How does online reputation repair work?

What can come down

1. A review that breaks Google's policies. You report it and Google decides. Here's how that works.
2. Your own post. Crisis adviser Molly McPherson notes that deleting it stops it spreading from your account, while the shares and the conversation go on. Deleting it doesn't count as a response either.
3. An old search result, once the page behind it has changed or gone. Google's Refresh Outdated Content tool is for that, and in Google's words it "only updates Google's search result, it does not remove a page from the web."

Source: Google Search Console Help

What stays up

• A page that's still live. Google says the same tool "will not remove a page or image that still exists and has not changed."
• A news story. Matias Rodsevich, who founded the tech PR firm PRLab, tells founders:

• Emilie Gerber, who runs the PR agency Six Eastern, calls it a misconception that a firm can squash a story. In a crisis, Gerber works out which facts to share with the reporter on background, to soften the blow.
• You can always ask the reporter for a fact check.
• A creator's video about you stays theirs. The fix there is a conversation with the creator.

Answering can make it bigger

• In a March 2024 talk, Gerber described Carta's CEO putting out a long email or blog post that took issue with the company's negative press.

• Gerber's rule: "Only comment if it's actually going to be constructive."
• If you do answer, keep it short. Tonya McKenzie has worked in PR and marketing for over 30 years:

What repair adds

1. Your fix, in public, before anyone new posts about you.
2. Then people your buyers already believe: professionals and long-time customers who show how they use your product, for months. That's how we rebuild a reputation after a crisis.
3. No honest agency can promise a story goes away. What we can do is put your fix in front of your buyers through people they already believe.