partners, the category you selected at the time of submission is permanently locked. This is not a Search Atlas limitation — it is enforced by the distribution partners themselves, including outlets such as USA Today, AP News, and others in our network.
If your press release defaulted to an incorrect category — for example, Apps and Software instead of Home Cleaning Service — this article explains exactly what that means for your published content and what steps you can take.
⚙️ Why Categories Cannot Be Changed After Distribution
When you submit a press release through Search Atlas, it is immediately sent to our distribution partner network. Each partner ingests the content along with all associated metadata, including the category, at the moment of receipt. Because partners index and publish this data on their own systems, Search Atlas has no ability to push retroactive changes to fields like category, headline, or publishing date once distribution is confirmed.
This behavior is industry-standard across all major press release distribution networks. Even if Search Atlas updates the record on our internal platform, those changes will not be reflected on the partner sites where your press release has already been published.
📋 How Category Defaults Work in Search Atlas
When creating a press release in Search Atlas, the category field is a required selection before submission. If you do not manually choose a category, the platform will apply a default — typically the first available option in the list, which may not match your industry or topic.
To avoid this in future submissions, keep the following in mind:
- The category field appears during the press release creation flow under Left sidebar → Authority → PR Distribution (Press Releases) → New Release.
- Always review the category field before clicking Publish content, as it is one of several fields that cannot be edited post-distribution.
- Take a moment to confirm the selected category reflects the subject matter of your release — for example, selecting Home Cleaning Service instead of accepting the default.
🔄 What Happens If Search Atlas Updates the Category Internally
In some cases, our support team can update the category field within the Search Atlas platform record after distribution. However, it is critical to understand what this does and does not affect:
- What changes: The category displayed inside your Search Atlas dashboard under Authority → PR Distribution → Published will reflect the corrected value.
- What does not change: The category shown on every external partner site — including USA Today and others — where your press release was published will remain as originally submitted. Those records are outside Search Atlas's control.
An internal update is primarily useful for your own records and reporting accuracy inside the platform. It does not constitute a re-distribution or correction on any partner site.
✅ Your Options Going Forward
If an incorrect category was applied to your distributed press release, here is what you can do:
- Accept the current publication: The press release is live and indexed. The category may affect how it is organized on partner sites, but the content itself and the backlinks it generates remain intact.
- Submit a new press release: If the correct category is critical for your campaign goals, you can submit a new press release under Left sidebar → Authority → PR Distribution (Press Releases) → New Release, this time carefully selecting the correct category before publishing. Note that this will count as a separate distribution.
- Request an internal record update: If you need the category corrected within your Search Atlas dashboard for reporting or organizational purposes, contact our support team through the chat widget and they can assist with updating the internal record.
🛡️ Best Practices to Prevent Category Errors
- Before hitting Publish content, review all required fields including category, target location, and headline.
- Use the preview step to confirm metadata matches your intended submission.
- If you are unsure which category applies to your business, select the closest match — most partner sites organize categories by broad industry rather than precise sub-niches.
- Train any team members who submit press releases on the importance of category selection, since this field cannot be corrected after distribution.
💬 Need Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.