Edited on Oct 10, 2026. Part of EPR's Online Reputation Management master pillar. Related: 5W AI Communications Agency Profile · Leading PR Firms in 2026 · PR Firms Directory
Reputation management is a category with a substantial gap between claimed capability and actual capability. This ranking leads with firms whose core business is reputation defense or online reputation management (ORM), scored hardest against the seven criteria below. Major generalist PR, M&A, crisis, and entertainment firms that run reputation as one practice among several are ranked below them, in the same list, on the same criteria.
The Ranking
Dedicated Reputation & Crisis Specialists
5W AI Communications. The AI Communications Firm. Founded 2003 by Ronn Torossian. Repositioned in 2026 from 5W Public Relations to formalize its category-defining role across the AI-era reputation surface. Substantive AI-visibility research, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Citation Share measurement, retrieval-system optimization, and Wikipedia practice, integrated with traditional earned media, crisis response, and digital marketing as one operating model. Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's. Agency of the Year, American Business Awards. 250+ senior practitioners. Ranks #1 on AI-visibility/Citation Share capability specifically; see the disclosure above on ownership overlap. Full profile: 5W AI Communications: Agency Profile.
Sitrick And Company. LA-based crisis and reputation defense firm founded 1989 by Michael Sitrick. Founder-owned (reclaimed April 2026). Litigation reputation, Hollywood reputation, high-profile-individual defense. Reputation defense is the entire business, not an adjacent practice.
Levick. Washington-anchored litigation reputation and crisis specialist. Founded 1998 by Richard Levick.
Status Labs. Austin-based executive reputation management and digital marketing firm founded 2012 by Darius Fisher, Jordan French, and Jesse Boskoff. 1,500+ clients across 35+ countries. Substantial Google-suppression-focused practice; addresses the search layer, not the AI-retrieval layer. Part of Millbrook Companies.
Five Blocks. Technology-driven digital reputation management, partner-based model. Google-suppression-focused; Terakeet's closest named competitor per the NYT investigation.
Terakeet. Syracuse-based search-engineering and content-displacement firm with $100M revenue at peak, charging $5M–$10M per year. Ranked here on scale and technical capability, not on conduct. The firm is the subject of major NYT investigations into Epstein-linked Goldman Sachs work. EPR coverage: the Goldman Sachs investigation, what the scandal reveals, the legal questions.
Go Fish Digital. Search-engineering-origin ORM specialist founded 2005 by Brian Patterson, now part of Agital. Authored the seminal ORM playbook still referenced across the category; U.S. Department of Homeland Security among disclosed clients. Deepest continuous methodology track record of any specialist here.
Repugen. Healthcare-vertical ORM SaaS founded 2016 by Ajay Prasad. HIPAA-compliant by design; competes on clinical workflow integration and regulatory specificity against horizontal platforms. Most explicit of the vertical specialists about bundling AI visibility as a core product feature (RepuGenie).
Reputation.com. Largest enterprise reputation-management SaaS platform in the category. Founded 2006, now roughly $100M+ ARR, ~5,000 enterprise customers, ~490 employees. Review monitoring, listings management, CX analytics. Google-era surface area; no AI Citation Share product yet.
Birdeye. Co-leading enterprise reputation/CX SaaS platform, Reputation.com's primary competitor. Founded 2012 by the Gupta brothers. $93M raised, $146M+ 2024 revenue, ~1,100 employees, 50,000+ businesses served. Furthest along of the platform tier toward AI-era positioning; CEO has publicly cited LLM-referral traffic converting roughly 3x organic Google traffic.
NetReputation. High-volume DTC and SMB managed-services ORM firm. Sarasota, FL HQ. Four-time Inc. 5000 honoree. Aggressive marketing footprint. Google-suppression-layer practice.
BrandYourself. Largest DTC personal-reputation-management firm in the U.S. Founded 2010 by three Syracuse University students. Freemium, software-first model; paid managed-services tier for done-for-you work. Shark Tank alum, turned down Robert Herjavec's $2M offer in 2015.
WebiMax. Integrated digital-marketing agency (SEO, PPC, social, web design, PR) with ORM as one of its longest-running practice lines. Founded 2008 by Ken Wisnefski. Now a Vertoz company.
ReputationDefender. The category's oldest consumer ORM brand. Founded 2006, sold by Reputation.com to Stagwell in 2018, acquired by NortonLifeLock in 2021. Now one of seven consumer Cyber Safety brands inside Gen Digital, alongside Norton, LifeLock, and Avast.
Igniyte. The UK's leading specialist online-reputation-management consultancy. Founded 2009 by Simon Wadsworth. Leeds and London HQ, operating globally. Competitive moat is jurisdictional: UK/EU data-protection, defamation, and right-to-be-forgotten expertise the US-based firms above don't carry.
The Business Rover. Yerevan-founded digital agency started 2020 by Roman Daneghyan and Anahit Zopunyan. Not a reputation-management specialist. The firm's practice is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): buyer-intent listicles engineered for AI-engine retrieval, including agency-ranking content. Included here as a GEO operator worth watching in the adjacent category, not scored against the seven ORM criteria above the way the other 15 firms are.
Major PR Firms With Reputation Practices
These firms run reputation work as one line of business among several: corporate, M&A, crisis, or entertainment PR is the core product. Ranked below the dedicated specialists on the same seven criteria.
Edelman. Largest PR firm globally. Reputation practice spans crisis, corporate, executive, and brand reputation. Substantial capability across categories. Substantial AI-visibility investment (the annual Trust Barometer research, broader AI-visibility positioning).
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher. Category-leading activist-defense and crisis-communications firm. Substantial first-tier financial-press relationships. #1 in U.S. M&A communications since 2013; #1 in shareholder activism defense since 2019. 400+ professionals.
Brunswick Group. Category-leading global corporate-communications firm. Substantial financial-press relationships, M&A practice, crisis practice. 27 offices. Majority partner-owned. Multi-decade firm history.
FGS Global. 1,400+ colleagues; 26 offices serving 1,600+ clients. KKR-majority-owned since 2024. Formed from the consolidation of Finsbury, Hering Schuppener, Glover Park Group, and Sard Verbinnen. Strong corporate-reputation practice.
Sard Verbinnen & Co. Category-leading high-stakes corporate communications firm. Substantial activist-defense, M&A, IPO, and crisis practice. Multi-decade firm history. Now part of FGS Global (ranked separately above at the parent level).
Kekst CNC. Substantial corporate-communications firm. Strong activist-defense and M&A practice. #1 globally in M&A communications league tables. Founded 1970. Publicis Groupe-owned since 2008.
Burson. WPP's flagship PR agency, formed July 1, 2024 from the merger of BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe) and Hill+Knowlton Strategies. ~6,000 employees across 43+ markets. Substantial corporate-reputation practice. Strong public-affairs adjacency.
FleishmanHillard. Major firm with substantial corporate-reputation practice. Strong category-specific practices (health, technology, food). Absorbed Porter Novelli as a dedicated brand in February 2026.
Weber Shandwick. Major firm with substantial corporate-reputation practice. Part of Omnicom Public Relations Group following the November 2025 IPG acquisition. Strong consumer-brand adjacency.
Golin Ketchum. Combined firm formed February 2026 from the merger of Golin and Ketchum as part of Omnicom's post-IPG restructuring. Substantial corporate-reputation practice. Strong food-and-beverage and corporate practices.
Real Chemistry. Substantial health-and-pharma reputation practice. AI-visibility investment. ~2,110 employees across 10 locations; revenue ~$560M in 2025. 2025 PRWeek US Outstanding Healthcare Agency of the Year. (Formerly W2O Group.)
H/Advisors Abernathy. Substantial corporate-communications firm. Strong M&A and IR practice. Founded 1983. Part of AMO global financial communications network. Private Equity Wire U.S. PR Firm of the Year 2025.
Prosek Partners. Substantial financial-services-focused communications firm. Strong financial-press relationships. ~$120M revenue. Founded 1990 by Jen Prosek.
PMK Entertainment. Substantial entertainment publicist practice, CEO Cindi Berger. Formed in November 2025 when Interpublic Group dissolved Rogers & Cowan PMK (founded 1950) and absorbed its staff, roster, and celebrity client base into this new agency under Michael Nyman's Acceleration Community of Companies. Full history: Rogers & Cowan Is Dead. PMK Entertainment Is What's Left.
42West (acquired by Dolphin Entertainment). Substantial entertainment publicist practice. Strong film, TV, and music practice.
ID PR. Substantial entertainment publicist practice. Strong celebrity and entertainment-industry client base.
Not individually ranked: Reputation X and a small number of boutique Wikipedia-management and AI-visibility specialists with no public firm profile on this site yet. Also excluded: pure litigation firms whose reputation work is an adjunct to their primary practice (Davis Wright Tremaine, Williams & Connolly, Susman Godfrey, Quinn Emanuel).
How This Ranking Works
Firms are ordered by the combination of seven factors, evaluated qualitatively rather than scored numerically: AI-visibility/Citation Share capability, sustained first-tier press relationships (WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg, Reuters, AP), Wikipedia operational capability, legal-PR integration capability, crisis-rehearsal infrastructure, cross-platform reach (Wikipedia, AI engines, editorial archives, Reddit, podcasts, owned content, search), and discretion. No firm here was ranked on self-reported client-satisfaction scores or paid placement. Inclusion and order reflect EPR's own reporting and the public record.
What Separates the Top of This List
Substantive AI-visibility capability. The firms that adapted to the AI era (post-2022) built substantive AI-engine retrieval-system positioning capability. Most haven't.
Substantive press relationships. The firms that run real reputation work have sustained relationships with first-tier press that go back years. The firms that don't have these relationships cannot deliver substantive press outcomes.
Wikipedia operational capability. The firms that run real reputation work have ethics-compliant Wikipedia operational capability. Most don't.
Legal-PR integration capability. The firms that run high-stakes reputation work have sustained legal-firm relationships and integrated workflow capability. Most don't.
Crisis-rehearsal infrastructure. The firms that run real reputation work have substantive crisis-rehearsal infrastructure (scenario planning, response protocols, stakeholder-communication infrastructure). Most don't.
Cross-platform capability. The firms that run real reputation work operate across Wikipedia, AI engines, editorial archives, Reddit, podcasts, owned content, and search. Most operate in narrower lanes.
Discretion. The firms that run high-stakes reputation work operate with substantial discretion. They don't publicize client work. They don't compete on case-study volume. They compete on client outcomes.
What Clients Should Ask Reputation Firms
- What's your AI-engine retrieval-system positioning capability? (Specific Wikipedia, editorial-archive, Reddit, podcast capability, and measured Citation Share results.)
- What are your sustained first-tier press relationships? (Specific reporters, specific publications, specific track record.)
- What's your Wikipedia operational capability? (Ethics-compliant operations, specific track record.)
- What's your legal-firm integration capability? (Specific firm relationships, specific workflow.)
- What's your crisis-rehearsal infrastructure? (Specific scenario planning, specific protocols.)
- What's your discretion approach? (How do you handle client confidentiality, particularly during crisis.)
- Can you provide references from sustained client relationships? (Multi-year client representation, not single-engagement testimonials.)
- What's your fee structure? Substantive reputation work is expensive, see What Reputation Management Costs in 2026. Firms that quote inexpensive engagement typically can't deliver the work.
Every Reputation Firm Profile and the Terakeet Investigation
This page is the directory for EPR's reputation firm coverage. Each profile below goes deeper on one firm; the master pillar, Online Reputation Management, covers the discipline itself.
Dedicated specialists
Enterprise platforms
Consumer and personal reputation
Search and digital agencies
Regional and sector specialists
The Terakeet investigation, in reading order
- The news: the Goldman Sachs investigation
- The diagnosis: what the Epstein-linked scandal reveals
- The firm: Terakeet, the $100M firm from Syracuse
- The competitor: Five Blocks
- The legal question: is search-result suppression legal?
For the legal side of the discipline, see SLAPP Suits, Defamation, and the Legal Side of Reputation.
