A crisis used to play out over a news cycle. Reporters called, the company responded, and within a week or two the story moved on. In 2027 the story does not move on by itself. The headline sits on page one of Google, gets repeated in ChatGPT and Gemini answers, and resurfaces every time a customer, investor or journalist looks the company up.
That has split crisis management into two jobs. The first is the immediate response: statements, media handling, legal coordination and stakeholder communication in the first hours and days. The second is the long tail: making sure the search results and AI answers that outlast the news cycle tell an accurate story. Few firms do both well, so the right choice depends on which part of the problem matters most to you.
The firms below cover both sides, from global strategic communications houses to specialists in search and AI recovery.
Top Crisis Management Firms To Hire In 2027
| Company | Best For | Core Strength | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| TheBestReputation | Companies and executives facing lasting search and AI damage | Rapid response plus suppression and removal | Williamsburg, Virginia |
| Sitrick And Company | High-profile media scrutiny | Aggressive media narrative management | Los Angeles |
| Brunswick Group | Global corporations | Board-level critical issues counsel | London |
| FTI Consulting Strategic Communications | Crises tied to litigation, finance or regulation | Communications inside a wider advisory firm | Washington, D.C. |
| Kekst CNC | Transactions, activism and corporate crises | Financial and corporate communications | New York and London |
| Levick | Litigation-heavy and regulatory crises | Litigation communications | Washington, D.C. |
| Red Banyan | Leaders and organizations under fire | Hands-on crisis PR | Fort Lauderdale |
| Hiltzik Strategies | Executives and high-profile individuals | Strategic counsel and reputation | New York |
| 5W Public Relations | Brands that need media and AI visibility together | PR combined with AI answer monitoring | New York |
| Percepture | Organizations combining crisis PR with search recovery | Integrated media, SEO and AI work | United States |
How We Scored
We scored every firm on this list against the same five criteria, weighted to reflect both halves of a modern crisis: the first days of media pressure and the months of search results and AI answers that follow. Each criterion is scored out of 10, based on the firm’s published services, case studies, client reviews and track record, and the weighted total gives the overall score.
- Speed of response (25%): How quickly the firm engages and how hands-on senior staff are in the first hours.
- Media and stakeholder handling (20%): Statements, press handling and coordination with boards, regulators and investors.
- Search and AI recovery (25%): Ability to remove, suppress and outweigh crisis coverage in Google and AI answers after the news cycle ends.
- Specialist depth (15%): Expertise in litigation, financial, regulatory or transaction-related crises.
- Track record (15%): Years in business, recognition, client reviews and published results.
| Company | Response Speed (25%) | Media Handling (20%) | Search And AI Recovery (25%) | Specialist Depth (15%) | Track Record (15%) | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TheBestReputation | 9.5 | 8.5 | 10.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.1 |
| Sitrick And Company | 9.5 | 9.5 | 6.0 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 8.5 |
| Brunswick Group | 9.0 | 9.5 | 5.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 8.4 |
| FTI Consulting | 8.5 | 9.0 | 5.5 | 10.0 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| Kekst CNC | 8.5 | 9.0 | 5.0 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 8.0 |
| Levick | 8.5 | 8.5 | 5.5 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 7.8 |
| Red Banyan | 9.0 | 8.5 | 5.5 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 7.6 |
| Hiltzik Strategies | 8.5 | 8.5 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 7.4 |
| 5W Public Relations | 8.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7.2 |
| Percepture | 7.5 | 7.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
TheBestReputation scores highest because it pairs rapid crisis response with in-house removal and suppression of crisis coverage. The global strategic communications firms lead on media handling and specialist depth but score lower on search and AI recovery, which they usually leave to other providers.
The Top Crisis Management Firms
1. TheBestReputation
TheBestReputation is a Williamsburg, Virginia, reputation firm led by CEO Chris Hinman, with a U.S.-based team. It ranked No. 201 on the 2025 Inc. 5000 and reports more than 10,000 negative links removed or suppressed, more than 1,000 companies and executives protected, and a 95% client retention rate.
It ranks first because it covers both halves of a modern crisis. On the response side, it offers rapid, discreet crisis management with a dedicated expert and answers analysis requests in under one business hour. On the recovery side, it does what most PR firms cannot: it removes content where takedowns are possible, pushes damaging coverage below page one, and builds positive assets that keep it there. One case study describes negative coverage pushed off page one within six months for a pharmaceutical client.
The firm also watches the newest place a crisis lingers. Its AIOverview tool shows how AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers describe a brand, so a company can see whether an old crisis is still shaping those answers and fix the sources feeding them.
Clients get a dedicated U.S.-based account manager, bi-weekly briefings, monthly progress reports and portal access. Engagements are priced through a free, confidential analysis and a custom proposal.
Services and expertise: Crisis management, media relations, search suppression, content removal, review removal, AIOverview AI answer audits, branding and SEO.
2. Sitrick And Company
Sitrick And Company was founded by Michael Sitrick in Los Angeles in 1989 and is one of the best-known names in American crisis communications. It is often brought in when a company or public figure faces intense, hostile media attention.
The firm is known for an aggressive approach to the media narrative: getting the client’s side into the story quickly and pushing back hard on inaccurate coverage. Search and AI recovery work typically sits with another firm.
Services and expertise: Crisis communications, media relations, litigation support, corporate communications.
3. Brunswick Group
Brunswick Group was founded in London in 1987 and has grown into a global critical issues firm advising many of the world’s largest companies. Its crisis work sits at board and CEO level, often tied to transactions, regulation or major operational failures.
Brunswick suits multinational companies that need coordinated counsel across several countries and stakeholder groups at once.
Services and expertise: Crisis and critical issues, corporate reputation, financial communications, public affairs.
4. FTI Consulting Strategic Communications
FTI Consulting is a global business advisory firm, and its strategic communications segment handles crisis work alongside the firm’s forensic, legal, restructuring and economic experts.
That makes it a strong choice when a crisis is tangled up with litigation, an investigation, a bankruptcy or regulatory action, because the communications team can work directly with the specialists handling the underlying problem.
Services and expertise: Crisis communications, litigation support, financial communications, public affairs, cybersecurity incident response communications.
5. Kekst CNC
Kekst CNC was formed from the merger of Kekst and CNC and is part of Publicis Groupe, with major offices in New York and London. It is a go-to firm for corporate communications around mergers, shareholder activism and corporate crises.
It fits public companies and investors whose crisis has a financial or governance dimension.
Services and expertise: Crisis communications, M&A communications, shareholder activism defense, corporate reputation.
6. Levick
Levick is a Washington, D.C., communications firm founded by Richard Levick and known for litigation communications. It has worked on high-stakes crises for companies, governments and organizations.
Choose Levick when the crisis will be fought partly in court or before regulators and messaging needs to be coordinated closely with legal counsel.
Services and expertise: Crisis communications, litigation communications, public affairs, digital response.
7. Red Banyan
Red Banyan is a Fort Lauderdale crisis PR firm led by Evan Nierman. It works with companies, executives and organizations facing public scrutiny, and it is known for hands-on involvement from senior staff.
It suits clients who want a smaller, responsive team rather than a large global agency.
Services and expertise: Crisis PR, media relations, reputation management, strategic communications.
8. Hiltzik Strategies
Hiltzik Strategies was founded in New York in 2008 by Matthew Hiltzik. It provides strategic counsel and crisis management across industries and is often brought in when an executive’s words or actions are at the center of the issue.
Services and expertise: Crisis management, strategic communications, executive reputation, media relations.
9. 5W Public Relations
5W Public Relations is a New York agency that now positions itself as an AI communications firm. Its crisis work includes standing readiness retainers with guaranteed response windows, pre-drafted holding statements and monitoring of what AI engines say about a client.
It fits brands that want classic crisis PR and AI visibility from the same agency.
Services and expertise: Crisis communications, public relations, generative engine optimization, AI answer monitoring.
10. Percepture
Percepture has provided crisis and reputation support since 2004 and is a certified Minority Business Enterprise. It treats media coverage, search results and AI-generated answers as one reputation system, so the media response and the search recovery are planned together.
Services and expertise: Crisis communications, media relations, SEO, digital PR, AI visibility management.
One Check Worth Making: Who Handles The Aftermath?
Most crisis firms are judged on the first 72 hours. The damage that costs the most, though, usually comes later, when the crisis headline is still the top search result and the first thing an AI assistant mentions six months on. Before you hire, ask each firm who will deal with search results and AI answers once the news cycle ends, and whether that work is done in-house or handed to someone else.
Conclusion
Crisis management in 2027 means winning the first days and the following months. Global firms such as Brunswick, FTI and Kekst CNC are built for board-level and financial crises, while Sitrick, Levick, Red Banyan and Hiltzik bring sharp media and litigation instincts. TheBestReputation leads this list because it pairs rapid crisis response with the removal, suppression and AI answer work that stops a crisis from following a company for years.
Is your firm missing from this list? Contact us to be considered for future updates.
