Online reputation management: how it actually works
By Jeremy Andrews, Senior Reputation Expert, TheBestReputation · · 3 min read
Online reputation management (ORM) controls what appears in Google, review sites, and AI answers for a name or brand. A real ORM program runs in four stages: audit every result, remove what qualifies, suppress what doesn't by building stronger pages, then monitor so new problems are caught early.
Stage 1: The audit
Every result on the first three pages gets logged with its source, its authority, and whether it can be removed. Without this, nobody can honestly quote a price or a timeline.
Stage 2: Removal
Anything that breaks a policy or law goes first. A removal is permanent suppression and usually the cheapest win available.
Stage 3: Suppression
For lawful content, we publish and strengthen better pages until they outrank it. Page two gets a tiny fraction of clicks, so position matters more than existence.
Stage 4: Monitoring
Alerts on your name, review profiles, and AI assistant answers. Catching a problem in week one costs a fraction of fixing it in month six.
AI Overviews now pull from the same sources Google ranks. Fixing page one usually fixes what the AI says too.
Want a straight answer on online reputation management for your own name or company? Start with Jeremy Andrews.
Common questions
- Does ORM work on AI search results?
- Largely yes. AI answers lean on high-ranking, well-structured sources. Strong, consistent pages about you are what those systems quote.
- Can I do ORM myself?
- The basics, yes: claim profiles, publish under your name, respond to reviews. Suppressing an authoritative negative article usually needs a dedicated campaign.