How to manage your reputation in the age of AI

The traditional method of reputation management is to create new, positive content to drown out negative news about a company and push it back into search results. Either that, or the company’s lawyers contacted the webmaster to have the harmful content removed. However, those days are quickly disappearing. Introducing Search Generative Experience (SGE), which integrates Google’s AI into search results. This he plans to roll out in stages in 2023 and turn the world of reputation management upside down.

SGE results are designed to help users make better decisions faster. This means providing deeper context and more balanced information (both good and bad) and placing it at the top of the page. in front Organic results (non-compensated or non-sponsored results based purely on relevance). This change in the ground rules of reputation management will require brands to fundamentally change the way they manage their online presence.

Related: Why investing in reputation management is important to your business strategy

Shifting SGE: Adopting an experience-first approach

Compared to “old” Google, SGE’s results rely more on third-party referrals than on company websites. Because SGE seeks to highlight more diverse perspectives and sources, it is more likely to present both positive and negative perspectives on the brand. So, gone are the days when you could make up for a bad news day by flooding search engine results pages (SERPs) with better headlines.

In this new landscape, reputation management needs to focus on addressing user complaints and not just at the surface level. While responding to criticism is a starting point, SGE urges companies to continually listen to the needs of their users and strive to grow and improve as a result. CX is more relevant than ever to reputation management, so meeting these expectations requires a three-pronged approach that begins and ends with the user in mind.

1. Stay accountable to your users

Google’s complex algorithms are still trying to meet the needs of its users, but will now prioritize content from publishers that offer similar services. Therefore, a user-centric approach requires brands to:

• Before writing articles or web pages, try to better understand user search intent. Only then will brands be able to address users’ specific questions as comprehensively as Google’s LLM can assign value.
• Understand what customers are saying about your brand through social listening.
• Build reader trust by providing the most complete and up-to-date information across your company blog and other channels. Verify sources and provide attribution, especially for AI-generated excerpts. We also conduct periodic audits to identify outdated or outdated information.
• We encourage reviews, comments, and user-generated content (UGC) on and off the website. This will help user complaints surface (and hopefully be resolved).

Related: 5 ways to optimize your content for better Google rankings

2. Partner with a trusted third party

SGE prioritizes information from high-quality sources that align with Google’s EEAT model: sources that demonstrate experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. As third-party voices become even more important, brands need to partner with trusted retailers to proactively:

• Ensure consistency in how your brand and its values ​​are represented across the web. This starts with demonstrating authority with your content and extends to publishing clear commitments and brand guidelines, making it easier for third parties to accurately represent your company.
• Prevent misinformation by regularly reviewing content related to your company and contacting retailers to correct mistakes and provide context.
• Mitigate negative third-party information by quickly (and diplomatically) addressing critical feedback from journalists or disgruntled users who allege greenwashing.

Related: How to manage (and monitor) your social media reputation

3. Amplify the diverse voices of your audience

As the search experience evolves, brands don’t have to sit back and wait to see how it changes the public’s perception of them. To maintain and continue to improve your reputation, focus on user experience. can control:

• Tailor content and outreach to specific communities, especially underserved communities. This requires a nuanced understanding of audience demographics, user preferences, and pain points that brands can use to personalize content and the overall user experience.
• Collaborate and partner with groups with diverse opinions. Avoid simply leveraging influencers and thought leaders for promotion, and instead build relationships based on shared values ​​and mutual respect.
• Experiment with new tools to improve your UX, such as providing interactive content and real-time personalization. We leverage data analytics and machine learning to deliver content that best fits each user’s needs in the moment. Personalization faces new challenges as third-party cookies are phased out, but emerging technologies also mean new possibilities.

Putting SGE principles into practice

While the deeper causes of customer complaints are now coming to the surface more easily, newsrooms should not be the first responders to reputational issues. Consider a hypothetical case study of an online retailer for strategies that are likely to have the greatest impact on the SGE landscape.

• Increase consumer trust: When customers complain about inaccurate sizing or product descriptions, brands respond by creating size guides, fit quizzes, and virtual dressing rooms.
• Addressing customer concerns: Delivery delays and high shipping costs frustrate customers. That’s why the brand is increasing communication about wait times and providing transparent pricing breakdowns. Additionally, integrate third-party apps to keep your customers updated on their order status.
• Reinforcing shared values: Journalists report on unsustainable manufacturing practices in the retail industry. In response, the company has started publishing quarterly reports on its ESG efforts and sharing statistics and stories on social media to increase transparency.
• Actively shape the customer experience: Unresponsive customer service representatives and slow order processing lead to increased frustration. The brand rolls out social listening and sentiment analysis tools that work on real-time data. It also enables your team to come up with fast, concrete solutions.

As SGE becomes more deeply integrated into the search experience, reputation management has become an ongoing conversation rather than a one-time solution. Stay engaged with your audience, listen to their concerns, and proactively address issues as they arise. Don’t spread or bury negative information. Instead, take ownership and demonstrate a commitment to improvement. For brands with the right mindset, SGE is not a threat, but an opportunity to create better products, services, and experiences that resonate with their audiences.