Every search. Every comment. Every post. It all adds up.
Your online footprint isn’t just about social media anymore. It’s what AI sees when it answers questions about you. It’s what hiring managers find before interviews. It’s what future clients see before they click “book now.”
With AI, large language models, and conversational search on the rise, your history online isn’t just sitting on page three of Google anymore. It’s showing up in answers, summaries, and voice assistants. If there’s negative or outdated content about you online, it’s more important than ever to take action.
The AI Era Changes Everything
You’re being summarized
Search engines used to just give you a list of links. Now they answer questions.
Ask a chatbot, “Is John Smith a good lawyer?” and you might get a sentence that includes snippets from Yelp, news sites, or even court records. That answer doesn’t come from one place. It comes from everything online about John Smith.
That’s what conversational search is. It’s not just looking things up. It’s giving conclusions. And if one of those sources is a bad review or a hit piece from years ago, it will still shape the answer.
LLMs don’t fact-check
Large language models are trained on everything they can find. That includes blog posts, tweets, news, reviews, and forums. If something about you is out there, AI tools could read it and repeat it—even if it’s not true.
That means your name might be connected to old drama, false claims, or just embarrassing stuff that doesn’t reflect who you are now.
And once that becomes part of the summary, good luck explaining it later.
Reputation Isn’t Just for Celebrities
It affects regular people too
You don’t need to be famous to show up in search. Have a Yelp account? Got tagged in a news story? Signed a petition ten years ago? All of that can show up.
According to a 2023 Pew Research report, 74% of people have searched for themselves online. And nearly half didn’t like what they found.
It doesn’t take a scandal to hurt your rep. One angry comment. One bad review. One out-of-context quote. It can all stick around for years.
“I had an old blog post where I made a joke about skipping class,” said Dani, a grad student applying for internships. “Now every time you search my name, it comes up as if I dropped out. I had to explain it in every interview.”
That’s the kind of thing AI doesn’t care about. It just pulls the quote.
Your Business Reputation Is Even More Fragile
One review can change the story
If your company gets a bad write-up or unfair press, it can live forever. Even if it’s outdated or fixed, some AI tools still see it and include it in summaries.
That means your company’s online presence needs regular cleaning. You can’t just rely on SEO or ads. You need to know what’s actually being said—and where.
Some businesses use services for internet removals to clean up old or damaging content. This includes legal removals, review takedowns, or suppressing links that hurt your brand.
It’s not vanity. It’s risk management.
How to Clean Up Your Online Reputation
Step 1: Search yourself
Use Google in incognito mode. Search your name, your business, and your username. Check images, news, and social results.
Make a list of anything you’d want removed or updated.
Step 2: Remove what you can
Start with your own accounts. Delete old tweets. Archive old posts. Update bios. Use privacy settings.
If something harmful is hosted on someone else’s site, ask them directly. Be polite. Show how it affects you.
If that fails, report it to the platform. Most sites have rules against personal data, defamation, or outdated information.
Step 3: Push new content
Create a personal website. Start a blog. Post to LinkedIn. Write a Medium article. The more good stuff you publish, the more likely it is to show up first.
Google loves fresh content. So do AI tools.
“I wrote a post about my career change and put it on Medium,” said Omar, a freelance designer. “Within two weeks it started outranking a bad review from years ago.”
Step 4: Use reputation services if needed
If you find something you can’t remove on your own, look into professional help. Some companies specialise in content takedowns, legal notices, and suppression strategies.
Not everything can be deleted. But most things can be buried under newer, better content.
Some tools also offer alerts so you know when something new shows up. That way, you don’t have to wait for it to become a problem.
What to Watch Out For
- Old legal content. Some court records stay online long after the case is resolved. Check Justia, PacerMonitor, and other legal search engines.
- Name doppelgängers. Someone with your name might be doing sketchy things. Make sure you’re not being confused with them.
- AI summaries. If you ask ChatGPT or another chatbot about yourself and it pulls up weird info, that means the source is out there and findable.
Don’t assume people won’t look. They will. Especially clients, employers, or investors.
Final Thoughts
Your online footprint follows you. It doesn’t disappear on its own. And with the rise of AI and conversational search, it’s easier than ever for someone—or something—to judge you based on old info.
You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be aware.
Clean up what you can. Publish what matters. And take control before someone else writes the story for you.
Because in 2025, what the internet says about you might be the only version people see.
Write and Win: Participate in Creative writing Contest & International Essay Contest and win fabulous prizes.
About the Author
