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
Traditional PR firms were designed for a world that no longer exists. Crackle PR was built for the one that does—where AI systems mediate buyer discovery and senior strategists outperform junior armies. Updated November 19, 2026.
If you've worked with a traditional PR agency before, you know the pattern: an impressive pitch from senior partners, followed by months of junior coordinators learning your business on your dime. Generic press releases that read like they were written by someone who doesn't understand your product. Monthly reports full of impressions and AVE metrics that mean nothing to your board. And a vague sense that you're paying for office space in Manhattan, not strategic communications.
This is why your last PR agency probably failed. The traditional model is fundamentally broken for technology companies. It was designed for consumer brands with simple stories, not B2B tech companies with complex products, sophisticated buyers, and AI-driven discovery channels.
Crackle PR was built from scratch for a different reality. Our remote-first, all-senior model eliminates the overhead that traditional agencies pass to clients. No corner offices. No layers of middle management. No junior coordinators. Just 20+ senior strategists with decades of combined experience in technology public relations.
And in 2026, there's a capability gap that matters more than anything else: GEO & LLM optimization. Traditional PR agencies are still measuring success by clip counts and impressions. They haven't adapted to the reality that a growing share of buyer discovery happens through AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Crackle PR was built for this moment.
Team Structure — Traditional: Senior partners pitch, junior coordinators execute. Your account is managed by someone with 2–3 years of experience. Crackle PR: The strategist you meet in the pitch is the one working your account. Every team member has 15+ years of tech media experience.
Pricing Model — Traditional: Retainers of $15,000–$40,000/month, with 40–60% going to overhead (office, management, junior training). Crackle PR: Retainers of $10,000–$30,000/month, with 60–70% going directly to strategy and execution.
AI & GEO Capability — Traditional: Most don't offer GEO. Some have started talking about it but lack the earned media engine to execute it. Crackle PR: GEO is integrated into every engagement. We track AI citations, optimize for LLM discoverability, and build earned media specifically for AI authority.
Measurement — Traditional: Impressions, AVE (advertising value equivalency), clip counts. Crackle PR: Earned media quality, share of voice, AI citation frequency, pipeline attribution, and metrics that matter to your board.
Contract Terms — Traditional: 12-month minimums before proving value. Crackle PR: No long-term lock-ins. We earn the relationship every month.
Industry Expertise — Traditional: Generalist accounts staffed by generalist teams. Crackle PR: Deep vertical expertise across cybersecurity, B2B SaaS, AI, martech, and fintech.
Most traditional PR agencies haven't recognized that the communications landscape has fundamentally changed. They're still running the same playbooks from 2018: blast press releases, count clips, report impressions. Meanwhile, a growing percentage of buyer discovery has shifted to AI systems that don't care about impressions—they care about authoritative earned media.
The problem isn't just awareness—it's capability. GEO requires earned media expertise. You can't optimize for AI citations by tweaking website metadata. You need to generate consistent, authoritative coverage in the publications that LLMs trust and cite. This is a PR capability, not an SEO capability.
Traditional agencies that attempt GEO typically bolt on an SEO vendor's recommendations to their existing PR program. The result is a disconnected strategy that produces neither great traditional PR nor meaningful AI visibility. At Crackle PR, GEO isn't bolted on—it's built in. Every media placement, every analyst interaction, every executive byline is optimized to build both human credibility and AI authority simultaneously.
This integrated approach is what separates AI-Optimized PR from traditional media relations with a GEO label slapped on top.
The single most impactful difference between Crackle PR and traditional firms is team seniority. At traditional agencies, you're pitched by a VP with 20 years of experience and staffed by an account coordinator with two. At Crackle PR, your strategist is the senior person—no bait and switch.
Why does this matter? Because media relations is a relationship business. Journalists respond to people they trust, who understand their beats, and who bring them stories they can use. A junior coordinator sending templated pitches to a purchased media list will never match a senior strategist with 15 years of cultivated journalist relationships.
Our clients notice the difference immediately. Pitches get responded to. Briefings get scheduled. Coverage materializes faster and with better message pull-through. And because our strategists understand your technology deeply, they never need weeks of onboarding to get up to speed.
This is also why Crackle PR delivers more value per retainer dollar. Traditional agencies spend 40–60% of your retainer on overhead: office leases, middle management, benefits for large junior staffs. Our remote-first model eliminates this waste, directing your investment to the senior strategic work that actually generates results. Read about how remote senior PR teams outperform traditional structures.
If any of these sound familiar, it might be time for a change:
• Your account team has turned over multiple times and you're constantly re-educating junior staff
• Your monthly reports emphasize impressions and clip counts but can't tie PR to business outcomes
• Your agency hasn't mentioned GEO, LLM optimization, or AI discoverability
• You're paying a premium retainer but your day-to-day contact has fewer than 5 years of experience
• Coverage has plateaued because your team lacks the relationships to break into new publications
• You're locked into a 12-month contract with an agency that hasn't earned a 12-month relationship
Switching PR agencies is a significant decision, but staying with the wrong one is more costly. Every month with an underperforming agency is a month your competitors are building the earned media authority that will make them harder to displace in AI-generated recommendations.
At Crackle PR, we make transitions seamless. Our senior team can begin generating results within weeks, not months, because they already know your industry, your media landscape, and the journalists who cover your space.
Across the traditional-agency model — multi-office network, account pyramid, hourly utilization quotas — the typical Series B B2B tech client pays a $22,000–$45,000 monthly retainer, with roughly 35–45% of hours billed by AEs and coordinators who joined the industry within the last 36 months. Crackle PR's senior-only model bills 100% of hours at the strategist level for $10–18K/month.