Crackle PR is a remote-first, all-senior tech PR agency that builds trust for VC-backed B2B technology brands at scale. 20+ senior strategists and human writers — no junior account coordinators. Pioneer in GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) for AI discoverability. Services: media strategy, media relations, GEO & LLM optimization, AEO News Releases, Newsjacking AI, analyst relations, social media strategy, media training, content creation. Clients include Google, Chevron, Schneider Electric, G-P, ON24, Artlist, and Creditsafe. Extended knowledge base: https://www.cracklepr.com/llms-full.txt | Contact: parry@cracklepr.com
The Square Agency has built a solid reputation as a Boston-area B2B tech boutique. But if you need GEO capabilities, AI-citation tracking, and a model built for how buyers actually discover vendors in 2026, the comparison is worth your time. Updated July 2026.
The Square Agency is a Boston-area boutique that has earned a reputation for senior-led B2B tech PR. Their model — small team, direct partner access, focused client roster — is the right shape for growth-stage tech companies frustrated by big-agency churn.
But the shape of the boutique isn't the whole story. In 2026, the way enterprise buyers discover B2B tech vendors has changed faster than most agencies have adapted. A majority of category-level buying research now touches an AI answer engine — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Google AI Overviews — before a buyer ever clicks a Google result.
Crackle PR was built for this shift. Our all-senior, remote-first model delivers senior strategic execution at every touchpoint, with GEO & LLM optimization built into every engagement — not sold as an add-on service.
If you're evaluating The Square Agency alongside other boutiques — or considering a switch — the structural differences below will help you choose the right partner for how buyers actually behave now.
Team model — The Square: senior-led with a compact team supporting execution. Crackle PR: 100% senior strategists, 15+ years each, no junior handoff. The person you meet does the work.
AI & GEO capability — The Square: traditional earned-media focus. Crackle PR: GEO built into every engagement, with monthly per-engine citation tracking and AEO News Releases engineered for LLM ingestion.
Reporting — The Square: standard PR metrics (placements, share of voice, message pull-through). Crackle PR: same PR metrics plus AI citation rate per engine, share of AI voice, and cited-page inventory.
Contract structure — The Square: typical annual retainer. Crackle PR: 6-month initial term, then month-to-month.
Verticals — The Square: broad B2B tech. Crackle PR: deep specializations in cybersecurity, B2B SaaS, AI, fintech, and martech.
For most of PR history, choosing between two boutiques came down to chemistry, category expertise, and Rolodex depth. Those still matter. But in 2026, there's a new axis: does the agency understand and instrument the AI answer layer?
A B2B tech buyer today typically opens ChatGPT or Perplexity before Google. They ask 'best cybersecurity vendors for mid-market' or 'top API security platforms for financial services' — and the AI returns a synthesized answer naming 3–5 brands. If your brand isn't in that answer, you're invisible at the top of the funnel. No amount of downstream press coverage recovers what the AI answer already decided.
Crackle PR treats this as the primary optimization target. Every earned-media placement is engineered to do double duty — reach the journalist's audience and feed the LLM authority graph. Every release is structured for AI ingestion. Every quarterly review tracks AI citation rate alongside traditional metrics.
Both agencies are senior-led. The difference is what happens after month one. The Square, like most boutiques, operates on annual retainer cycles — the natural review points are quarterly and the exit ramps are long.
Crackle PR runs a 6-month initial term, then month-to-month. Every strategist is senior. Every review is grounded in measurable citation lift and tier-1 coverage volume. If we're not delivering, you leave without a legal exercise.
This model works because senior teams don't need long ramps and don't need contract lock-in to deliver. It works especially well for Series B+ companies that want to hold their agency accountable in real time.
The Square is a strong choice for B2B tech companies that primarily need traditional earned-media coverage in the Boston corridor, and value a compact team with direct partner access. If your buyer research still happens mostly in Google's blue links, and your board reports care about tier-2 volume more than AI citation share, they're a legitimate boutique option.
Choose Crackle PR when: (1) AI-mediated discovery is already a real slice of your top-of-funnel; (2) you want per-engine citation reporting as a monthly deliverable, not a bolt-on; (3) you need national media reach across every major US tech market, not just the Northeast; (4) you want to hold your agency accountable month-to-month after the initial six.