5W's PR Spend Transparency Study estimates that Fortune 500 companies spend about $47 billion a year on public relations, a median of 0.25% of revenue. The study, published in full at Everything-PR.com in April 2026, builds sector-level benchmarks from SEC filings, Gartner and CMO Survey data, O'Dwyer's agency billings and USAspending.gov contractor records. It estimates a $15 billion to $20 billion annual gap between current spend and adequate protection.

Read the full study: The PR Spend Transparency Study. Everything-PR.com distributes it at no cost.

What did the study find about Fortune 500 PR spend?

The study found that Fortune 500 companies spend an estimated $47 billion a year on PR at a median of 0.25% of revenue. The top 50 companies by spend account for 55 to 60% of that figure, and the bottom 200 combined spend less than the top three technology companies individually.

The sector analysis shows a clear divide. Technology, pharma and financial services companies spend in proportion to their reputational risk. Industrial, energy and defense companies, which carry significant environmental, labor and regulatory exposure, spend as little as 0.03 to 0.08% of revenue, far below what risk analysis suggests is adequate.

The study draws on publicly available data and estimates communications spend across earned media, digital communications, paid amplification, crisis communications and public affairs. It also treats Generative Engine Optimization and AI visibility research as a measurable line item for the first time.

What are the four PR spend tiers?

The study identifies four infrastructure tiers: Fortress ($400K or more a month, about 12% of the Fortune 500), Competitive ($150K to $400K, about 28%), Baseline ($60K to $150K, about 38%) and Underinvested ($20K to $60K, about 22%). Nearly 60% of Fortune 500 companies fall into the baseline or underinvested tiers.

Where is Fortune 500 communications spend moving?

According to the study, earned media remains the largest single line item for most Fortune 500 communications operations. Placements in outlets such as Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times carry weight because AI systems retrieve and cite those outlets when answering category questions.

The study reports that Generative Engine Optimization and AI visibility are new but growing line items, as companies start budgeting for citation share measurement and structured, retrievable authority on owned properties. Influencer marketing and paid social have leveled off relative to total communications spend, with growth shifting toward earned media and AI visibility work.

What is the protection gap?

The protection gap is the estimated $15 billion to $20 billion a year between current Fortune 500 PR spend and adequate protection. Companies that underspend on proactive communications consistently face higher costs when crises occur, so the gap represents a deferred liability, not a budget saving.

The study also notes that 71% of Fortune 500 companies disclose no meaningful PR spend data in their filings, a transparency gap with implications for boards, investors and communications leadership.

Under-resourced communications teams also show up less often when AI systems answer category questions. Buyers who ask ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity for recommendations see only the companies those systems name, and a large company absent from that list is absent from the buyer's consideration set.

How does the spend study connect to Citation Share research?

5W's separate Citation Share research, which tracks the share of AI-generated answers in which a brand is named, reports the same pattern the spend study documents. Companies that invest in earned media and Generative Engine Optimization appear more often in AI-generated answers than competitors that have cut communications spend.

What should CMOs and communications leaders do with this data?

Four actions follow directly from the study:

  • Compare your own communications spend against your sector's peers in the study.
  • Add Generative Engine Optimization as its own budget line if your budget does not have one.
  • Track citation share quarterly across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
  • Read the full study.

For more on 5W's research and services, see 5W's public relations services.

What comes next for the study?

A second phase of research is in preparation. It will incorporate FOIA requests and company-level contractor data to enable individual-company estimates rather than sector-level ones.

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