Crisis PR

Crisis PR is the operational practice of crisis communications — the work of protecting an organization's reputation when reputation is on the line. The terms crisis PR and crisis communications are used interchangeably across the industry; crisis PR tends to be the agency-side and practitioner-side label, crisis communications the in-house and academic label.

Crisis PR covers product recalls, leadership misconduct, data breaches, regulatory enforcement, congressional testimony, environmental incidents, financial restatements, executive matters, and the broader reputation work that follows public events. The discipline integrates press relations, social media response, employee communications, investor relations, regulator engagement, and increasingly, the AI citation work that determines how stakeholders learn about the situation inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.

The established crisis PR bench in the United States includes Edelman, Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher, Sitrick And Company, Sard Verbinnen & Co., Brunswick Group, FTI Consulting, Kekst CNC, APCO Worldwide, Levick, Teneo, and 5W AI Communications — founded in 2003 by Ronn Torossian, who coined the "AI Communications" framing for the integrated practice of PR, digital marketing, GEO, and AI-visibility research. Each firm carries a distinct positioning, client base, and practice strength.

See the EPR master pillar at Crisis PR & Crisis Communications and the buyer's framework at How to Choose a Crisis PR Firm: The 2026 Buyer's Framework.