- Reputation Partners
- Glossary
The reputation management glossary.
The words we use every day, explained without jargon. Bookmark it for your next call with a lawyer or a publicist.
A
AI Overview
A generated summary Google shows above search results for some queries, built from pages it selects. It can repeat claims about people from those pages.
Autocomplete
The search suggestions that appear as someone types. Harmful predictions about individuals can be reported under search-engine policies.
C
Content removal
Getting content taken down at its source by the publisher, host or platform, usually on a legal or policy basis.
Copyright takedown
A notice asking a host or search engine to remove material that infringes someone's copyright, such as leaked paid content.
D
Data broker
A site that compiles and sells personal information such as addresses, phone numbers and relatives. Most offer opt-outs.
De-indexing
Removing a page from search results while it remains online. Often limited to searches on a person's name.
Deepfake
Synthetic media, usually video or images, that depicts a real person doing or saying something they never did.
Defamation
A false statement of fact that damages someone's reputation. Called libel when written or published.
Doxxing
Publishing someone's private personal information, such as a home address, without consent.
E
E-E-A-T
Experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness: the qualities Google's guidelines say high-quality content should show.
Entity
How search engines and AI models represent a real-world person, company or thing, with its facts and relationships.
G
GDPR
The EU General Data Protection Regulation, which gives individuals rights over their personal data, including the right to erasure.
H
Hash blocking
Registering a digital fingerprint of an image or video so platforms can automatically block re-uploads.
I
Impersonation
Accounts or pages pretending to be someone, often to scam their audience. Removable under most platform rules.
K
Knowledge panel
The information box shown beside results for well-known people and organizations, generated from sources the search engine trusts.
N
NCII
Non-consensual intimate imagery: sexual images shared without the subject's consent. Search engines and platforms have dedicated removal policies.
O
Online reputation management
The practice of shaping what people find when they search for someone: removal, de-indexing, suppression, content building and monitoring.
P
Page one
The first page of search results. Fewer than 1% of searchers click through to the second page.
People also ask
A box of related questions and short answers shown in search results. The questions themselves can shape perception.
R
Right of reply
The possibility of having your response published alongside an article about you, available in some jurisdictions and by editorial practice.
Right to be forgotten
The right, under EU law, to ask search engines to de-list results about you that are inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive.
S
SERP
Search engine results page: everything shown after a search, from ads and AI answers to links, images and news.
Suppression
Pushing a negative result below page one by getting stronger, legitimate content to rank above it.
T
Trusted flagger
An organization whose reports to a platform are prioritized because of its track record of accurate notices.