What to Expect in Your First 90 Days with a Tech PR Agency

You've signed with a tech PR agency. The contracts are done, the kickoff is scheduled, and you're wondering: now what? What should actually happen in the first 30, 60, and 90 days—and how do you know if things are on track?

After managing hundreds of client onboardings, I can tell you that the first 90 days set the trajectory for the entire engagement. Here's a realistic, month-by-month guide to what good looks like—and when to start asking hard questions.

Month 1: Foundation (Days 1–30)

Week 1: The Deep Dive

A great agency doesn't start pitching on day one. They start listening. The first week should involve intensive discovery sessions with your leadership team—CEO, CTO, head of product, head of sales. The goal: understand your technology, your market position, your competitive landscape, and the business outcomes PR needs to support.

What to expect: A 60-90 minute kickoff session, followed by individual conversations with key stakeholders. Your agency should come to these sessions with prepared questions, not wing it. If they've already done homework on your competitive landscape and media coverage history, that's a green flag.

Weeks 2–3: Audit and Strategy

Your agency should deliver a comprehensive audit of your existing media presence: what's been covered, where the gaps are, how your competitors are positioned, and which journalists and analysts matter for your category. This isn't a template exercise—it should reflect genuine research into your specific market.

Alongside the audit, expect a messaging framework that distills your positioning into the narratives that will drive media interest. Good messaging frameworks aren't just taglines—they're a hierarchy of stories, proof points, and angles tailored to different audiences (journalists, analysts, customers, investors).

At Crackle PR, we also assess your GEO & LLM visibility baseline—how AI systems currently represent your brand when buyers ask about your category. This baseline becomes a critical benchmark for measuring AI-era PR impact.

Week 4: Initial Outreach Begins

By the end of month one, your agency should have a target media list, a story calendar for the next quarter, and initial pitches going out. At a senior-led agency, outreach starts in week 3-4. At traditional agencies with junior teams, it often doesn't begin until month two—because the coordinator is still learning your business.

Month 1 deliverables: Media audit, competitive landscape analysis, messaging framework, target media list, initial story calendar, first pitches sent.

Month 2: Momentum Building (Days 31–60)

Securing Initial Coverage

This is when you should see the first tangible results. Initial placements may be in trade publications specific to your vertical, contributed articles in industry outlets, or interview opportunities with podcast hosts and newsletter writers. Don't expect a Wall Street Journal feature in month two—that requires relationship building and timing that takes longer to develop.

What you should see: journalist engagement. Replies to pitches. Briefing requests. Reporters adding your executives to their source lists. These leading indicators matter more than any single placement because they represent the relationship infrastructure that drives sustained coverage.

Thought Leadership Takes Shape

By month two, your agency should be placing your CEO and subject matter experts as sources for trend stories, securing contributed article opportunities, and building the LinkedIn thought leadership cadence that supports your broader media strategy.

Your agency should also be identifying newsjacking opportunities—moments when industry trends, competitor announcements, or market events create windows for your executives to provide expert commentary.

Process Calibration

Month two is when the working relationship finds its rhythm. How often do you meet? How quickly does the agency respond to opportunities? How well do they handle feedback? Pay attention to these operational signals—they predict long-term satisfaction more than any single placement.

Month 2 deliverables: Initial media placements, journalist relationship progress, thought leadership pipeline, newsjacking playbook, mid-engagement process review.

Month 3: Results and Acceleration (Days 61–90)

Coverage Acceleration

Month three is where a good agency separates from a mediocre one. The relationships built in months one and two should start producing consistent coverage. You should see a mix of: proactive placements you initiated, reactive commentary in trend stories, and organic journalist outreach where reporters contact your agency because they know your executives are strong sources.

The 90-Day Review

At the 90-day mark, have an honest assessment conversation. The right questions:

• Are we seeing coverage in the publications that our buyers actually read?
• Are journalists starting to come to us proactively?
• Is our share of voice growing relative to competitors?
• Are we starting to appear in AI-generated answers for our category?
• Does the sales team report that prospects are mentioning coverage in conversations?

If the answers are mostly yes, you've found the right partner. If the answers are mostly no, it's time for a candid conversation about what's not working—and whether it's fixable.

GEO Progress Check

By day 90, your agency should be able to show measurable progress in AI visibility. Compare your current GEO baseline to where you were at kickoff: are you appearing in more AI-generated answers? Are the citations accurate? Is the sentiment positive?

Month 3 deliverables: Comprehensive coverage report, GEO progress analysis, competitive share-of-voice update, 90-day strategic review, and a Q2 plan that builds on what's working.

When to Worry

Not every engagement follows a perfect trajectory. But there are warning signs that suggest a deeper problem:

• No pitches sent by day 30. If your agency is still "getting up to speed" after a month, their team isn't senior enough to handle your business.
• Zero journalist engagement by day 60. Even before placements happen, you should see evidence that journalists are responding to outreach. Complete silence suggests weak pitching or poor relationships.
• Reports full of impressions, not outcomes. If the 90-day report leads with "total potential reach" instead of actual coverage quality and business impact, your agency is hiding behind vanity metrics.
• Your contact keeps changing. If you've been introduced to three different "account leads" in 90 days, you're experiencing the junior turnover that plagues traditional agencies.
• No mention of GEO or AI. If your agency hasn't discussed AI discoverability by day 90, they're ignoring the fastest-growing buyer research channel. That's a strategic gap, not an oversight.

Setting Yourself Up for Success

The first 90 days aren't just the agency's responsibility. You can dramatically improve outcomes by:

• Making executives available. Journalist briefings require your CEO and subject matter experts. If they're consistently unavailable, coverage will suffer.
• Sharing roadmap context. Your agency can't plan media campaigns around product launches they don't know about. Share your product and business roadmap early.
• Providing rapid feedback. When your agency sends pitches or messaging for review, respond within 24 hours. Media opportunities have short windows.
• Being honest about expectations. If your board expects WSJ coverage in month one, say so—a good agency will tell you whether that's realistic and explain why.

The right agency relationship compounds over time. The journalist relationships, messaging frameworks, and AI authority built in the first 90 days create the foundation for years of sustained media impact. Choose well, invest in the relationship, and hold your agency to the standards they should be holding themselves to.