Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
When you meet a potential client, and they express interest in you, your company or offer, one of the first things they do is Google your name.
Why? People trust Google, and its search results have become much like those of an online branding and marketing business card. They can make or break a deal. In turn, a great many individuals and companies trust Google to understand them and be able to represent them accurately in those results: they expect it to be able to “connect the dots,” but algorithms aren’t always that smart (at least not yet). In many instances, it falls upon you to show them who you are — to control results for your name.
The strategies below will work for Google Search, Google Gemini, AI Overview, Bing Copilot, ChatGPT, Perplexity and a variety of other emerging search engines because they all essentially work the same way. They will give you better control of your name and reputation across all platforms and so bring an ideal audience into your sales funnel.
Related: I Wish I Knew This About Google Before Trying My Growth Strategy
They follow three simple (but often time-consuming) stages:
1. Build your home
You must have an online website that you own and control. Search engines use that site as the authoritative source of information about you, and you can control how they perceive and represent you via the information contained in it.
Such a site is often referred to as the “entity home,” and maintaining it involves keeping all content 100% up to date — a place where important facts about you are controlled, compiled and cultivated. It’s also important to include external references that corroborate what you say, which creates a broader verification of your statements.
Information on an entity home website, not surprisingly, must be presented in a clear and consistent manner so that AI search and assistive engines can understand it. Additionally, prioritize the elements you want algorithms to focus on. This will more accurately present you to an audience as someone capable of solving their problems or otherwise adding value.
Search engines find a primary point of reference for every single person online. There are no exceptions, so if you do not intentionally create a home for a personal brand, they will find one you don’t control and leave the rest in the hands of a third party, such as LinkedIn. My bet is that you don’t want to give sites like that free reign.
Related: How to Build an Online Presence With Social Media
2. Be consistent everywhere
Once you have set up your entity home, make certain that you haven’t contradicted yourself elsewhere. Generate a list of every platform where you have a profile page and update them.
Social media profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn are the obvious first step. Next, consider profile pages you might have created over the years (and perhaps forgotten) on platforms such as Tumblr, Friendster, Mastodon, Goodreads, Muck Rack, Entrepreneur and Search Engine Land.
Your company website is, of course, an additional important source of information, so have a profile page there (create one if you don’t), and update it regularly.
Lastly, examine publicly editable data platforms such as Wikidata, Crunchbase and IMDB. Fact check and refresh any information, and ensure they all link back to your entity home site.
Related: Why You Should Revamp and Enhance Your Website Content
3. Third-party corroboration
Now comes the hardest part.
Thus far, you have fed algorithms, which both supplied and confirmed all information points across multiple sources. The trouble is, just like humans, AI algorithms won’t simply take your word for it: they need supporting evidence from other people to reassure them that you’re telling the truth. In other words, you must get third-party corroboration. The question is, “Who can/should confirm what I say?”
First, find all the web pages you don’t control where you are the primary topic and check information accuracy and consistency, not least when it comes to your core message. Not every account/opinion has to be the same, of course, but all must be correct. Where there are inconsistencies or when you can improve the relevancy of information, contact the site publisher and ask them to update, but be mindful that getting information updated in this way can require some creative thinking.
Here are the principal methods of doing that:
• You do it: Tackle sources that seem independent but are under your control. Update, for example, profiles on all your company websites: I have profile pages on my company site (kalicube.com), our educational website (kalicube.academy), and our webinar series (kalicubeteusdays.com).
If you manage websites for associations or organizations related to your field, these can serve as excellent platforms for corroboration. They give the appearance of third-party validation while maintaining control over the narrative and ensuring accuracy and consistency.
• Friends/associates do it: If the website owner or author is a colleague or friend, implementing updates is generally quite simple. These resources are particularly valuable since they come from a relevant and seemingly independent third party, and so carry weight with both algorithms and human audiences.
• Ask for a favor: This is the toughest route but often the most valuable. Truly being a third party means you have no connection to the publisher or author, and search algorithms will generally give these the most weight. That means it is worth your time to make the effort to ask for that “favor,” aka inclusion in select sites/sources.
In the short term, you can trick both a human audience and algorithms by publishing the same old content on sites you control fully (or partially), or asking friends to help you out, but in the long term you’ll need to earn third-party corroboration.
Related: Why Zero-Party Data is the New Secret Weapon for Brands
Search algorithms observe your brand’s online activity and simply replicate what they read in AI search and assistive engines. So, communicating clearly with the most relevant audience — presenting content that’s useful to them on the platforms where they hang out — means that you will be poised to win the personal branding game with both a human audience and with search engines.
