What a quarterly reputation audit actually looks at

A reputation audit sounds grand. In practice it’s a disciplined look at five places where people form an impression of your company, repeated every quarter so you notice changes early.

1. Search

Search your company name, your CEO’s name and your main product. Note what appears on the first page, and what’s missing. A single critical article ranking above your own site is worth knowing about.

2. AI answers

Ask two or three AI assistants what your company does and whether it’s trustworthy. The answers increasingly shape first impressions, and they’re built from what’s published about you. If they’re wrong or out of date, that’s a content problem you can fix.

3. Coverage

Review the last quarter’s press coverage. Beyond volume, look at which messages appeared, which competitors were mentioned alongside you, and whether quotes came from you or about you.

4. Employee and customer platforms

Review sites, employee reviews and community forums often carry the earliest signals of an operational problem. Look for recurring themes, not individual complaints.

5. The people who matter

Once a quarter, ask three people you trust outside the company (an investor, a customer, a reporter) how the company is seen. It’s the least scientific step and often the most useful.

Then do something with it

An audit only matters if it changes the plan. We finish each one with three actions for the next quarter, each tied to a finding. If there’s nothing to change, that’s a good quarter, and worth saying so.