PR Council rolls out guidance for buying and evaluating modern PR

The PR Council has released new tools to help communications and procurement teams structure PR agency relationships, run better RFPs and understand how PR affects AI discoverability. The guidance aims to update how clients buy and measure PR as the channel’s role expands beyond traditional earned media.

Why it matters: - The PR Council’s new guidance is meant to help clients get more value from PR agency partnerships as buying behavior shifts. - The materials address how agencies are evaluated, how RFPs are run and how PR shapes visibility in AI-generated answers. - The guidance is aimed at communications teams and procurement teams that want business outcomes, not just activity.

What happened: - The PR Council released three new resources: the Buyer’s Guide to Modern PR, RFP Best Practices for Companies and Brands, and AI Discoverability guidance. - The release targets how companies structure agency relationships, conduct agency searches and assess PR’s role in AI-driven information environments. - Kim Sample, president of the PR Council, said modern PR agencies operate at the speed of the market and that many systems used to buy and evaluate PR have not kept pace.

The details: - The Buyer’s Guide to Modern PR reframes PR procurement around three things modern agencies manage for clients: reputation, narrative and momentum. - The guide says clients should buy outcomes, not activity. - The guide says expertise is the product, with creativity, relevant experience and strategic judgment driving business results. - The guide separates price from payment, treating pricing and payment terms as different negotiations. - The guide also urges continuous support for sustainable partnerships so agencies can keep investing in talent and capabilities. - Sample said procurement teams are strong at commercial discipline, but PR is not bought like most goods because clients are hiring judgment. - The RFP Best Practices for Companies and Brands guide covers invite lists, briefs, timelines, budgets, agency evaluation and closing the loop after a decision. - The RFP guide includes an AI-powered review tool that lets companies upload a draft RFP and get recommendations before sharing it with agencies. - The AI Discoverability guidance focuses on how organizations appear in AI-generated answers. - The AI guidance says credible coverage, executive visibility and third-party validation influence what AI systems know and communicate about an organization. - The AI guidance helps clients assess current standing, understand which communications practices affect AI-generated answers and measure progress with realistic expectations. - Sample said procurement and communications teams want the same thing: outcomes that protect and grow the business.

Between the lines: - The PR Council is trying to reposition PR as a strategic business function that should be bought and evaluated differently from more commoditized services. - The AI guidance reflects a broader shift in communications, where earned media and reputation now affect both human audiences and machine-generated answers. - The emphasis on procurement suggests the council sees buying practices, not just agency performance, as a key lever for improving results.

What’s next: - The Buyer’s Guide to Modern PR, RFP Best Practices for Companies and Brands and AI Discoverability guidance are available now to download on the PR Council website. - Clients and agencies are expected to use the materials as a framework for selecting partners, structuring relationships and measuring value in a changing communications landscape.

The bottom line: - The PR Council is pushing clients to treat modern PR as a results-driven, judgment-based service that now also affects how organizations show up in AI systems.