Every executive will eventually face it: a negative article, an unflattering review, or damaging content that appears when someone searches their name. The instinct is often to panic, lash out, or ignore it entirely. All three responses typically make the situation worse.
Having spent over a decade helping CEOs, founders, and high-profile individuals navigate reputational challenges, I've developed a systematic approach that transforms what feels like a crisis into an opportunity for strengthening your digital presence. This guide shares the framework I use with clients at Reputation Pros to help executives respond strategically when negative content threatens their professional standing.
Understanding the Real Impact
Before acting, executives must understand what they're actually dealing with. Not all negative content carries equal weight, and misdiagnosing the severity leads to either overreaction or dangerous complacency.
The first question is visibility: where does this content rank? Negative content on page three of Google has minimal impact compared to content occupying the first few results. Research consistently shows that approximately 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results, and the top three positions capture the majority of clicks.
The second question is source authority: is this content on a high-authority domain that will be difficult to displace, or a low-authority site that quality content can outrank relatively quickly? A negative piece in a major publication presents a different challenge than a complaint on an obscure review site.
The third question is accuracy: is the content factually false and potentially defamatory, or is it criticism based on legitimate grievances? This distinction determines whether legal remedies might be appropriate or whether the response should focus entirely on reputation building and, potentially, addressing the underlying issue.
The First 48 Hours: What Not to Do
The initial response window is critical, and the mistakes executives make in the first 48 hours often cause more damage than the original content.
Do not engage publicly with the content. Commenting on negative articles, responding aggressively to reviews, or posting defensive statements on social media amplifies visibility. Search engines and social algorithms interpret engagement as relevance signals. Every click, comment, and share tells these platforms that the content matters and deserves wider distribution.
Do not attempt removal through legal threats unless you have a genuine legal case. Threatening litigation against journalists, review platforms, or content creators typically backfires. The "Streisand Effect"—named after the singer whose legal action to suppress photographs inadvertently generated massive publicity—remains a constant risk. Aggressive takedown attempts often generate additional negative coverage about the attempted suppression.
Do not ignore it and hope it disappears. While some negative content does naturally decline in visibility over time, content on authoritative domains tends to persist. Hoping the problem resolves itself while doing nothing to build positive presence typically results in the negative content becoming more entrenched.
The Strategic Response Framework
Effective reputation recovery requires a structured approach that addresses both immediate concerns and long-term positioning.
Phase 1: Assessment and Documentation
Begin with a comprehensive audit of your current search landscape. Document every piece of content—positive, neutral, and negative—that appears for searches of your name, your name combined with your company, and your name combined with relevant industry terms.
Create a prioritised list ranking negative content by visibility and impact. Identify which pieces represent genuine threats versus minor irritants. This assessment prevents wasted resources addressing low-impact content while critical issues remain unaddressed.
Review your existing digital assets. What positive content do you control? Is your LinkedIn profile complete and optimised? Does your company website include a comprehensive leadership biography? Do you have published articles, podcast appearances, or speaking engagement content that could rank more prominently with optimisation?
Phase 2: Foundation Building
Before attempting to suppress negative content, ensure your owned media properties are optimised to rank. This means:
Your professional profiles across LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and industry-specific platforms should be complete, keyword-optimised, and regularly updated. These high-authority platforms have strong ranking potential for branded searches.
Your company website should feature a detailed executive biography page with proper schema markup. This structured data helps search engines understand and display information about you correctly, potentially qualifying you for enhanced search features.
If you haven't already established thought leadership through contributed articles or industry publications, now is the time to begin. A consistent publishing schedule—whether through Forbes, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, or industry-specific outlets—creates multiple authoritative assets that can rank for your name.
Phase 3: Strategic Content Creation
The most effective way to address negative content is not to fight it directly, but to create enough quality content that outranks it. This approach works because search engines have limited space on page one, and authoritative, relevant content will displace weaker signals over time.
Develop a content calendar that produces assets designed to rank for your name. This includes authored articles on high-authority publications, podcast guest appearances that generate show pages linking to your profiles, speaking engagements with archived presentation materials, video content on YouTube (which ranks exceptionally well for personal names), and comprehensive profiles on relevant industry directories.
Each piece of content should use your name consistently and link to your other authoritative properties, reinforcing the connections between your various digital assets.
Phase 4: Review and Social Proof Enhancement
If the negative content involves reviews or customer feedback, a proactive review generation strategy becomes essential. Encourage satisfied clients and professional contacts to share their experiences on relevant platforms. A strong pattern of positive reviews provides context that minimises the impact of isolated negative feedback.
For executives, LinkedIn recommendations serve a similar function. A profile with numerous detailed recommendations from respected professionals signals credibility that counterbalances negative content elsewhere.
When Legal Action Makes Sense
While I generally advise against aggressive legal responses, certain situations warrant legal consultation:
Defamation: Content containing provably false statements of fact that damage your reputation may be actionable. The key word is "fact"—opinions, however unflattering, are typically protected speech.
Confidential information: If content reveals legitimately private information (medical records, financial details, personal relationships) without authorisation, privacy laws may provide remedies.
Impersonation or fraud: Fake profiles, fabricated quotes, or content designed to deceive readers into believing you said or did something you did not may constitute actionable fraud.
In these cases, work with a solicitor experienced in internet defamation. Legal letters to platform hosts or content creators can sometimes achieve removal when the legal basis is solid.
The Long-Term Perspective
Reputation recovery is rarely instantaneous. Even with aggressive positive content creation, displacing entrenched negative content typically requires three to six months of sustained effort. Some particularly stubborn content on high-authority domains may take longer.
The silver lining is that the work required to suppress negative content simultaneously builds the kind of authoritative digital presence that protects against future challenges. Executives who emerge from reputational challenges often have stronger, more resilient online presence than they did before the crisis—precisely because they were forced to take digital reputation seriously.
Prevention: Building Before You Need to Defend
The most effective reputation management happens before any crisis occurs. Every executive should maintain an ongoing programme of thought leadership, profile optimisation, and review generation. This creates a defensive moat that makes it significantly harder for negative content to gain visibility.
I advise every CEO and founder I work with to think of reputation management as insurance. The investment seems unnecessary until you need it, and by then, it's too late to buy coverage. The executives who weather reputational storms most effectively are those who built their digital presence proactively rather than reactively.
About the Author
Scott Keever is an American entrepreneur and internationally recognised expert in online reputation management, SEO, and AI-driven digital strategy. Born January 15, 1981, in Lebanon, Ohio, Scott Keever is the founder and CEO of Keever SEO and Reputation Pros, where he helps executives, entrepreneurs, and high-profile individuals build authoritative digital presence.
A member of the Forbes Agency Council, Fast Company Executive Board, and Entrepreneur Leadership Network, Scott Keever has contributed thought leadership articles to Forbes, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur. He is the author of Future-Proof Your SEO and Reputation Reset, both available on Amazon.
Scott Keever holds Google certifications in AdWords Search and received the 2023 National Excellence Award from UpCity. He conducts free business workshops for entrepreneurs and startups and speaks regularly on reputation management and search optimisation.
Connect with Scott Keever:
- Website: scottkeever.io
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/scott-keever
- Forbes: councils.forbes.com/profile/Scott-Keever
- Entrepreneur: entrepreneur.com/author/scott-keever
For more information on reputation management services for executives and high-net-worth individuals, visit https://keeverseo.com
