The 14 Best PR Firms for 2025

Elite Agencies Redefining Influence, Crisis Response, and Digital Strategy

Why PR Isn’t Optional Anymore—It’s a Power Move

There was a time when public relations meant press releases, press kits, and maybe a glossy feature in a trade mag. That time is gone.

In 2025, PR isn’t about chasing mentions. It’s about controlling perception in real time—across media, platforms, and moments that can escalate in hours.

The top PR firms today aren’t just vendors. They’re your narrative architects, your search visibility partners, your crisis operators when the floor drops out.

The best PR firms don’t just chase headlines—they execute on three mission-critical fronts:

• • They shape perception before your competitors do.

• • They drive strategic media that influences investor sentiment and buyer behavior.

• • And when a crisis hits, they protect trust while others panic.

Whether you’re scaling a SaaS rocket ship, navigating ESG scrutiny, or teeing up for an IPO, exposure isn’t the goal. Leverage is.

You don’t need noise. You need resonance.

You don’t need more headlines. You need the right headlines, at the right time, with the right outcome.

This guide breaks down 14 of the most adaptive, high-impact PR firms of 2025—each vetted for what actually matters: specialization, results, and real-world execution.

PR Firm Evaluation Framework (Use This Before You Hire)

Before you look at the list, stop here.

Because the wrong PR hire won’t just waste six figures. It could kill momentum, confuse your story, or leave you exposed when it matters most.

 Your Strategic Readiness Checklist

• • What’s our PR goal? (Trust, visibility, industry thought leadership, crisis readiness?)

• • Do we need global reach or vertical specialization?

• • Is our internal team ready to collaborate, or are we outsourcing execution entirely?

• • Are we expecting quantifiable ROI? If so, how will we measure it?

• • Do we need crisis preparation or just proactive media outreach?

Be honest about where you are and what you’re solving for.

Don’t fall in love with case studies or big names. Hire for fit. Hire for your next chapter, not their last win.

PR Firm Categories: Who’s Best for What?

To make your search simpler, we’ve segmented the top PR firms into six strategic categories—so you’re not comparing startups to global giants or SEO shops to ESG specialists.

1–5: Best Global PR Firms for Enterprise Brands

These agencies offer reach, scale, and reputation. If you need worldwide media access and crisis-grade capabilities, this is your tier.

1. Zen Media

Zen Media leads the charge in 2025 with a radically modern approach to PR. They’re B2B specialists with one foot in tech and the other in measurable growth blending traditional media strategy with SEO, influencer partnerships, and digital storytelling that moves revenue, not just sentiment. Zen Media is known for turning innovative ideas into momentum, helping growth-stage brands break through noise and lead categories.

What makes them stand out? They don’t just land press. They architect campaigns that generate visibility now and strengthen domain authority over time, turning PR into a flywheel for growth. One fintech client saw a 3x pipeline lift after Zen coordinated earned media with a zero-dollar ad budget.

Why hire them: You’re not chasing vanity headlines. You want PR that builds authority, fuels growth, and aligns with the rest of your digital stack. Zen is the firm that turns storytelling into sales leverage.

2. Edelman

Still the world’s largest PR firm — and still the heavyweight champ for global strategy. Edelman shines where complexity meets scrutiny: multinational rollouts, brand trust frameworks, ESG alignment, and regulatory visibility. They’re not just plugged into media — they help shape the broader narratives of culture and policy.

Why hire them: You’re launching across continents, juggling internal politics, or managing messages across multiple industries and stakeholders. Edelman brings institutional intelligence and global infrastructure, and they’ve done it at every level, from governments to IPOs.

3. Weber Shandwick

Weber doesn’t just know crisis. They’ve written the playbook for how institutions communicate when the world is spinning fast. With deep roots in crisis comms, public affairs, and social-first storytelling, they move with both precision and pace.

They’re the firm your general counsel calls when the media firestorm is 30 minutes out — and you’re still deciding what to say.

Why hire them: You need a steady hand in unstable waters. Weber is your partner when nuance matters, whether it’s geopolitical tension, internal whistleblowers, or a product issue with real consequences.

4.FleishmanHillard

Fleishman is where strategy, insight, and executive credibility converge. Their campaigns don’t just earn media—they earn trust. Their “True Global Intelligence” unit is a hidden gem: providing real-time audience sentiment, message testing, and policymaker insights that feed straight into comms strategy.

Why hire them: You’re shaping perception at the board level — with investors, regulators, or key vertical media. This is your firm if your CEO’s next keynote matters more than your next ad buy.

5.BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe)

BCW specializes in integrated communications aligning messaging across PR, advertising, internal ops, and policy engagement. That means your message flows consistently across PR, advertising, internal comms, and stakeholder engagement, especially in complex, regulated spaces like healthcare, energy, or finance. They don’t just manage brand image, they also help you align your entire narrative across continents and compliance teams.

Why hire them: You’re operating in politically sensitive markets or managing brand equity across jurisdictions. BCW is ideal when you need to communicate, convincingly, and legally — all at once.

But scale isn’t the only story in PR. If you’re building momentum, not managing multinationals, your playbook looks different. The next firms are wired for speed, precision, and breakout storytelling—perfect for startups and tech challengers.

6–8: Best PR Agencies for Startups, Tech & High-Growth Brands

You’re moving fast. You’ve got limited time, a sharp story, and no interest in bloated agencies that don’t get tech.

These are the firms built for your world where narrative is strategy, and credibility is currency.

6. M Booth

M Booth knows how to make a brand feel modern, not manufactured—whether it’s B2C cool, rising consumer brands, or B2B challengers. They combine creative storytelling with modern media strategy, helping legacy companies stay relevant and startups punch above their weight.

Why hire them: You need earned media that doesn’t sound staged. They’ve launched Barbie and Google Nest—but they get SaaS too.

7. Ditto PR

Ditto speaks your language, if you’re in SaaS, crypto, AI, or fintech. They’re masters at turning complex tech into clean storylines that get coverage and convert. They’ve helped under-the-radar founders become default choices in crowded markets, with coverage timed to funding cycles and product milestones.

Why hire them: You want a partner who gets Web3 without the cringe, and who knows how to move fast when investors are watching.

8. Method Communications

Part strategy firm, part media machine, the method is built for disruptors who need smart storytelling backed by numbers. Their sweet spot: investor comms, big launches, and message clarity when the noise gets loud.

Why hire them: You need precision storytelling that lands in TechCrunch and makes sense to your Series B board at the same time.

But what if the noise becomes a firestorm? When trust is fragile and timelines shrink to minutes, the next tier isn’t optional; it’s critical.

9–10: Best Crisis PR & Reputation Management Firms

This is the tier you hope you never need, but when things break, they’re your first call.

Stock is slipping. A leak just hit Reddit. Your board is panicking. These firms don’t just “manage” crisis—they lead it, under pressure, with no time to draft.

9. Sard Verbinnen & Co (SVC)

Discreet, elite, and trusted in the boardroom. They operate with precision, discretion, and boardroom-level clarity, exactly what’s needed when minutes matter. They handle M&A, IPO prep, litigation support, and the kind of high-risk scenarios that never make the case study deck.

Why hire them: Your legal team’s involved. The SEC is watching. And you need someone who’s done this before, quietly and effectively.

10. Ketchum

Global scale meets rapid response. Ketchum is built for real-time volatility: data breaches, recalls, internal leaks. They don’t just contain chaos—they control the story while it’s unfolding.

Why hire them: You want a battle-tested playbook, a calm operator, and global reach that activates in minutes, not days.

Still, for brands that live and die by their search results, purpose isn’t enough. Visibility must be measurable. The next firms don’t just tell stories—they engineer authority across the web.

11–12: Best PR Firms for ESG, Purpose & Sustainability

You’re not just selling a product—you’re selling values.

In an era where trust, transparency, and impact drive buying decisions, these firms know how to translate mission into media that matters.

11. Hill+Knowlton Strategies

One of the most advanced ESG comms teams in the world. Hill+Knowlton doesn’t just chase headlines—they align your messaging with global frameworks, stakeholder expectations, and policy realities.

Why hire them: You’re navigating UN SDGs, investor pressure, or climate accountability. They’ve helped brands like Shell and HSBC shape purpose into a narrative and get heard by the right people.

12. Real Chemistry

If your story lives at the intersection of health, equity, and science, this is your team. Real Chemistry leads with data-driven insights—building campaigns that earn both trust and measurable traction.

Why hire them: You’re building trust in a complex space—health tech, bio, DEI, or impact storytelling. They’ll help you lead the conversation without overexplaining.

13–14: Best PR Firms for Digital-First & SEO-Driven Visibility

If your brand lives online, your PR better show up in search.

These firms don’t just pitch stories—they build domain authority, backlinks, and trust that Google sees.

13. Firecracker PR

Lean, fast, and search-obsessed. Firecracker gets your story into Google News, builds authority through strategic placements, and knows how to make B2B coverage convert. They are really notable in AI, SaaS, cybersecurity, and B2B sectors.

Why hire them: You want PR that directly supports SEO and lead gen, without bloated retainers or slow delivery.

14. Fractl

Fractl blends content marketing, digital PR, and SEO link building—perfect for brands wanting long-term organic growth. Their work doesn’t just earn mentions—it earns rankings. Their case studies in health, finance, and tech are proof of execution, not just pitch decks.

Why hire them: You want visibility that compounds. Fractl is the partner when your goal isn’t just press—it’s building a search moat that drives results for years.

Decision Guide: Large Firms vs. Boutique PR Agencies

Choosing a PR partner comes down to one thing: alignment with your mission, model, and goals.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the tradeoffs:

Rule of Thumb:

• • Need scale, reputation management, or multi-continent execution? → Choose global.

• • Need category design, thought leadership, or growth storytelling? → Go boutique.

Emerging PR Trends You Can’t Ignore in 2025

1. AI-Powered Content & Sentiment Analysis

AI is no longer a novelty in PR—it’s embedded into how the best firms work.

They’re using it to:

• • Draft media-ready content fast

• • Track real-time brand sentiment

• • Predict potential PR risks

No, AI can’t feel your story. But it can spot what’s working, what’s failing, and what’s about to explode—often before your team does.

In the right hands, it’s less about automation and more about acceleration.

2. Digital PR + SEO Convergence

PR and search are no longer separate lanes. Today, the line between “earned media” and “search visibility” is razor-thin.

PR agencies are being judged by:

• • Backlink quality

• • Domain authority growth

• • Click-through rate from coverage

If your PR isn’t helping you rank, build trust with algorithms, and drive qualified traffic, it’s not working hard enough.

Modern visibility lives in search. And the best agencies build content that earns both headlines and page-one presence.

3. Micro-Influencers Over Legacy Media

Yes, legacy press still holds weight. But the smartest campaigns are shifting power toward creators who already have the trust you’re trying to earn.

While NYT coverage is nice, today’s best PR agencies blend influencer marketing with earned media to build trust and launch products at scale.

Especially powerful in consumer tech, wellness, food, and B2B verticals.

4. Crisis Is Now a Core Offering

In an era of real-time cancellation, PR firms aren’t “nice to have” when crises hit—they’re essential infrastructure.

Expect more companies to:

• • Build preemptive crisis protocols.

• • Retain PR firms on standby.

• • Embed social media escalation rules into every major campaign.

Because in 2025, how fast you respond matters as much as what you say.

Case Studies: What the Top PR Firms Actually Deliver

eCommerce Platform → +75.9M Earned Media Impressions

Agency: Zen Media

AdRoll, a trusted digital marketing platform for e-commerce brands, needed to amplify its voice and reposition itself as a category leader. Within 90 days, Zen Media launched a strategic PR blitz—placing AdRoll in top martech publications, securing a regular executive column, and generating over 75 million earned media impressions. The result? A surge in branded search traffic, an authority score in the top 1% globally, and a clear edge in industry voice. AdRoll named Zen its agency of record shortly after.
Read the full AdRoll case study

Hospitality SaaS → 159% Surge in Qualified Leads

Agency: Zen Media

As the restaurant industry scrambled during COVID, OneDine saw a chance to lead. Zen Media pivoted the brand from sales-focused to service-first, amplifying its contactless solutions through a rapid 60-day PR sprint. The result: 44 earned media placements, 196M in online readership, and a 159% jump in qualified leads. Sales followed fast, with over 50 accounts signed and 3,000+ restaurant units projected for deployment.
Read the full OneDine case study

Supply Chain & MedTech → Surge in Authority & Demand

Agency: Zen Media

When COVID shattered global supply chains, Pivot International moved fast to lead. Zen Media launched a focused PR and social blitz that positioned Pivot as the go-to partner for supply chain and medtech solutions. With features in Forbes, Fox Business Live, and key industry publications, Pivot’s visibility soared, along with demand. The campaign turned them from a vendor into a trusted voice in crisis navigation.
Read the full Pivot International case study

Fintech Expansion → 100+ Leads & 3M+ Impressions in a New Market

Agency: Zen Media

To break into the Nashville market, Pilot—a fintech serving startups and small businesses—partnered with Zen to launch a founder-focused event series on a six-week timeline. Zen developed the concept, ran a full multi-channel campaign, activated local speakers, and filled the room with qualified prospects. The result: 100+ leads, 120+ RSVPs, and over 3M social impressions. Pilot not only built momentum in a new city, but they also re-signed with Zen to take the series national.
Read the full Pilot case study

Mistakes That Kill Momentum

Avoid these costly missteps:

1-“We just want more press.”

Headlines without context don’t move the needle. Good PR isn’t about noise, it’s about positioning, trust, and leverage.

2-Choosing based on name only

Big names aren’t always the right fit. If a firm doesn’t understand your industry or your audience, even the best media list won’t help.

3-No internal alignment

If your leadership, marketing, and product teams can’t articulate a shared narrative, your PR firm will burn time trying to create one from scratch. You’ll waste money, miss windows, and stall momentum.

Final Thoughts: PR Is a Strategic Investment, Not a Vanity Metric

PR isn’t about press releases or vanity coverage. It’s about shaping how the world sees you when it matters most during launches, pivots, crises, and fundraises.

The right firm doesn’t just land stories. It owns the narrative, manages risk, and moves faster when others freeze.

Don’t bring in PR when something goes wrong. Bring them in before things go right to earn trust early and protect it when tested.

PR in 2025 won’t be judged by headlines, but by outcomes: growth, trust, and resilience. The firms that thrive won’t just manage perception, they’ll shape reality.

Choose a partner who sees where you’re going, not just where you’ve been. Your next chapter deserves more than a pitch—it deserves a playbook. 

Ready to find the right PR partner?

Whether you’re launching, rebuilding, or protecting your brand’s reputation, we’ll help you make the right call. Contact us.

PR Agency Selection Toolkit

Make the Right PR Hire. Avoid the Wrong Headlines.

Choosing the right PR partner is one of the most important strategic decisions you’ll make, especially when trust, media visibility, and crisis response are on the line.

This toolkit gives you 4 expert-designed tools to confidently evaluate, compare, and track PR agency performance in 2025.

1. PR Agency Evaluation Scorecard

Use this to compare multiple agencies side-by-side.

How to use:
Rate each agency 1–5 on each metric. Multiply by the weight. Total the scores. This helps eliminate bias and ensures decisions are strategic, not emotional.

2. Crisis Readiness Checklist

Every agency on your shortlist should have proven experience in crisis communications—because when things go wrong, timing isn’t optional.

When a crisis hits, you don’t rise to the occasion—you fall to the level of your preparation. Before you hire a firm, make sure they’re not building the playbook after the fact.

Here’s what should already be in their system:

• • A defined rapid-response protocol (with response times in writing)

• • On-call team and spokesperson coaching—no scrambling for a voice when pressure hits

• • Direct access to legal, compliance, and regulatory communications advisors

• • Real-time social monitoring tools with alert thresholds

• • Pre-approved message templates for high-risk categories: product issues, personnel, legal, cybersecurity

• • Active relationships with journalists in your industry—not just names on a list

• • Experience managing stakeholder updates, board communication, and media relations under pressure.

• • Case studies with actual results—not just “we managed it internally”

Bonus Tip:
Ask every agency one uncomfortable question:

“How many of your clients faced a real crisis in the last two years—and how did you perform?”

The right firm won’t flinch. They’ll have the answer, the metrics, and the receipts.

3. PR Metrics Tracking Template

Measure what matters—beyond impressions and vanity metrics.

Use this monthly or quarterly to hold your PR firm accountable to results, not rhetoric.

4. Digital PR vs. Traditional PR Matrix

Understand what type of PR your brand really needs.

When to Prioritize Digital PR:

• • You need SEO growth.

• • You care about click-throughs and conversions.

• • You’re launching DTC, SaaS, or ecommerce campaigns.

• • You want data-backed performance.

When to Prioritize Traditional PR:

• • You’re navigating politics or regulation.

• • You want prestige placements or mass credibility.

• • You’re preparing for an IPO or M&A activity.

How to Use This Toolkit

• • Print the Scorecard to guide your next RFP or agency selection process.

• • Use the Crisis Checklist to audit your internal and external preparedness.

• • Track ongoing campaigns with the PR Metrics Template

• • Decide your direction with the PR Matrix