- Crisis PR firms handle media relations, statements and spokespeople. Online crisis firms handle what people find when they search.
- If reporters are calling or investors are asking questions, you need crisis PR first.
- If the damage is spreading across search, reviews and social media, you need online crisis response.
- Large crises usually need both, working together with your lawyers.
- The traditional crisis PR firms below are described from their own sites, alphabetically, and not ranked.
- Nobody can promise a result on a platform they do not run.
In this guide
Top pick for online crisis response in 2026: Reputation Resolutions
Scored 93 out of 100 on our five-criteria methodology, the highest of any firm we rank for online crisis management. Results-based services for repairing, improving and protecting online reputations on Google and AI, and payment is only required after results are achieved. A+ BBB Accredited, in business since 2013.
Two Jobs That Share One Name
Search for crisis management and you get two industries mixed together. One is public relations, where people write statements, brief executives and talk to reporters. The other is online reputation work, where people deal with the search results, reviews and posts that keep a crisis alive after the headlines fade.
Online reputation management, or ORM, is work that changes what people find when they search a name. Crisis PR is work that shapes what you say and who you say it to. They overlap, but they are not the same job, and hiring the wrong one wastes the hours that matter most.
What a Crisis PR Firm Does
Crisis PR firms, also called crisis communications firms, work on the message. They advise leadership, write statements, prepare spokespeople and handle reporters. Some focus on specific kinds of events, such as investor, regulatory or litigation communications.
- Media relations and press statements
- Spokesperson preparation and media training
- Messaging for employees, customers and investors
- Communications around litigation or regulatory action
- Advice to leadership during fast moving events
These firms often work with large organizations, and their work happens mostly offline and in the press. They do not usually run removal requests or search suppression, though some have digital teams.
Ready to Fix What People See When They Search You?
Talk to a specialist at Reputation Resolutions, the top-scored firm on this list. You get a straight answer on what can be removed, what can be pushed down, and what it will take. Every service, from repairing to improving to protecting your reputation, is results-based and agreed in writing.
What Online Crisis Response Does
Online crisis response works on the places a crisis lives on the internet. That is search results, news coverage, review sites, social media and now AI answers. The goal is to reduce the reach of damaging content where a platform's rules or the law allow, and to push down what stays.
- Same day triage of what is out there and what can change
- Removal requests where a platform's rules or a law apply
- Suppression, which means publishing accurate content to move bad results lower
- Monitoring for new mentions and new waves
- Reputation repair after the crisis has passed
We score firms that do this in our online crisis management ranking. Reputation Resolutions offers crisis management of this kind, with same day triage of online crises.
Early-stage companies have a scored list of their own in the best crisis communications agencies for startups.
Side by Side
| Crisis PR firm | Online crisis response | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Speaks for you | Works on what people find |
| Where it works | Press, boardrooms, stakeholder calls | Search, news sites, reviews, social, AI answers |
| Typical trigger | Reporters calling, investors asking | A story or post spreading online |
| Works with your lawyers | Often | Should say so on its site |
| Can speak to the media for you | Yes | No |
| Can request content removal | Not usually | Yes, where a rule or law applies |
Why the Order Matters
Hire in the order the pain arrives. If your phone is ringing with reporters, the first call is a communications call. If your phone is quiet but the search results are ugly, the first call is an online one. Waiting to decide which you need costs time, and time is the one thing a crisis does not give back.
The cost of getting it backwards is real. A communications firm cannot ask a review site to take down a policy violation. An online firm cannot stand in front of a camera for you. Ask each firm what it would hand to someone else, and you will learn quickly which job you are buying.
For a public figure, the online half of the job is scored in the best reputation recovery services for celebrities.
Which One Do You Need?
Call a crisis PR firm first when
- Reporters are asking for comment
- Investors, regulators or a board are involved
- You need a statement or a spokesperson
- A lawsuit is making news
Call online crisis response first when
- A story or post is climbing in search for your name
- A wave of reviews is hitting after a viral post
- Private information is spreading on platforms
- You need what people find to change
The press story and the search results are two sides of one problem. The best outcomes come when the PR team, the lawyers and the online team know what each other is doing.
Startups weighing the same choice have a scored list in the best crisis communications agencies for startups.
A foundation facing a donor or board scandal can see nonprofit crisis management scored separately.
The Main Traditional Crisis PR Firms
These firms are described, not ranked. We summarize what each says on its own site, and we say nothing more.
Brunswick Group
Describes itself as a global advisory firm that helps organizations build relationships with their key stakeholders, including under high-pressure, high-stakes conditions (https://www.brunswickgroup.com).
brunswickgroup.comDezenhall Resources
Describes itself as a public affairs and crisis management firm, with a Washington, D.C. address listed (https://www.dezenhall.com).
dezenhall.comFTI Consulting Strategic Communications
FTI's Strategic Communications practice says it advises large organizations through complex moments of opportunity, change and geopolitical risk (https://www.fticonsulting.com/services/strategic-communications).
fticonsulting.com/services/strategic-communicationsJoele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Describes itself as a strategic communications firm that helps clients in their most critical moments, with offices in New York and San Francisco (https://www.joelefrank.com).
joelefrank.comKekst CNC
Describes itself as a global strategic communications firm that helps protect and enhance client reputations, with Crisis and Issues Management listed as an expertise (https://www.kekstcnc.com).
kekstcnc.comSitrick and Company
Says it focuses on corporate, financial, transactional and crisis communications, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. (https://www.sitrick.com).
sitrick.comListed alphabetically, not ranked. Descriptions summarize each firm's own site, accessed November 9, 2026.
They are listed alphabetically because alphabetical is the only order that says nothing about quality. We have not scored them, we do not say who is best for what, and we do not describe their results. If a description is wrong or out of date, send us the source.
The wider guide to PR agencies for reputation management covers more networks.
A Worked Example in Plain Terms
Picture a restaurant owner. A video of a bad night goes viral. Reporters call within hours. At the same time, hundreds of angry reviews arrive, and the video climbs to the top of the search results for the restaurant's name.
The reporters need a statement and a person to speak. That is crisis PR work. The reviews and the search results are online work: some reviews break the platform's rules because the reviewers never visited, and the video needs competing, accurate content around it. The owner's lawyer needs to know about both.
Nobody in this picture can make the video disappear on demand. What the right team can do is cover every front, in the right order, and tell the owner honestly what is realistic. That is the difference between a plan and a promise.
When the named person is a CEO or founder, the best reputation management companies for executives covers the longer rebuild.
More cases appear in the guide to crisis management examples.
How to Choose Either Kind of Firm
Write down the problem in one sentence
Is it about what you say, or about what people find? That tells you which job comes first.
Ask what the firm does not do
A firm that knows its limits is easier to trust. Ask which parts of your problem it will hand to someone else.
Ask how it charges and what is in writing
Retainer, project fee or results-based. Ask what happens if the agreed result does not happen.
Ask how it works with your lawyers
Any firm in a crisis should work alongside counsel, not around it.
Check the claims
Ask where to see any claim a firm makes. Our twelve questions give you the script.
What Neither Kind of Firm Can Promise
- A specific outcome on Google, a newspaper or a social platform
- That a true story will go away
- That a statement will change what the press writes
- A date by which things will be fixed
Both kinds of firm can promise how they work and how they charge. Judge them on that. We also keep litigation in its own lane: a crisis firm of either kind is not a law firm, and if you need legal action, you need a lawyer.
Why We Publish This
Our main table scores the top reputation management firms across every kind of job.
Ready to Fix What People See When They Search You?
Talk to a specialist at Reputation Resolutions, the top-scored firm on this list. You get a straight answer on what can be removed, what can be pushed down, and what it will take. Every service, from repairing to improving to protecting your reputation, is results-based and agreed in writing.
Anthony Will
Founder and CEO, Reputation Resolutions
Anthony Will founded Reputation Resolutions, the publisher of this site, and has worked in online reputation management since 2013. He reviews the methodology and every scoring change.