10 Markers of a Good PR Agency, With Questions to Ask

A good PR agency has ten markers: expertise in your category, fast responses, named media relationships, a written retainer schedule, senior people on your account, a fit between its ownership model and your needs, a strong reputation with reporters, measurement tied to business results, a crisis protocol, and the judgment to turn down bad-fit clients. Verify each marker before you sign, because the wrong agency burns twelve months and a marketing budget.

By EPR Editorial Team. Originally published June 2015. Updated Oct 10, 2026.

1. Does the agency have domain expertise in your category?

A good agency already knows your category, so you should not have to teach its team the fundamentals of your business. Review the roster, the case studies and who ran each account. An agency that has never worked in your category, whether beauty, technology, finance, healthcare, consumer, hospitality or B2B, needs about six months to ramp before meaningful work ships. Check which agencies handle your competitors, not to copy the choice but to learn which firms operate in the category and how they are regarded. For category lists, see the PR Firms & Communications Agencies directory.

2. How fast does the agency respond?

Response speed during the pitch predicts response speed during a crisis. An agency that takes three days to send a follow-up email during the sales process will take three days to respond when a story breaks. Negative stories travel globally within hours, so do not expect different behavior from a firm that is slow while courting you. More on the discipline in Crisis Communications.

3. Can the agency name its media relationships?

A good agency names reporters at specific outlets and dates of recent placements. Every agency claims media relationships, so the working question is which reporters at which outlets the team last placed a story with, and when. If the agency cannot produce specifics, the relationships are theoretical.

4. What does the retainer actually cover?

A good agency shows a deliverable schedule on paper, not a sales narrative in a slide deck. Ask what ships every month, how many placements are targeted, what the reporting cadence is and what the escalation paths are. See PR RFPs for the standard commercial structure.

5. Who actually runs the account?

The senior partner who pitches the business is often not the practitioner who runs it. Ask for the account team by name and ask for their LinkedIn profiles. Ask how many years each person has in your category and what percentage of their time your account will get. If the answer is under 20 percent, someone else will run the account.

6. Should you choose an independent or holding-company agency?

Independent agencies operate without the conflicts, staffing constraints and margin pressure of holding-company networks. Holding-company agencies such as Edelman, Weber Shandwick, FleishmanHillard and Ketchum offer global scale, integrated services and category coverage that independent shops cannot match. Neither structure is universally right, so pick the one that fits the assignment. For middle-market and growth-stage clients, independent agencies frequently offer better economics and closer senior attention.

7. What do reporters and editors say about the agency?

Reporters know which agencies pitch well and which waste their time. Ask three journalists, not the agency's references, what they think of the firm. If none of them has a strong opinion, the agency has no relationship with them.

8. Does the agency measure business impact?

A press-clip book reports activity, not outcomes. Business impact is measured in share of voice against competitors, executive visibility, brand-search lift, pipeline attribution and, where relevant, recruitment and investor perception. More on this in Insights & Strategy.

9. What is the agency's crisis posture?

The best agencies treat crisis work as a primary discipline. Ask for the crisis playbook, the first-hour response protocol, who has approval authority and how escalation flows. If a firm treats crisis as a specialty add-on rather than an operating capability, look elsewhere.

10. Does the agency turn down bad-fit clients?

An agency that says yes to every client lacks judgment. The strongest firms regularly decline clients whose expectations are unrealistic, whose product is not ready for public scrutiny, whose leadership will not sustain the work, or whose category conflicts with existing accounts. Ask about the last three clients the agency declined. If the answer is none, the firm is optimizing for revenue, not outcomes.

What question should you ask every agency before you sign?

Ask the agency to explain, in plain language, how it will move your business over the next twelve months. A firm that understands the assignment gives a specific operating model, a measurement plan and a crisis protocol. A firm that answers with a version of "we place stories and build relationships" is running a template.

Quick reference: the ten markers and the red flag for each

Marker	Ask the agency	Red flag
Category expertise	Which clients in my category have you served?	No category case studies
Response speed	How fast do you reply to a request at 6 p.m.?	Slow replies during the pitch
Media relationships	Which reporter did you last place a story with?	No names or dates
Retainer scope	Can I see the monthly deliverable schedule?	Only a slide deck
Account team	Who works on my account and for how many hours?	Under 20 percent senior time
Ownership model	Independent or holding company, and why does that fit me?	No clear answer
Reporter reputation	Which three journalists can I call about you?	Only agency-chosen references
Measurement	How do you tie results to my business goals?	Clip counts only
Crisis posture	What is your first-hour protocol?	Crisis treated as an add-on
Client selectivity	Which three clients did you decline last year?	None declined

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