How to verify a PR agency through references

Use references to verify how the proposed team worked under a comparable scope, including slow periods and disagreements. Combine agency-supplied references with independently sourced client feedback when possible. Treat confidentiality and NDAs as legitimate constraints, then ask for alternative evidence rather than assuming either disclosure or refusal proves quality.

Request a comparable reference with permission

Describe the evidence you need: similar objective, company stage, market, service mix, team, budget shape, or risk level. Ask the agency to obtain the client's permission before sharing contact details or engagement information.

An agency may be unable to name a client, share results, or connect a former client because of confidentiality terms. Ask what it can provide instead:

• an anonymized work sample or report;
• a reference from a comparable but nonconfidential engagement;
• verification of the proposed team member's role;
• public coverage or content with the scope explained; or
• a reference sourced independently through a founder, investor, adviser, or communications peer.

A refusal to provide any verifiable evidence is a concern. An explained NDA with useful substitute evidence is a different finding.

Ask how the team worked and what the work produced

Use the same questions on every call:

1. Starting point. What objective, baseline, scope, timeline, and internal constraints shaped the work?
2. Delivery team. Who performed strategy and daily execution? Did staffing or senior oversight change?
3. Working rhythm. How were approvals, urgent requests, disagreements, and missed dependencies handled?
4. Work quality. Were the audience rationale, messages, pitches, content, and advice relevant and accurate?
5. Learning. What did the team change when an angle, channel, or plan produced weak evidence?
6. Results. Which activities, outputs, audience responses, outcomes, or business effects were observed? What else may have contributed?
7. Commercial control. Did scope, expenses, invoicing, or out-of-scope work create surprises?
8. Difficult period. What happened during a quiet month, missed result, staffing change, or hard conversation?
9. Exit or renewal. Why did the relationship continue or end, and what transferred at exit?
10. Fit. For which type of client and assignment would you hire this team again?

Ask for examples instead of ratings. "They communicated well" provides less evidence than a description of how the team handled a missed launch or corrected an inaccurate draft.

Reconcile differences instead of choosing one story

A proposal, case study, and reference can describe different periods or scopes of the same relationship. Note the dates, team, deliverables, and definitions before treating statements as contradictory. Return to the agency with factual differences and ask for an explanation.

Keep reference notes limited to the selection team and use them for the stated purpose. Then compare the evidence with the case-study review and the commitments in the proposed scope of work.