---
title: "25 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a PR Agency (Free Scorecard)"
description: "25 questions to ask a PR agency before you sign, grouped by team, results, process, pricing and contracts, with what good answers sound like and a scorecard."
author: "Shilika Jain"
date: "2026-10-01T06:33:36.101+00:00"
tags: ["pr agency", "hiring pr", "startup pr", "pr pricing"]
canonical: "https://www.shilikajain.com/blog/questions-to-ask-before-hiring-pr-agency"
---

# 25 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a PR Agency (Free Scorecard)

By [Shilika Jain](https://www.shilikajain.com/authors/shilika-jain) - 10/1/2026

25 questions to ask a PR agency before you sign, grouped by team, results, process, pricing and contracts, with what good answers sound like and a scorecard.

---

# 25 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a PR Agency (Free Scorecard)

The most useful questions to ask a PR agency are about who will actually do the work, what results they've delivered for companies at your stage, how they'll spend the first 30 days, exactly what the fee covers, and how you can exit if it isn't working. Below are 25 questions grouped into five areas (team, results, process, pricing, contracts), with what a good answer sounds like and what a weak one sounds like. Score each answer 0 to 2, and use the free [PR agency evaluation scorecard](/resources/pr-agency-evaluation-scorecard.pdf) to compare agencies side by side.

I sit on the other side of these calls often. Founders interview me as an alternative to an agency, and many of them have already been through two or three agency pitches. The pattern is consistent: the founders who come out with a good hire asked fewer questions about logos and more about people, process and exit terms.

## How to use these questions

Don't send all 25 by email. Pick 12 to 15 for the first call and save the rest for the follow-up or the reference check. Agencies prepare well for the standard questions, so the follow-up ("can you show me that?") is where the real signal lives.

Score every answer on a simple scale:

| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Vague, evasive, or a sales line with no specifics |
| 1 | Reasonable answer but no evidence offered |
| 2 | Specific answer backed by a name, a document, an example or a number |

A strong agency typically lands above 36 out of 50 on the full set. Anything below 25 is a pass, however good the pitch deck looked.

## Team: who will actually do the work

This is the most important section. The senior person in the pitch is often not the person writing your pitches in month three.

1. **Who, by name, will run my account day to day, and what's their seniority?** Good answer: a named person on the call, with their background and the share of their time you'll get. Weak answer: "Our team will be fully dedicated to you."
2. **How many other accounts will that person carry?** Good answer: a number. Under six active clients for a senior lead is healthy; above ten means you're a line item.
3. **What happens if my account lead leaves?** Good answer: a named backup who'll be introduced in the first month, plus a written handover process.
4. **Who on the team has pitched my target outlets in the last six months?** Good answer: names of outlets and the type of story placed, ideally with links. Weak: "We have relationships across all tier-1 media."
5. **Will the senior people on this call be on our weekly calls?** Good answer: yes, with a stated cadence. Weak: "They'll be available as needed."

## Results: proof that matches your stage

Logos are not results. A household-name client tells you nothing about what the agency can do for a seed-stage startup with no brand recognition.

6. **Show me three campaigns for companies at my stage and in my category.** Good answer: specific coverage links, the story angle, and what changed for the client.
7. **What's a campaign that didn't work, and what did you change?** Good answer: an honest story with a lesson. If they can't name one, they either haven't done much or won't be straight with you when things go wrong.
8. **What coverage would you expect in the first 90 days for a company like ours?** Good answer: a realistic range with the reasoning ("two to four trade placements and one tier-1 attempt, because your news is X"). Weak: a guaranteed number of tier-1 hits.
9. **Can I speak to two current clients and one former client?** Good answer: yes, including the former one. Agencies that only offer hand-picked current clients are filtering.
10. **How do you report results, and can I see a real report (redacted is fine)?** Good answer: a sample report with coverage, message pull-through, share of voice or referral traffic, and next steps. Weak: a clip count and an "advertising value equivalent" number.

For more on what good PR measurement looks like, see [how to measure PR results](/blog/how-to-measure-pr-results-startups).

## Process: how the work actually happens

11. **What will you do in the first 30 days?** Good answer: a week-by-week plan covering messaging, media list, a press kit audit and the first pitch window.
12. **How do you develop story angles, and who signs off?** Good answer: a defined angle workshop with your founders, then written approval before anything goes out.
13. **How do you build and maintain media lists?** Good answer: hand-built lists per story, with the reporter's recent relevant work noted. Weak: a database export of 500 contacts.
14. **How do you handle embargoes and exclusives?** Good answer: a clear view on when to offer an exclusive versus a broader embargo, and examples of each.
15. **What do you need from me each week, and how much founder time does this take?** Good answer: an honest estimate (often 2 to 4 hours a week in launch months) and a list of inputs they'll need.

## Pricing: what the fee covers

16. **What exactly is included in the monthly fee, line by line?** Good answer: a written scope with deliverables per month. See the [line-item retainer breakdown](/blog/web3-pr-retainer-scope-of-work-breakdown-2026) for what that should look like.
17. **What's billed on top?** Good answer: a clear list (wire distribution, media training, travel, events, translations) with typical costs. Weak: "We'll discuss as needed."
18. **How many hours of senior time does my fee buy?** Good answer: a number or a percentage split between senior, mid and junior.
19. **Do you ever charge per placement or pay outlets for coverage?** Good answer: a clear explanation of what's earned, what's sponsored, and how sponsored content is labelled. Any blurring here is a warning; I've written about the difference in [pay-for-placement PR explained](/blog/guaranteed-placement-pr-explained).
20. **What would you do with half the budget?** Good answer: a sharper, narrower plan. This question shows whether they understand priorities or just sell packages.

## Contracts: how you get out if it isn't working

21. **What's the minimum term, and why?** Good answer: three months is common and defensible, since earned media takes time. Twelve-month lock-ins at the start are a risk for you, not them.
22. **What's the notice period and termination process?** Good answer: 30 days' notice after the initial term, in writing, without penalties.
23. **Who owns the media lists, messaging documents and drafts we create together?** Good answer: you do, and they hand them over on exit.
24. **What happens to any prepaid fees if we part ways early?** Good answer: unused prepaid amounts are refunded or credited.
25. **What would make you walk away from a client?** Good answer: something honest (unrealistic expectations, no news flow, a founder who won't make time). An agency that would never walk away will take on anything, including work it can't deliver.

## The agency evaluation scorecard

Here's the condensed version of the scorecard. The downloadable PDF version has space for three agencies and notes per question.

| Area | Questions | Max score | Weight | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 1 to 5 | 10 | 30% | Named senior lead, low account load, backup plan |
| Results | 6 to 10 | 10 | 25% | Stage-matched examples, honest failure story, real report |
| Process | 11 to 15 | 10 | 20% | 30-day plan in writing, hand-built lists |
| Pricing | 16 to 20 | 10 | 15% | Written scope, clear extras, earned vs sponsored separated |
| Contracts | 21 to 25 | 10 | 10% | Short initial term, 30-day exit, you own the assets |

To compute a weighted score: (Team score x 3) + (Results x 2.5) + (Process x 2) + (Pricing x 1.5) + (Contracts x 1). The maximum is 100. Above 70 is a strong candidate. Between 55 and 70, negotiate on the weak area. Below 55, keep looking.

### A worked example

Say you're comparing two agencies for a seed-stage AI devtools launch. Agency A scores Team 5, Results 8, Process 7, Pricing 6, Contracts 4. Agency B scores Team 9, Results 6, Process 8, Pricing 8, Contracts 9.

- Agency A: 15 + 20 + 14 + 9 + 4 = 62
- Agency B: 27 + 15 + 16 + 12 + 9 = 79

Agency A had the shinier logos. Agency B is the better hire, because the people who'll do your work are senior, the scope is clear, and you can leave if it fails.

### What good answers have in common

After enough of these calls, the strong agencies sound alike in a few ways:

- They name people, not departments.
- They show documents instead of describing them.
- They give ranges with reasons, not guarantees.
- They push back on at least one of your assumptions.
- They tell you what they need from you, not just what they'll do for you.

Weak answers share traits too: superlatives, "relationships" without names, and a reluctance to put anything in writing before you sign.

If you want the other side of this list, the warning signs to watch for during the pitch, read [PR agency red flags](/blog/pr-agency-red-flags).

## Questions to ask references

Reference calls are where you test what the agency told you. Keep them to 15 minutes and ask:

- [ ] Who did the work day to day, and was it the person you met in the pitch?
- [ ] What coverage did you get in the first 90 days, and was it what you expected?
- [ ] How did they handle a story that wasn't landing?
- [ ] How responsive were they in a launch week?
- [ ] Was anything billed that surprised you?
- [ ] Would you hire them again for the same stage of company?
- [ ] (Former clients) Why did you leave, and how was the handover?

The last question is the one that matters. A former client who says "we outgrew them, and the handover was clean" is a better reference than three current clients reading from the same script.

## When an agency isn't the right answer

Sometimes the scorecard tells you something other than which agency to pick. If every agency you speak to puts a junior on your account, or every scope is padded with work you don't need, the problem may be the model. A seed or Series A startup with one or two announcements a quarter often gets more from a senior fractional operator than from an agency team. I run [AI startup PR](/services/ai-startup-pr) that way: one senior person, on a $5K to $12K monthly retainer or a $15K to $40K launch sprint, instead of the $20K to $50K a month many traditional AI-PR agencies charge.

Use the same 25 questions on me. That's the point of them.

*Comparing agencies right now? [Download the evaluation scorecard](/resources/pr-agency-evaluation-scorecard.pdf) or [book a 30-minute teardown](/contact) and I'll pressure-test your shortlist.*

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**Book a 30-min teardown with Shilika** - https://calendly.com/shilikajain/30min/

Canonical: https://www.shilikajain.com/blog/questions-to-ask-before-hiring-pr-agency