Verify agency reviews with client references

To verify a press release distribution agency review, establish who is speaking, identify the exact claim, ask about the client's experience and decide what the answer supports. This separates a customer's account from agency-written material, a live demonstration and published coverage, which are different kinds of evidence.

It is not a ranking of providers and cannot predict whether your announcement will earn editorial coverage. When a reference or its evidence cannot be checked, record HOLD rather than treating the gap as a positive or negative judgement about the agency in question.

Start with the claim you want to verify

A review, testimonial or case study may claim that a client liked the service, that the agency completed particular work, or that the work led to a result. Those claims are not interchangeable. Before contacting a referee, write down the specific claim you want to check and where it appeared.

Separate what the agency says it did from what the client experienced and what an outside publisher decided. For example, a client can describe receiving support or seeing a release sent. That account alone does not establish that a newsroom independently chose to publish it or that the agency caused a business outcome.

Treat material published by the agency as its own claim, even when it is a named case study or an apparently detailed testimonial. The CMA's reviews guidance tells PR, marketing and SEO companies not to write or arrange fake reviews for clients. Genuine, disclosed material can still be a client's opinion rather than independent evidence of performance.

Arrange a permissioned reference

Ask the agency to introduce you to a client who has agreed to speak with prospective customers.

Confirm directly with the referee that they consent to the conversation and clarify what you may record, quote or share afterwards. Permission to speak is not automatically permission to publish the person's name or words.

At the start, establish who the referee is in relation to the work. Ask what their role was, whether they worked directly with the agency and which parts of the experience they observed themselves. A senior title does not make someone a firsthand witness to every task or result described in a case study.

Record any relationship that could shape the account, including whether the person is a current client or has another connection to the agency. This is context, not a reason to dismiss what they say. If the referee cannot discuss the work, or the agency will not arrange a permissioned contact, do not fill the gap with an anonymous comment or copied directory review.

A list of questions to ask a provider can help prepare for the agency conversation, but it is not a substitute for hearing directly from a client. Keep the reference discussion separate from the agency's own account.

Ask about the specific experience

Use the same core prompts for each reference you contact. Keep them tied to the claim under review, rather than inviting a general endorsement. Ask the referee to describe the experience in their own words and distinguish what they saw from what they were told.

A reference is comparable only to the extent that the client's work matches the claim. If a testimonial concerns one kind of task, it cannot establish the quality of a different service. Likewise, a positive experience with one announcement is an account of that experience, not a promise about what will happen with yours.

Do not press the referee to disclose confidential client material, private correspondence or information they are not authorised to share. If they cannot substantiate a point without revealing such material, leave that point unverified. A refusal to share confidential evidence is not itself evidence that the claim is false.

Separate evidence from rights to reuse it

A referee's permission to speak with you does not automatically give you permission to copy their words, publish their name or circulate documents they show you.

Agree what can be retained and shared before using any part of the conversation outside your own assessment, and apply the same care to case-study text, images, reports and campaign examples.

Ask who created each item, who owns the relevant rights and whether the person offering it has authority to disclose or license it for the proposed use. A credit line or a client's name on a sample does not, by itself, establish permission to reproduce it.

Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, copyright in a work is generally first owned by its author, with exceptions including certain work created by an employee in the course of employment; a copyright assignment must be in writing and signed. The actual ownership and permitted use of commissioned work depend on the circumstances and any applicable agreement.

If a sample is only being shown to you, do not assume that means you may retain or publish it. If the claimed example involves paid promotion, keep that distinct from independent editorial coverage. Paid promotional material should not be presented as proof that a newsroom chose to publish a story; see the publication's guidance on advertising rules.

Keep demonstrations in their own lane

An agency may offer a walk-through or practical exercise to show how it works. That can help you understand a process, but it is not a client reference and does not verify a claim about past performance.

Record it as a demonstration, not as evidence that a client received a particular result.

Do not let an exercise blur into a recreated client success story. A sample prepared for a meeting may illustrate how the agency presents its work, but it cannot stand in for a permissioned account from the client involved. If the demonstration uses another client's material, ask whether the agency has permission to show it and what, if anything, you are permitted to keep.

Record a narrow conclusion

After the conversation, note the claim, the referee's role and firsthand knowledge, the service and period discussed, any evidence the referee could share, and the limits they identified.

Keep the record factual and within the consent given. Make clear which parts are the client's account and which remain the agency's assertion.

Use HOLD when permission, identity, comparability or support for the specific claim is missing. Use EXCLUDE for anonymous or copied remarks that cannot be checked. Where a reference is usable, state only what it supports; a comparable client account does not prove that another announcement will achieve the same result.

Use this six-step checklist as a wider pre-action aid, not as a verdict produced by a reference call:

The call answers one limited question: what can this client's permissioned experience substantiate? Do not turn an absent complaint, an untested claim or a polished demonstration into a favourable finding. Equally, a reference that cannot be contacted does not establish that the agency performed poorly; it means the particular claim remains unverified.