All nine major PR agency brands reviewed by Everything PR in October 2026 feature artificial intelligence or technology on their official websites: Edelman, Weber Shandwick, Burson, FINN Partners, Ruder Finn, Real Chemistry, APCO, Golin Ketchum and FleishmanHillard. Each also names services beyond media relations, including reputation, advisory, creative and data work. The review covers these nine brands only and does not measure revenue or client results.
Last updated: October 29, 2026
What is in this study?
What did the review of nine PR agencies find?
The review found that public relations agencies now present AI and technology next to media relations in their official materials. Everything PR read the official websites of nine large agency brands on October 29, 2026 and recorded what each says it offers.
- All nine brands name capabilities beyond publicity, such as reputation management, advisory work, creative services, data and cultural influence.
- All nine feature AI or technology on their homepage or main capability pages. Eight do so directly, and APCO does so through a named solution.
- Ruder Finn relaunched its website on August 13, 2026, with a custom large language model as the main way visitors interact with the site.
- Golin and Ketchum merged in 2026 and now operate as Golin Ketchum.
How does each PR agency describe itself?
Each of the nine agencies leads with a different headline idea, and each pairs it with a technology claim. The table below sets the headline positioning beside the place where AI or technology appears.
Table 1: Headline positioning and AI or technology features at nine agency brands. Source: Everything PR review of official agency websites, October 29, 2026.
| Agency | Headline positioning | Where AI or technology appears |
|---|
| Edelman | Trust and reputation | Homepage feature and a dedicated AI expertise page |
| Weber Shandwick | Earned-first communications | Weber I/O pillar for data, technology and AI |
| Burson | Reputation as competitive advantage | Homepage cites AI-driven intelligence and links Reputation Capital |
| FINN Partners | Independent, integrated marketing and PR | Dedicated AI service page |
| Ruder Finn | Technology-forward independent agency | LLM-powered website and AI Accelerator |
| Real Chemistry | Healthcare communications and marketing | Dedicated Real[ai] page on the official site |
| APCO | Global advisory and advocacy | Margy adaptive intelligence solution |
| Golin Ketchum | Earned attention and culture | Overview cites data and AI solutions |
| FleishmanHillard | Global communications consultancy | FH Fusion AI suite and TRUE Global Intelligence |
Edelman describes itself on its official homepage as a strategic communications firm powered by data, innovation and creativity. Its about page adds that the firm has about 6,000 people in more than 60 offices and has stayed independent and family-run since 1952.
The same positioning shows up in how agencies rank on Everything PR, including the best PR firms in New York, where Edelman, Weber Shandwick, Ruder Finn and FINN Partners all appear.
Which PR agencies sell named AI products?
Seven of the nine agencies name specific AI products or programs on their official sites or in their own announcements. The dates below come from each agency's published materials.
- Burson announced Reputation Capital on June 10, 2025, an AI-powered technology and consulting solution that links reputation drivers to business outcomes.
- Real Chemistry announced HealthGEO on August 21, 2025, an AI search solution for life sciences communicators.
- FleishmanHillard launched FH Fusion in July 2025 and says more than 1,000 of its strategists use it. Its FH Fusion page also lists SAGE, which builds AI models of audiences, and Risk Radar, an AI early warning system for crises.
- APCO introduced Margy on November 8, 2023, and added RepGenAI, a tool for tracking reputation in large language models, on September 8, 2025.
- Ruder Finn built its August 2026 website on a closed-loop LLM with human review, according to its press release of August 13, 2026.
- Weber Shandwick groups its data, technology and AI work under Weber I/O, one of three pillars beside Weber Advisory and Weber Create. Weber I/O lists AI Acceleration as its first service.
- FINN Partners lists AIristotle, an agentic tool that evaluates narrative discourse, and Canary for Crisis, an AI-powered crisis simulation training product.
Golin Ketchum's leadership page lists a Chief AI Officer and a Chief Data and Analytics Officer, which shows the agency treats AI as a leadership role as well as a service.
Which agencies sell AI search visibility services?
Five of the nine agencies sell services that help clients check and shape how chatbots and AI search tools describe them. FINN Partners lists GEO, or generative engine optimization, among its AI offerings, and Real Chemistry sells HealthGEO to life sciences clients.
APCO's RepGenAI tracks and manages reputation in large language models, and Ruder Finn's AI Edge menu includes AI Powered Search. Golin Ketchum's London page lists AI Visibility among its services. Brands comparing agencies can use Everything PR's directory of AI PR firms to see which firms measure this work.
Why was APCO the closest call?
APCO was the closest call because its homepage text does not mention AI, while its expertise page lists a named AI solution. The APCO expertise page places Margy: Adaptive Intelligence under Solutions and lists Technology as a sector.
APCO's own news releases describe Margy as an AI platform, so the review counted APCO as featuring AI. A stricter rule that required the word AI on the homepage or capability pages would count APCO as No and lower the total to eight of nine.
What does this mean for clients and PR professionals?
The results mean that a request for proposals to a large agency now meets a technology offer as well as a communications offer. Clients and PR professionals can use the findings in three ways.
- Ask each shortlisted agency which named AI product it would use on your account and who reviews its output.
- Compare what the agency says on its capability pages with what its proposal commits to deliver.
- Track whether the same agencies keep these claims in 2027, since this review captures one date.
How was the review of nine agencies done?
Everything PR reviewed text from the official websites of nine agency brands on October 29, 2026. The brands were Edelman, Weber Shandwick, Burson, FINN Partners, Ruder Finn, Real Chemistry, APCO, Golin Ketchum and FleishmanHillard.
For each agency, the review recorded one headline positioning phrase, one positioning category, whether the pages name a capability beyond media relations, and whether AI, machine learning, an LLM or technology is named as a capability, product or offering. Navigation menus, footers, job listings and news feeds were excluded.
Coding rules used for every agency
An agency was coded Yes for AI or technology when visible text on its homepage or a capability, service or about page named AI, artificial intelligence, machine learning, an LLM or technology as something the agency offers. It was coded No when those terms appeared only in menus, footers, job listings or third-party news feeds. Press releases were used only to confirm dated announcements.
What are the limits of this study?
This study describes how nine brands present themselves and nothing more. The sample was chosen on purpose, not at random, so the results should not be applied to the global PR industry.
The review does not measure agency revenue, technology adoption, client results or change over time. A follow-up that compares the same homepages in earlier years would show when the shift began.
