Find Pr Agency

Use whenever the user wants to find, shortlist, vet, or enrich US public-relations and communications agencies — media relations, crisis comms, investor relations (IR), product-launch PR, tech/startup PR, healthcare PR, B2B PR, public affairs, brand reputation, and internal communications. Triggers on "find me a tech PR agency in NY", "shortlist three IR firms for our IPO", "we need crisis comms help for a brand reputation issue", or "pull contact info for these 10 PR firm domains", even when described indirectly (we need press, get us into TechCrunch, manage our brand reputation). Drives the ServiceGraph API (api.servicegraph.co) — a 100k+ US firm catalog filterable by industry, services, location, size, ratings. Defer to find-marketing-agency when scope is broader marketing beyond PR/comms. Skip in-house PR/comms hires, "write me a press release" DIY asks, PR-software comparisons (Cision, Muck Rack), influencer-marketplace questions, non-US firms, individual freelance PR people.

Drive the ServiceGraph API (https://api.servicegraph.co) to find, shortlist, and enrich US PR and communications agencies via the pro_services dataset.

Always pin service_provided:public-relations. Note: the catalog's nominal industry:pr_comms value returns zero firms in the live release — PR/comms firms are tagged with service_provided:public-relations instead, typically under adjacent industries (marketing_agency, other_pro_services). Pin the service tag, not the industry. Sub-types (media relations, crisis, IR, public affairs, healthcare PR, tech PR, B2B PR, internal comms, brand reputation) are NOT separate tags — sub-type specialization is a keyword substring search on firm text.

Any HTTP client works (curl, fetch, requests). Examples below use curl.

Sibling skills — defer when scope is broader

If the user wants a multi-service marketing engagement (PR plus content plus paid plus social), defer to find-marketing-agency — that skill covers full-service shops where PR is one of several service lines.

This skill is correct when PR/comms is the primary deliverable — launches, media relations, crisis, IR, public affairs.

When NOT to use this skill

• "Write me a press release / draft these talking points" → DIY work.
• In-house comms/PR hires (Head of Comms, PR Manager).
• PR-software comparisons (Cision, Muck Rack, Prowly).
• Influencer-marketplace asks — that's paid media; defer to find-marketing-agency or refuse for marketplace product questions.
• "Explain how earned media works" → knowledge question.
• Non-US firms.
• Individual freelance PR people / publicists.

MCP server (preferred for authed calls)

If your harness has the ServiceGraph MCP server loaded (tools containing servicegraph in the name), prefer those — credentials stay in the harness's OAuth 2.1 + PKCE sandbox and no token enters LLM context. Otherwise use the REST flow below.

API surface (dataset id: pro_services)

Every endpoint requires the bearer (Authorization: Bearer vk_…). No anonymous tier.

Endpoint	Cost	Use it for
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields[?include_values=1]	free	Confirm public-relations is in the service_provided value list.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/check?filter=…	free	Validate filter.
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/translate-intent	free	{intent} → LLM-generated DSL filter + sanity count.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=…&limit=	free	Brief firm cards + per-row unlock hint + total.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/:apex	free	One row brief; detail only if unlocked.
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks	10 credits / firm	{apexes:[...]} ≤100; atomic; 30-day TTL on detail.
GET /v1/me/credits	free	Balance.

Cost model. Discovery / validation / search / brief reads are free. Detail (url, phone, email, social, address, full platforms map) costs 10 credits per firm and lasts 30 days.

Auth

Tokens are vk_* API keys minted in the dashboard. Keep the token out of the LLM context — never read .env* files; dispatch every authed call through a shell wrapper.

1. Try the call first through a shell wrapper that sources .env.local:

   ( set -a; [ -f .env.local ] && . ./.env.local; set +a;
     curl -sS -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY" \
          'https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/datasets/pro_services/fields' )
   

2. On 401 unauthorized, prompt the user:

   "Open https://servicegraph.co/profile/api-keys, create a key, and add SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY=vk_… to .env.local here (or export it in your shell). Tell me when done. Please don't paste the key into chat."

3. Retry after the user signals ready.

Filter DSL

GitHub-search-style.

filter   := orExpr
orExpr   := andExpr ("OR" andExpr)*
andExpr  := notExpr (("AND")? notExpr)*    # whitespace = implicit AND
notExpr  := ("NOT" | "-") notExpr | atom
atom     := "(" filter ")" | predicate
predicate:= IDENT op valueOrList | bareword
op       := ":" | "=" | ">=" | "<=" | ">" | "<"
valueOrList := value ("," value)*
value    := IDENT | NUMBER | tagAtEvidence
tagAtEvidence := IDENT "@" ("low"|"medium"|"high")
bareword := IDENT | NUMBER          # → keyword:<bareword>

Four rules that bite: AND binds tighter than OR (use parens); comma list = OR within one predicate; negation is -x or NOT x (no negative literals inside comma lists); bareword = keyword search (multi-word phrases must be quoted or split).

PR-flavored examples (validate yours with /check):

service_provided:public-relations tech state:NY
service_provided:public-relations healthcare
service_provided:public-relations b2b saas
service_provided:public-relations crisis
service_provided:public-relations "investor relations"
service_provided:public-relations ipo state:NY,CA
service_provided:public-relations "public affairs" state:DC
service_provided:public-relations rating>=4 has:clutch

Sub-type / vertical → keyword mapping:

User asks for	Add as keyword(s)
Tech / startup PR	tech, startup, saas
Healthcare / pharma PR	healthcare, pharma, biotech
Crisis comms	crisis
Investor relations / IR	"investor relations", ir, ipo
B2B PR	b2b
Public affairs	"public affairs"
Brand reputation	"brand reputation", reputation
Internal communications	"internal communications", "internal comms"
Earned media / media relations	"earned media", "media relations"

Identifying firms — apex

Firms are identified by their apex domain (edelman.com, not www.edelman.com/about).

Recipes

A. Tech PR for a Series-B announcement

User: "Tech PR agency in NY for our Series-B announcement."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=service_provided:public-relations+tech+state:NY&limit=10
# → 10 brief cards + total + per-row unlock.status

# Present, get pick of 3. "Unlocking 3 = 30 credits, 30-day TTL."
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks
  { "apexes": ["firm-a.com", "firm-b.com", "firm-c.com"] }

B. IR firms for an IPO

User: "Three IR firms for our upcoming IPO roadshow."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=service_provided:public-relations+("investor relations" OR ir)+ipo&limit=10

C. Crisis comms (urgent)

User: "Crisis comms help — brand reputation issue blowing up online."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=service_provided:public-relations+crisis&limit=10

Skip the validation hop and present briefs immediately given the urgency.

D. Healthcare / regulatory PR

User: "Healthcare PR agency familiar with FDA regulatory comms."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=service_provided:public-relations+healthcare+(fda OR regulatory)&limit=10

E. Indirect intent — "we need press"

User: "We need press for our Series-B — get us into TechCrunch, WSJ, and the trade press."

That's product-launch / tech PR. Either translate by hand:

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=service_provided:public-relations+(tech OR startup)+(launch OR series-b)&limit=10

…or hand the intent off:

POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/translate-intent
  { "intent": "PR agency to get our Series-B into TechCrunch and trade press" }

If thin, drop the launch/series-b keyword — most tech PR firms run launches as a default deliverable.

F. Public affairs (state government)

User: "Public affairs firms with state-government experience in California."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=service_provided:public-relations+"public affairs"+state:CA&limit=10

G. BYO apex list — enrich domains

User pastes 8–20 PR-firm domains:

1. GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/:apex per domain — free brief (404 = not in catalog, no charge). Flag misses.
2. User picks N to fully enrich. POST /unlocks with all of them = 10×N credits, atomic, detail returned.
3. Re-runs within 30-day TTL are free.

Gotchas

• Pin service_provided:public-relations, not industry:pr_comms. The industry value is empty in the live catalog; PR firms sit under adjacent industries. Without the service pin, "tech PR" / "crisis" / "investor relations" keywords leak into general marketing.
• Defer to find-marketing-agency for full-service marketing. When PR is one of several service lines (PR + content + paid + social), the marketing-agency skill is the right fire.
• Sub-types are keyword-only. Multi-word sub-types split into ANDed barewords unless quoted (investor relations → investor AND relations; "investor relations" → one phrase).
• "Write me a press release" / "draft talking points" is do-the-work. Refuse and offer to find a firm if the user wants to engage one.
• Influencer marketing is NOT PR. Influencer marketplaces (Aspire, Grin) and influencer outreach are paid-media work; defer to find-marketing-agency or refuse for marketplace product questions.
• PR-software comparisons (Cision, Muck Rack, Prowly) are NOT procurement.
• Briefs DO include apex, name, location, ratings. They DON'T include url, phone_primary, email_primary, legal_name, address_full, full platforms — those require an unlock.
• not_found / not_in_dataset 404 = not in pro_services. Not charged. Skip.
• Unlock is atomic. 5 apexes either all charge (up to 50 credits) or none charge on 402.
• Within-TTL re-views are free (was_cached:true).

Errors

JSON envelope: {"error": {"code": "...", "message": "..."}}.

Status	Code	What to do
400	filter_parse_error	position included; fix and re-validate with /check.
400	kind_in_filter	Strip any kind: from filter — URL is authoritative.
400	field_not_in_dataset	Drop the disallowed field.
400	invalid_apex	Re-normalize to apex domain.
401	unauthorized / invalid_audience	Re-prompt for fresh vk_….
402	insufficient_credits	needed and balance in payload; nothing charged.
404	not_found / not_in_dataset	Skip; not charged.
429	rate_limited	Honor Retry-After.

End-to-end example

User: "Three tech PR agencies in NY for a Series-B announcement, ideally with 4-star ratings and Fortune 500 client experience."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields?include_values=1
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/check?filter=service_provided:public-relations+tech+state:NY+rating>=4
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=...&limit=10
# Present briefs. "Unlocking 3 = 30 credits, 30-day TTL."
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks
  { "apexes": ["firm-a.com", "firm-b.com", "firm-c.com"] }
GET /v1/me/credits