# Online Reputation Audit: A Scored DIY Checklist Run an online reputation audit yourself: six areas to check, a 24-point scoring table, what each score means and which fixes to make first. --- An online reputation audit is a dated, written review of what search engines, AI assistants, review sites, social platforms, listing sites and public records show about you or your business, scored so you can see which area is weakest and fix that one first. You can run one yourself in about three sessions, with a private browser window, a spreadsheet and the scoring table below. Scoring stops two usual failures: a vague feeling that results look fine, which ignores what an AI assistant says or a data site lists, and a panic reaction to one bad result that hides the real weakness, such as an empty first page or an unclaimed profile. A score per area turns a feeling into a ranked list. This guide is the checklist and the scoring method. It does not teach how to remove, suppress or rebuild results: each fix route is its own job, and an audit only tells you which one to start with. Platform rules and tool features change, so where a point depends on a help page, the page is named and you should check the live version. This is information, not legal advice.
The short version
## Set up the audit so the results can be compared Set up first, because an audit that cannot be repeated is only an opinion. You need four things: a fresh browser state, a list of search terms, a log and a rule for what counts as evidence.
Session setup, 20 minutes
  1. Open a private window and sign outUse a private or incognito window with no accounts signed in, so your history and logged-in profile do not shape what you see. Results can still vary by location and device, so note where you ran the search.
  2. Write your term listList your full name, your name plus your city, your name plus your profession or company, any previous name or spelling, and your business name if you have one. Ten to fifteen terms is enough.
  3. Build the logOne spreadsheet tab per area, with columns for address, date, what it says, who controls it, whether it is accurate, and an action code. The same columns in every tab make the totals easy.
  4. Capture evidence as you goTake a dated screenshot of every search page and every finding that matters, and copy the address. If something is later changed or removed, the capture is your proof of what stood there.
  5. Decide your rule for "accurate"Mark a result inaccurate only when you can state in one sentence exactly what is wrong. A result you dislike but cannot fault is accurate, and goes in a different column.
Two habits keep the audit honest. First, search as a stranger would: a recruiter, buyer or investor reads the first screen, and your scoring should not dwell on page four. Second, separate namesakes from yourself. Results about other people with your name are a different problem from results about you, and they should be logged as "namesake" and kept out of your score for accuracy. ## Area one: what search results show for your name Search results are the area people think of first, and the one most often scored too generously. Score what a stranger sees on the first screen, not what you know exists somewhere on page three. Run each term in your list and check the first page, then the image tab, the video tab and the news tab. Look at the suggested searches that appear as you type and the related searches at the bottom of the page. Note any knowledge panel, which is the information box some people get beside the results. For each result, write down five things: - Whether it is about you or a namesake. - Whether it is accurate and current. - Who controls it: you, a platform, a publisher or a third party. - Whether it helps, hurts or is neutral to a stranger deciding about you. - Whether the page says something specific that is wrong, or only something you would rather not see. Then score the area with the table later in this guide. The main question is not "is there something negative?" but "how much of the first screen is accurate, current and made of pages that you own or shape?" An empty page one, or one filled with old profiles from years ago, scores low even when nothing is negative. A strong page one with one old article scores higher than a thin page one with none. ## Area two: what AI assistants say about you AI answers are the area that most audits skip, yet people do ask assistants about names. Treat it as its own area with its own log, because the answer can be wrong even when search results are right. Ask the same short set of questions to more than one assistant, in a fresh conversation each time: who is this person, what do they do, what are they known for, and is there anything negative to know about them. Use your full name, then your name plus your profession. Save each answer as text with the date, the assistant and the exact wording of your prompt. Answers change between runs, so run each question twice and log both. Score what you read on three tests: - **Identity.** Does the assistant describe you, a namesake, or a blend of several people? - **Accuracy.** Are the roles, dates and claims right, or does it state something unsupported? - **Sourcing.** When the assistant cites or names sources, are they pages you would want it to rely on, or old, thin or hostile ones? A confident wrong answer scores lower than a cautious "I do not have reliable information", because the first one gets repeated. When you find an error, log which page the assistant seems to draw from, if it shows its sources, since fixing the source is often the lasting fix. Do not paste personal data you want to keep private into an assistant to test it; use the public facts a stranger would use. Google documents its AI features for site owners in a page called [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features). The page says a page can be shown as a supporting link in AI Overviews and AI Mode if it is indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet, and that no special optimization or AI-specific files are needed. It also says the two features can show different links, which is one more reason to test more than one surface. The audit does not need the mechanism: it records what appears, in the words it appears. ## Area three: reviews and ratings Reviews matter in this audit even for a person, because many professionals and almost every business are rated somewhere. Score the pattern, not the single worst review. List every platform where you or your business can be rated, including ones you did not set up: map listings, industry directories, employer review sites, app stores, marketplaces and complaint boards. For each, log the average rating, the number of reviews, the date of the most recent one, whether you have claimed the listing, and whether the owner has replied to recent reviews. Four patterns decide the score: - **Volume and recency.** A rating built on few or very old reviews carries little weight and can swing on one new entry. - **Reply record.** Replies visible to future readers show how you handle a complaint. A run of unanswered complaints scores lower than the same complaints with calm, factual replies. - **Suspect entries.** Reviews from people who were never customers, bursts of similar wording, or reviews that describe events that did not happen. Log them; do not reply in anger and never answer with fake reviews of your own, which breaks platform rules and in some places the law. - **Unclaimed or duplicate listings.** A listing you do not control can carry a wrong address, a wrong phone number or a closed status. The audit only classifies. A review that breaks a platform's own content policy can be reported through that platform's process; a legitimate negative review is answered, not fought. Which of those applies belongs in the action column, to be handled after the scoring. ## Area four: social media and your owned profiles This area covers everything you control or ought to control: a personal website, social accounts, professional profiles, and any account that carries your name, active or not. It is usually the fastest area to improve, so a low score here is good news in disguise. Make an inventory in three passes. First, list every account you know you have. Second, search your name and common handles on the main platforms to find accounts you forgot or that someone else made in your name. Third, search your email addresses and old usernames in a search engine, and check your password manager and inbox for sign-up confirmations from services you forgot. For each account, log five facts: whether it appears in your name searches, whether the bio and photo are current, whether privacy settings match what you intend, whether two-step sign-in is on, and whether anything old and public would read badly out of context. Old posts matter because search engines and people read them without the date that made sense of them. Three red flags lower the score sharply, as does an area where you own nothing. An impersonation account using your name or photo. An abandoned profile with outdated claims, such as a former employer or a retired service. And an account with no recovery protection, since a hijacked account is a reputation event as well as a security one. Impersonation has its own reporting routes on each platform; the audit only needs to find it and record the address. ## Area five: listings, directories and data sites Listing sites are the quiet area. They publish a profile of you drawn from other sources, and they often rank for your name without you ever having seen them. Score them for accuracy and for how much personal detail they expose. Search your name alongside your city and look for three kinds of page: business directories, people-search or data-aggregator sites that list addresses, phone numbers and relatives, and professional registers or association member pages. Log each address, what it shows, whether the details are correct, and whether the site offers a way to correct or remove the entry. For contact details, Google's help page for [Results about you](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/9673730) describes a way to request removal of Search results that show your address, phone number or email, and to get notifications of new ones. The page also says Google can remove things only from Google Search, not from the hosting website, and that removed content may still be found through links or other search engines. That is why the audit logs the source site as well as the result: the source is what has to change. Score this area on two dimensions at once. A wrong listing, such as a wrong job title or a closed business marked as open, is an accuracy problem. A correct listing that exposes a home address is an exposure problem. They have different fixes and different urgency, so use two action codes in the log. ## Area six: records, news archives and public filings Records are the area you can influence least and should therefore understand best. They include news coverage, court and regulatory notices, company filings, domain registration data and archived copies of pages. Many are accurate, lawful and public, and the audit is not a plan to hide them. Search for news coverage by name and by business name, then check the news tab and the dates. Look for company registry entries, professional licence registers, court listings in your country and domain registration records for any site you own. Check whether an old page has been archived or cached in a way that preserves wording you have since changed. For each item, record four facts: the date, the source, whether it is accurate and current, and whether it has changed since. Outdated items matter here. A report that was true when written but has since been resolved, corrected or reversed is a different case from one that is still true, and the log should say which. Score this area on how well the record reflects the present. A neutral record that is current scores high. An old, unresolved or incomplete item that you could ask a publisher to update scores lower, with the action code "update at source". An accurate item you cannot change scores neither low nor high on its own; it lowers the score only if nothing current sits next to it, which is the same finding as in area one. We do not suggest hiding accurate, lawful public-interest information: the realistic aim is that readers also find what is true about you now. ## Score the audit and read the total Give each area a score from 0 to 4 using the table below, add the six scores for a total out of 24, and use the lowest area as the first fix. Where an area falls between two descriptions, take the lower number: an audit that is slightly harsh is more useful than one that is slightly kind.
AreaScore 0Score 2Score 4
Search resultsFirst screen is inaccurate or hostileMixed: some owned pages, some old or neutralAccurate, current, mostly owned or shaped
AI answersWrong identity or confident errorsRight person, thin or dated detailRight person, accurate, sound sources
ReviewsUnclaimed, unanswered, suspect entriesClaimed, some replies, few recentClaimed, recent, replied, no suspect entries
Social and ownedImpersonation or hijack risk, nothing ownedAccounts exist, uneven, some staleComplete, current, protected, ranking
ListingsWrong details and address exposedMostly right, some exposureAccurate, minimal exposure
Records and archivesOutdated item stands aloneAccurate but nothing current beside itCurrent, with context beside it
Use 1 and 3 for cases between the columns. Then match the total to a plan. These bands are a working rule from experience, not a standard: the total is a prompt for judgment, not a grade.
Total out of 24What it usually meansFirst movePace
20 to 24Sound positionFix the single lowest item, then monitorRe-audit in 6 months
14 to 19Specific gapsWork the two lowest areas in orderRe-audit in 3 months
8 to 13Several weak areasStart with owned profiles and listings, then sourcesRe-audit in 6 to 8 weeks
0 to 7Exposed or unmanagedSecure accounts first, then the area that causes harmRe-audit in 4 weeks
The order inside a plan follows control, not alarm. Owned profiles and account security come first because they are fast and in your hands. Listings and reviews come next because they depend on third parties who usually respond to a correct request. Records and the negative-looking search results come last, because they respond slowest and some will not change at all. The exception is any finding that puts a person at risk, such as an exposed home address or an impersonation account: those go first whatever the total says. ## A worked scenario: an audit of an independent consultant This is an invented scenario with generic details, used to show how scores become a plan. Assume a self-employed consultant who has not looked at their results for three years. All numbers below are the scenario's, not statistics. Session one finds that page one has a personal site, one professional profile and two old directory pages with a former job title. An old news mention from a past employer appears at position four, accurate but dated. That gives search results a 2. Asking two assistants who the consultant is returns one correct summary and one that blends them with a namesake in another industry. That scores 1. Session two finds a claimed business listing with eleven reviews, most older than two years and a few unanswered; that scores 3. Social review finds an abandoned account with an old employer in the bio and no two-step sign-in; it scores 2. Session three finds a data site listing the home address and an old phone number, scored 1, and a company registry entry that is accurate and current, scored 3.
Scenario scores by areaInvented scenario, score 0 to 4 per area, bars scaled to the highest score of 3
Search results2
AI answers1
Reviews3
Social and owned2
Listings1
Records3

Computed from the scenario scores above: the total is 12 out of 24. No outside data is used.

The total of 12 falls in the 8 to 13 band: several weak areas. The plan follows the order of control. The consultant secures the old account and turns on two-step sign-in, updates the bio or closes the account, and requests correction of the two directory pages. Then they use the data-site and contact-detail routes for the exposed address, starting with the address because it is a safety item rather than a polish item. Next they add a short factual page on their own site that states who they are and what they do, which is also the best material for an assistant to rely on to separate them from the namesake. The dated news mention is left alone, and the plan adds current work beside it. ### A timeline for the audit and the fixes that follow The audit takes three sessions, and the fixes follow in an order that lets you see each effect. These timings are usual ranges in our experience and depend on how many accounts, listings and platforms are involved.
WhenWhat you doWhat you have at the end
Day 1Setup, search results and AI answersTwo scored areas and dated captures
Day 2 or 3Reviews, social and owned profilesTwo more scored areas and an account inventory
Day 4 or 5Listings and records, total and bandsA total, a ranked list and the first move
Week 1 to 2Account security, owned profile edits, correction requestsFast fixes made and logged
Week 3 to 8Listing and review corrections, new owned contentThird-party replies, early changes in results
Month 3Second audit with the same terms and promptsA new total to compare with the first
## When the audit finds something you cannot fix, or should not Some findings do not change. An accurate, lawful news report about a matter of public interest is usually not removable, and an attempt to force its removal can produce a second story about the attempt. The audit should classify such an item as a fact of your record and move your effort to adding accurate, current material next to it. Other findings should not be handled alone. If an audit reveals defamatory statements, an intimate image shared without consent, threats, or an exposed address connected to harassment, treat the audit as evidence-gathering and speak to a lawyer, the platform's safety route or the relevant authorities. Your captures and your log are the file they will ask for. Do not use the audit to retaliate: answering a reviewer in kind, writing to a publisher in anger or posting under a false identity only lowers your future score. ## What to do next: score it, then fix one thing Run session one this week: search your name in a private window, save dated screenshots, and ask two assistants who you are. Even two scored areas will show you where the weakness sits.
If you want a second pair of eyes

A DIY audit finds what is visible to you. If the scores come out low, if a result involves a legal or safety issue, or if you simply want an experienced reviewer to read your log, Reputation Partners can do a private review of the same six areas. Start from the private audit page.

Between audits, Google describes an alerts feature in its help page [Create an alert](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/4815696). Under its Show options menu, the page lists frequency, sources, language, region, result count and recipients, and says alerts arrive by email when matching results appear. Whatever you use, monitoring tells you something changed, and the audit tells you what it changes. ## Questions people ask ### How long does an online reputation audit take? A first audit usually takes three sessions of one to two hours each, or roughly three to six hours for one person with a modest footprint. A business with several locations or many reviews takes longer. The setup is the slow part: the term list, the log and the evidence capture. Later audits go faster because you reuse the terms, prompts and sheet from the first one. ### How often should I repeat the audit? It depends on your total and your exposure. A common rhythm is every three to six months, and after any event that changes how you appear, such as a news mention, a job change, a rebrand or a dispute. If your total is low, repeat sooner, so you can see whether fixes are working before you try something else. ### Do I need paid tools to audit my reputation? No. A private browser window, a spreadsheet and the scoring table are enough to run the audit this guide describes. Paid tools can help with scale, such as many locations or constant monitoring, but they only collect what you could find by hand. They do not change the judgment in the scoring, which is where most of the value sits. ### What if I find fake reviews or an impersonation account? Log the address, take a dated capture and note exactly what is false. Then use the platform's own reporting process for that kind of content, with your evidence. Do not reply in anger, post fake reviews of your own or contact the poster in a threatening way: these can break platform rules and, in some places, the law. ### Should I search for myself while logged in? Run the audit logged out in a private window first, because that is closer to what a stranger sees. You can run a second pass while signed in to see how personalization changes the results, and it is worth logging the difference. Do not treat your signed-in view as the public one, since it is shaped by your history. ### Is a low score a sign I need a professional? Not by itself. A low score on owned profiles, listings or reviews is usually fixable by you in a few weeks. A professional becomes useful when the problem is legal, involves safety, spans many sources, or needs steady work over months. The audit tells you which situation you are in and gives any helper a file to start from.