Hiring a reputation management company? Ask these questions first
This industry has honest firms and some that promise what nobody can deliver. We explain what a legitimate reputation management company can and cannot do, so you can judge any provider, including us.
30 minutes · The consultation is free
- No promises we cannot keep
- Plain answers before you commit
- The consultation is free
The hard part is often the provider, not the review
People usually look for a reputation management company at a stressful moment: a bad article, a run of harsh reviews, or a search result that keeps coming up. That is exactly when a sales pitch promising fast deletion sounds most appealing.
Some of those promises rely on methods that break platform rules or the law, such as fake reviews or false legal notices. When they are found out, the content can come back and the client can be the one exposed.
Promises of certain deletion
No outside company controls Google, Yelp or a publisher. A guarantee usually means vague terms or tactics you would not approve.
How we help: We tell you, item by item, which content has a real removal or correction path and which does not.
Fake review packages
Buying or writing reviews breaks platform rules and the FTC’s 2024 rule, which allows civil penalties.
How we help: We only help you ask real customers for honest feedback and reply to what is already there.
Long contracts with no plan
Some providers lock clients into months of service without saying what they will actually do.
How we help: We start with a written list of actions you approve one by one.
What makes this market hard to judge
- Results pages and review sites belong to other companies, so no provider can promise an outcome.
- Before-and-after screenshots are easy to fake and hard to check.
- Some firms quietly use bulk legal notices or fake court orders; Google and researchers have documented such abuse.
- The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews, effective October 2024, bans fake reviews, bought reviews and threats used to suppress reviews.
- Real work is often slow and unglamorous: policy reports, replies, corrections and building accurate pages over time.
What a poor choice can cost
Choosing badly can mean paying for activity that does nothing, having fake reviews traced back to your business, or a news story about the cover-up that is worse than the original problem.
We do not quote losses or invent figures. The free consultation is a chance to describe your situation and hear an honest view of what is realistic before you sign with anyone.
The main types of help you will find
Do it yourself
Free tools from Google and the review platforms go a long way: reply features, policy reports and the Results about you tool for personal information.
Software subscriptions
Review dashboards and alerting tools help businesses with many locations stay on top of new reviews. They do not remove anything by themselves.
Lawyers
Needed when content may be defamatory or a court order is involved. Usually the right call for serious legal disputes.
Hands-on service (where we fit)
A team that reviews your search results and listings, files the requests the rules allow, drafts replies, and helps publish accurate pages, all with your approval.
If your case needs a lawyer, we will say so. If you can handle it yourself with free tools, we will say that too.
How working with us goes
We look before we pitch
We review the search results, reviews or articles that worry you and write down what is going on with each one.
You get the honest options
For each item: whether there is a removal or correction path, what a reply could do, and what would only change slowly.
You decide what we do
Nothing is filed or posted without your approval, and you can stop at any point.
Questions
How do I tell if a reputation management company is legitimate?
Ask exactly how they will remove or improve each item, ask whether they ever post reviews, and look for a written plan. A legitimate firm will explain limits and never promise that content it does not control will come down.
Can a reputation management company delete Google results?
No company can delete Google results directly. Google removes some content under its own policies or the law, and publishers can update their own pages. Everything else can only be answered or outranked over time.
Is buying reviews illegal?
Under the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews, effective October 21, 2024, buying or selling fake reviews is prohibited and can lead to civil penalties. Platforms also remove them.
Do you work with individuals as well as companies?
Yes. We speak with business owners and individuals. The first conversation is free either way.
What happens on the free consultation?
You describe the problem, we ask a few questions, and we explain which options look realistic. There is no obligation to continue.
Upcoming events for business owners and managers
Events run by other organizers, checked on each organizer’s own page.
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Twelve questions to ask a reputation management company
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