The Short Version

• PR agency Gregory FCA has introduced CrisisCalm, an AI-powered alternative to traditional crisis communications manuals.
• The tool generates press releases, internal memos, social posts and stakeholder updates within minutes of entering key details.
• Organizations can upload brand guidelines and past materials so the messaging reflects their established voices.
• Early use cases, including real client crises, suggest it saves significant time while keeping final decisions in human hands.
• Future plans include integration with mass notification and content management systems.

An AI Tool Brings Speed and Clarity to Crisis Communications

When disaster strikes — whether it’s catastrophic flooding, a major technical outage or an on-site incident — businesses often scramble to respond. For shopping centers, where public perception and rapid communication are everything, those first few hours can make or break a brand’s reputation. And artificial intelligence, it turns out, can keep a cool head and work pretty quickly.

The Crisis That Sparked CrisisCalm

Public relations agency Gregory FCA developed CrisisCalm after the team guided a technology client through a major crisis. “Our team helped them through it, giving them statements to media, tracking all of that,” recalled Gregory FCA executive vice president Heather Crowell, who spent 16 years in communications and strategy at PREIT before starting at Gregory FCA in 2022. “Afterwards, they mentioned to our CEO that they had this manual and they never even touched it.”

The client asked for an updated, more practical guide, and Gregory FCA CEO Greg Matusky floated a bold idea: What if we created something better: something dynamic, powered by AI? He thought AI could make crisis response faster and more efficient.

Backed by decades of experience across mall management, corporate communications and crisis PR, the team began development in late fall 2024. They tested CrisisCalm with beta users through the spring and officially launched it in July 2025.

Real-World Use Cases: From Tech Firms to Shopping Centers

Gregory FCA is pitching CrisisCalm, which is designed for immediate usefulness rather than theoretical checklists, to a range of sectors from tech companies to multifamily real estate operators to retailers because its strengths — flexibility and speed — are universal. “It’s kind of like your SWAT team in the moment,” Crowell said. “You can have a draft almost instantly.”

The platform addresses a persistent communications problem that occurs during crises: Companies panic, delay their responses and inadvertently let others control the narrative, often leaving key internal and external stakeholders in the dark. CrisisCalm aims to replace that chaos with structured clarity. Users input a scenario — say, flooding at a mixed-use property in Texas or a data breach at a retailer — and receive a customized, AI-generated crisis response kit: press releases, internal memos, social posts and stakeholder messages. “You can have a draft that may not be perfect, but it’s a solid start within minutes,” Crowell said.

Tailored Messaging Created Through Training

CrisisCalm is powered by ChatGPT, but it’s far from generic. Organizations can upload their brand guidelines, internal conventions, crisis playbooks and preferred tone of voice. This “training” ensures that the tool’s output aligns with the organization’s existing materials and internal expectations. “We can train the model to understand who you are,” Crowell said: “It responds in your voice, the way you would respond.”

Putting the AI to the Test: Texas Flooding Simulation

To show how the tool works in action, Crowell simulated a recent real-world scenario: catastrophic flooding in Central Texas. As users input key facts like incident type, risks, tone and support provided, the system guides them through a structured decision tree with questions like:

• What type of incident? In this case, a natural disaster.
• What risks are involved? Community impact, operational risk, employee morale, health and safety.
• Is support being provided? Partnership with the American Red Cross.
• Do ongoing concerns exist? Yes, evaluations are in progress.

“The next question is, what tone should your response take?” said Crowell. “This was something that, through development, we added along the way,” she said. Originally, the AI had defaulted to overly apologetic language, which was appropriate in some cases but not all. “Sometimes you’re dealing with a baseless lawsuit,” Crowell said. “Other times, you’re working hand in hand with first responders during a flood. Each scenario demands a different tone. You need to be able to choose.”

From Incident to Communications Playbook in Minutes

Once the system confirms details, CrisisCalm auto-generates a full crisis communications playbook, including:

• a situation summary
• key objectives
• stakeholder-specific messaging
• suggested actions by time frame
• a media Q&A document tailored to the incident

For the Texas flooding example, a sample Q&A included:

Q: What caused the flooding, and how has it impacted the community?
“The flooding was caused by unprecedented rainfall. ... We are working hard to ensure we provide support where it’s needed most.”

Q: What steps is your company taking?
“We have partnered with the Red Cross. ... Our actions are closely aligned with community recovery efforts.”

Users can download, edit and share these documents in minutes, saving valuable time when stress and stakes are high. Users can either revise responses manually within the platform or ask the AI to adjust them with simple prompts like “Make it shorter.”

And as the crisis situation evolves, the platform’s output can evolve with it. “You often still need to provide an update to the public,” Crowell said. “The tool will update your messaging and tell you what it’s changing before it changes it.”

Early Real-World Applications

Although the platform only launched publicly in July, the Gregory FCA team already has used it on behalf of clients during real crises, including a recent incident at a shopping center. Because users uploaded the client’s terminology, as well as statements it had used in previous crises, the Gregory FCA team generated a press-ready statement faster than digging through old emails or drives. “Honestly, more than what we needed was ready in a matter of minutes,” Crowell said.

Gregory FCA also has used the platform internally for last-minute client requests that aren’t crises. In one case, a client called on a Friday afternoon in need of a full communications plan by Monday. “It saved a massive amount of time,” Crowell said. “The plans are very comprehensive, maybe even too comprehensive sometimes.”

That’s why, she emphasized, the tool doesn’t replace skilled communicators but rather empowers them. “Otherwise, someone without communication experience might push out way too much information,” she noted. “You still need a skilled person to evaluate the plan. We’re just giving a tool to make their lives a little bit easier. But now, when your CEO walks in and says ‘What’s the plan?’ you have one and you can go from there.”

How Clients Train and Test CrisisCalm

CrisisCalm clients receive an onboarding session and a checklist of recommended uploads — such as previous press or stakeholder statements, branding guides and contact lists — to ensure the tool delivers the best results.

From there, Gregory FCA encourages users to run test scenarios. “We want them to understand how it works so that in a live situation, they’re ready,” Crowell said.

Pricing is evolving and depends on amount of business with the PR firm and on security needs, but the setup fee currently is under $10,000 and a monthly subscription is less than $1,000.

What’s Coming Next

While CrisisCalm doesn’t yet integrate directly with mass notification systems or content management systems, that’s on the roadmap. For now, users can download or copy content from CrisisCalm in order to plug it into existing systems.

While only a few clients have signed up so far, Crowell believes adoption will grow quickly once businesses experience a real-world need. “We’ve done a lot of demos. I think it’s just going to take someone needing it in the moment and realizing they wish they had it,” she said.