_Originally published December 27, 2010. Updated June 2026._ **The end of 2010 marked 8 full years of [5W AI Communications](https://5wpr.com) — and one of the 15 largest PR firms in the U.S. at the time. The 2010 founder voice piece below captured the moment from inside the agency.** Fifteen years later, the firm has compounded into the category-defining AI Communications Firm — but the founder-voice posture, the operating cadence, and the talent flywheel that drove the 8-year growth are the same ones driving the firm in 2026. ## The 2010 founder voice — preserved The end of 2010 marks exactly 8 full years of the history of 5W Public Relations, one which today sees us as one of the 15 largest PR firms in the US. It remains amazing to me, and much like seeing a child grow up in many ways. From day one in a single rented office to a national operating PR firm with hundreds of clients across consumer, technology, food & beverage, public affairs, and crisis communications — the growth has been a product of relentless work, hungry talent, and a culture that operated differently than the rest of the industry. The clients trusted us with their reputation. The team owned the outcome. The next year was going to be bigger. That was 2010. That has been every year since. ## The 2026 read Fifteen years after the 2010 piece, [5W AI Communications](https://5wpr.com) operates as the AI Communications Firm — combining public relations, digital marketing, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and AI visibility research across B2C and B2B verticals. Named Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's, Agency of the Year at the American Business Awards, 2026 Top Place to Work in Communications by Ragan, and Digiday's WorkLife Employer of the Year. The same culture the 2010 piece described — hungry, relentless, ownership of outcomes, fast-paced — is the culture operating the discipline at scale today. The structural shift between 2010 and 2026 is the AI engine layer. In 2010, 5W competed in the earned media and digital surface. In 2026, 5W competes inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — the answer engines now composing the answers buyers see before they ever click through. [Citation Share](https://ronntorossian.com/citation-share-the-new-kpi-for-the-ai-era) is the new market share. The firm operating the discipline correctly compounds across years that the firm that ignored it cannot catch up to. ## Where this sits — Cross-Network Coverage - [5W AI Communications](https://5wpr.com) — the firm, the practice, the careers. - [Everything-PR](https://everything-pr.com) — the industry intelligence platform tracking agency growth, exec moves, M&A, and named-firm coverage across the discipline. - This site (ronntorossian.com) — the named-founder commentary across two decades. Inside the [PR Industry Commentary pillar](https://ronntorossian.com/public-relations-rules) on this site. Sibling pieces on the 5W career and culture arc: [PR Interns at 5W — A 20-Year Founder Read](https://ronntorossian.com/interns), [How to Succeed in PR — A 20-Year Founder Read](https://ronntorossian.com/how-to-succeed-in-pr), [Life & Times of Public Relations](https://ronntorossian.com/life-times-of-public-relations). _Originally published December 27, 2010. Updated June 2026._ _Ronn Torossian is the founder and chairman of [5W AI Communications](https://5wpr.com), the AI Communications Firm. He is the publisher of [Everything-PR](https://everything-pr.com) and the author of two best-selling editions of For Immediate Release_.