5W RFP Center v2

Executive Summary

The communications RFP has changed. Brands still need earned media, strategic counsel, crisis readiness, social fluency, executive visibility, and measurable business impact. But they also need to know whether their agency can build authority inside AI answer engines, understand citation sources, protect reputation in generated answers, and turn original research into durable visibility.

5W RFP Center v2 is a practical scorecard for that buying process. It helps marketing, communications, procurement, and executive teams evaluate agencies against the work that now matters: reputation, relevance, discoverability, speed, creativity, and proof.

Core Evaluation Areas

• Strategic fit: category fluency, senior counsel, business understanding, and practical operating rhythm.
• Earned media: press relationships, story development, executive access, and proof of relevant coverage.
• AI visibility and GEO: prompt research, citation source mapping, answer accuracy, and authority-building programs.
• Digital integration: paid, organic, influencer, creator, search, analytics, and content production coordination.
• Crisis readiness: scenario planning, escalation paths, message discipline, monitoring, and response speed.
• Measurement: outcome dashboards, source-quality analysis, share of voice, AI citation share, and business reporting.

Questions To Ask Every Agency

1. How do you decide which stories are worth pitching and which are better handled through owned, social, or direct channels?
2. How do you measure brand visibility in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews?
3. Which citation sources currently shape our category, and how would you improve our presence in those sources?
4. What would the first 30, 60, and 90 days look like if we started together?
5. How do senior leaders stay involved after the pitch?
6. How do you handle legal, regulatory, medical, financial, or crisis-sensitive review?
7. What reporting would we receive, and how would the dashboard change decisions?

Recommended RFP Scorecard

25% Strategy and category intelligence. Does the agency understand the market, buyer behavior, competitive set, and communications constraints?

20% Earned media and narrative development. Can the team create credible, timely, journalist-ready stories with clear proof?

20% AI visibility and source authority. Can the agency diagnose answer-engine visibility, source gaps, hallucination risk, and GEO opportunity?

15% Integrated execution. Can earned, social, digital, creator, paid, content, and executive visibility work together without silos?

10% Crisis and reputation capability. Can the agency move quickly, calmly, and accurately when stakes rise?

10% Measurement and operating discipline. Are reporting, meeting cadence, team structure, and decision rights clear?

What To Request In The Proposal

Ask agencies for a brief category diagnosis, three priority narratives, a first-quarter work plan, sample measurement dashboard, team structure, relevant case studies, crisis process, AI visibility methodology, and a clear pricing model. Strong proposals should show how the agency thinks, not just what the agency has done.

The best RFP process leaves room for conversation. A live strategy session often reveals more than a long written document: how the team listens, challenges assumptions, handles constraints, and translates ambiguity into action.