Online reputation management, explained
Online reputation management is the work of making sure that what people find when they search a person or brand is accurate, current and fair. For most executives, firms and premium brands, the first page of Google is the first impression, and AI assistants increasingly draw on the same sources when asked about someone.
Ethical ORM is mostly constructive. It builds strong, accurate results that deserve to rank: well-maintained owned profiles, a clear personal or company site, earned press and published expertise. It encourages genuine reviews from real clients and responds to criticism professionally. It corrects factual errors at their source, and pursues removal of content only where a platform's policies or the law allow. It also covers the knowledge panel and how AI assistants describe the subject.
What ORM should not involve matters as much. It should not involve fake reviews, review gating, undisclosed paid reviews or misleading suppression of ratings, which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's rule on fake reviews and testimonials prohibits. It should not promise deletion of lawful content. Results take time, because the goal is a durable first page built on real substance, not a temporary fix.