PR is in a constant state of evolution, prompting the question, “What does a PR agency do?” Traditionally, the responsibilities of a public relations agency have typically centered around facilitating communication between organizations and their target audiences through earned media channels.
But as more companies look to engage in integrated communications, PR agencies are expanding their scope of services from being focused entirely on earned media to also working on owned, paid and social channels.
What Does a PR Agency Do?
PR agencies operate as an extension of a company’s marketing and communication teams, where they oversee activities that directly—or indirectly—influence external perceptions of that company.
Because every company has its own unique needs, PR agencies should take a tailored approach to creating a PR strategy and plan based on companies’ larger business goals and priorities.
Whatever form that takes, the outcome is measurable: when we surveyed 250 marketing executives with research firm Dynata for our 2026 Attention Economy PR Report, only 2% said PR does not directly affect their business. The other 98% pointed to specific outcomes — direct sales, leads, new-market awareness, talent, investors and how AI engines present their company — which we’ll get to below.
Here is a list of some of the key elements that define what a PR agency does:
- PR Strategy
- Messaging and Positioning
- Media Coverage
- Content Marketing
- Social Media
- Brand Awareness
- Lead Generation
- Crisis PR
- Reputation Management
- AI Engine Visibility
PR Strategy
A PR strategy and plan is the backbone of any effective PR program. PR agencies should guide companies through a thoughtful strategy and planning process (often before any other PR activities even take place).
While any predetermined media goals can be reflected in a company’s strategic PR plan, PR goals should ultimately be a direct reflection of a company’s overall business goals. For instance, growth goals, exit strategies, prospective client goals—the list goes on.
It’s important for marketing and communications teams to be involved in the PR planning process in order to create a successful PR strategy. When done well, this strategy can serve as a guide for companies’ larger communications efforts, including everything from social media to corporate communications and demand generation.
Messaging and Positioning
PR agencies work with companies to ensure that they have the correct positioning and the right messaging to speak to their target audiences.
This can include guiding companies through a series of messaging exercises and workshops to ensure two things: First, that the company’s overarching business proposition is reflected in its messaging and second, that the messaging is crafted in a way that resonates within the market and among key stakeholders.
This messaging and positioning should be reflected in every PR initiative that is overseen by a PR agency, including media relations, press releases, thought leadership and content marketing.
Media Coverage
Media coverage is the most tangible result from hiring a PR agency. While there are other benefits to hiring a PR agency, media coverage is normally the top goal that any client has.
PR agencies are the liaison between their clients and the media. They ensure that every news item or story a company puts out happens at the right time, with the right messaging, and goes to the right journalists. PR agencies are responsible for transforming their clients’ news (that isn’t always relevant outside of the company) into stories with significance to their target audiences.
Being on the pulse of the media cycle also means that PR agencies can advise on when not to make an announcement in order to avoid sounding tone deaf or out of touch with the market.
In order to ensure media coverage, PR agencies keep a network of relationships with journalists. When working with an agency that specializes in a particular sector, such as technology, clients will be brought into the circle of journalists and publications that the agency works with and has already built relationships with.
And media coverage is where PR’s business impact concentrates: in our survey, generating direct sales was the single most-cited way PR affects business (62% of marketers), ahead of leads, investors and stock price. Media coverage creates visibility — and visibility, as the report puts it, fuels viability.
Content Marketing
PR agencies typically oversee written content including press releases, thought leadership articles and media pitches. This type of content is different from the materials that companies use for their internal communications, as it needs to showcase the value of specific products or services in a non-promotional, neutral way.
Some PR agencies also offer broader content marketing services that complement and support a PR campaign—such as infographics, e-books, white papers, research reports, blogs and even podcasts.
Social Media
The results from PR and content marketing lend naturally to social media, creating opportunities for companies to showcase their work on social channels from a new vantage point. The role of PR agencies when it comes to social media can range from advising clients on how to post content, generating social media content, managing posting for them and even running paid social media campaigns.
PR agencies have a firm grasp on their clients’ tone of voice and key messages that can help inform a more robust social media strategy across both company platforms and individual executives’ platforms.
Thought leadership is a great example of how PR tactics can be leveraged for social media. By working closely with C-suite executives and other subject matter experts within a company, a PR agency can provide recommendations on timely topics and talking points that can be used for both earned media and social media content.
Brand Awareness
As a result of successful PR campaigns, PR agencies increase the brand awareness of the companies and individuals that they work with.
While some companies may look to a PR agency to build up their brand from scratch, others might be more interested in generating awareness for a specific product or service. We’ve even built entire PR strategies around building awareness for global brands that are looking to enter into the U.S. or other new markets.
That market-entry role shows up clearly in the data: 54% of marketers say PR increases their brand awareness in new industries, and 51% say it does the same in new geographic markets.
Regardless of the specific business goal, all of the services offered by a PR agency should work together in pursuit of improving a company or individuals’ overall brand awareness.
Lead Generation
PR agencies create leads for companies by bringing visibility to their products or services through the media. Media publications can have anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of readers. By crafting the right messages and targeting the right publications, PR agencies speak directly to companies’ key audiences through these publications to educate them on a company’s product or services.
In addition to driving leads, PR agencies that are well-versed in digital channels can drive results including boosting backlinks, improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings, building followers and increasing impressions.
Marketers confirm this connection between coverage and pipeline: 53% say PR generates leads, 51% say it increases website traffic, and 48% say it helps attract investors.
[Read More: 10 Best B2B Lead Generation Tools for Marketers]
Crisis PR
PR agencies help companies manage and mitigate negative publicity through Crisis PR. Some companies are prone to crisis due to their industry, while others find themselves in a crisis-mode due to internal decisions the company made, or because of the actions of specific employees that are out of their control.
PR agencies engage in proactive and reactive crisis PR that includes everything from drafting crisis plans, creating statements, monitoring media coverage, responding to negative coverage and prepping company spokespeople to speak on the topic.
While PR agencies are often thought of as an immediate need in the direct aftermath of a crisis, they can be equally beneficial in getting companies back on track in the months (and years) to follow. Once the crisis has been managed, PR agencies can get to work on putting positive storylines back into the market and rebuilding companies’ reputations among their key audiences.
For a deeper look at how this works in practice, read our guide: What Is Crisis PR? — or see our Crisis PR services.
Reputation Management
Every service performed by a PR agency should be in pursuit of a larger goal: Reputation management. This means that every message put into the marketplace by a PR agency, every piece of media coverage they secure, and every interview they conduct should all contribute to improving a company or individual’s public image.
In addition to generating general brand awareness, reputation management also helps companies shift existing perceptions of their brand among a particular audience or within a particular market.
For example, as companies evolve and expand their offerings, PR agencies help ensure that their reputation evolves alongside them. These shifts can be from B2C to B2B markets, or from one specific industry to another, such as ecommerce to fintech.
A strong public image also compounds in less obvious ways: 53% of marketers say PR helps them attract new talent — reputation does recruiting work long before a candidate ever speaks to your team.
AI Engine Visibility
The newest answer to “what does a PR agency do?” is one that didn’t exist a few years ago: shaping how AI engines describe your company. When a prospect asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity to recommend companies in your category — or simply asks what your company does — the answer is assembled largely from media coverage.
When ChatGPT was asked to break down the sources it references for its answers, traditional media came out on top at 43% — roughly double company-owned content (22%) and more than triple user-generated content (13%). And marketers have noticed: 52% already say PR influences how AI engines present their company. In other words, the same earned media coverage that PR agencies have always produced is now also the raw material for how AI engines position you.
PR agencies working at this frontier now monitor what AI engines say about their clients, identify the gaps and inaccuracies, and build coverage strategies specifically designed to close them. It’s a core part of our AI Visibility services, and the data behind it is in our Attention Economy PR Report.
In-House PR Team vs. PR Agency Services
When companies are looking at in-house versus an agency there is a cost factor. In order to build a fully functional PR team, there needs to be a PR strategist and also account executives to pitch the media.
In our experience, companies who try to build out this function have to invest disproportionately more than hiring a PR agency, and often have to hire an outside agency as well.
PR agencies also specialize entirely in PR, and have more media resources and relationships available to them as agencies are part of a larger ecosystem. Working on multiple clients year after year also gives PR agencies a better grasp of what the media is interested in.
Another factor when deciding to build an in-house PR team or outsource to an agency is the notion that in-house team members have more insight into a company and its goals. But the way we see it, there shouldn’t be any noticeable differences between the knowledge that an in-house team has of your brand and that of your PR agency—if the agency is doing its job well.
Whichever route you choose, this is the day-to-day work the team needs to cover:
- Crafting media-facing narratives and storylines
- Reacting to breaking news
- Drafting thought leadership content
- Managing relationships with journalists
- Holding press conferences
- Writing press releases
- Getting on industry analysts’ and influencers’ radars
- Creating winning award submissions
- Securing executives’ spots at leading conferences and events
- Event planning
The benefits of hiring a PR agency stem from the services they offer. A good PR agency should create a custom scope of work for each of their clients that connects the client’s specific business goals with public relations services and tactics, and therefore, results that influence those goals.
Frequently Asked Questions About PR Agencies
How much does a PR agency cost?
Most experienced PR agency retainers fall between $10,000 and $35,000 per month, depending on scope, industry and growth stage. For context on how companies budget for it: marketers allocate an average of 16% of their total marketing budgets to public relations — the third-highest share of any channel — according to our 2026 Attention Economy PR Report.
What is the difference between a PR agency and an advertising agency?
Advertising agencies buy attention through paid placements; PR agencies earn it through editorial media coverage, which carries third-party validation that paid media can’t replicate. A story a journalist chooses to write about your company is more credible to readers than an ad you paid to run. Most companies use both — and the strongest programs coordinate them.
Do PR agencies influence how AI tools like ChatGPT describe a company?
Yes. When ChatGPT was asked to break down the sources it references for its answers, traditional media came out on top at 43% — roughly double company-owned content at 22%. And 52% of marketers already say PR influences how AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini present their company. Earning authoritative media coverage is currently the most reliable way to shape what AI engines say about a brand.
Should we hire a PR agency or build an in-house PR team?
Building a fully functional in-house PR team usually costs disproportionately more than hiring an agency, and companies that try often end up hiring an outside agency anyway. Agencies specialize entirely in PR, bring established journalist relationships, and see what the media responds to across many clients. A good agency should know your brand as well as an internal team would — if it doesn’t, that’s an agency problem, not an agency-model problem.
Ready to learn more about what our PR agency can do for your company? Get in touch with the Channel V Media team today to start the conversation.