- Ask about money first. How a firm charges shows what it is paid to care about.
- Every claim should come with a record you can open yourself.
- A good firm names its people, its address and its limits.
- A red flag is a behavior, not a feeling. Vague answers, pressure and promises are all behaviors.
- Write the answers down and get the scope and price in writing.
- Download the one-page checklist and take it on the call.
In this guide
Top pick for reputation management in 2026: Reputation Resolutions
Scored 93 out of 100 on our five-criteria methodology, the highest of any firm we rank for reputation management. Results-based services for repairing, improving and protecting online reputations on Google and AI, and payment is only required after results are achieved. A+ BBB Accredited, in business since 2013.
How to Use These Questions
Ask all twelve, in any order. A firm that welcomes them is a good sign. A firm that dodges them has told you something too.
Online reputation management, or ORM, is work that changes or protects what people find when they search a name. The firms that do it vary a lot. These questions help you tell them apart in one call.
Each question matches one of the five criteria on our methodology page, two per criterion. That is on purpose. If you ask what we score, you can check any firm, ours included, the same way we do.
Take notes. After each call, mark each answer good, unclear or red flag. Then compare firms on your own sheet.
Questions 1 and 2: How You Pay and What You Risk
These two questions come from the heaviest criterion. The pricing model decides who carries the risk.
1. How do you charge, and when is the money due?
A good answer sounds like: A clear model named in one sentence. Result-based, fixed project or monthly retainer, with the dates and amounts in writing before you pay anything.
A red flag sounds like: A price that changes depending on how the call goes, a request for payment before any written scope, or "it depends" with no model named.
2. What happens to my money if the agreed result does not happen?
A good answer sounds like: A direct answer. For example, that the fee is only due when the agreed result happens, or that unused work is refunded under written terms.
A red flag sounds like: A pause, a change of subject, or an answer that blames the platform and keeps your money.
Reputation management pricing models explains what each answer means for your risk.
Ready to Fix What People See When They Search You?
Talk to a specialist at Reputation Resolutions, the top-scored firm on this list. You get a straight answer on what can be removed, what can be pushed down, and what it will take. Every service, from repairing to improving to protecting your reputation, is results-based and agreed in writing.
Questions 3 and 4: Records You Can Open
Trust records are third-party facts you can check in one click. Ask where they are.
3. Where can I see your Better Business Bureau profile?
A good answer sounds like: A link, given on the spot. The profile shows what it shows, and the firm is comfortable with that.
A red flag sounds like: A badge image with no link, a claim of a rating that is not on the bureau's own site, or irritation at being asked.
4. What other public records or directory profiles can I check?
A good answer sounds like: Specific names and links, such as a partner directory or a business directory, and no objection to you reading them.
A red flag sounds like: Reviews shown only on the firm's own site, or praise that cannot be traced to anywhere else.
Questions 5 and 6: Who You Are Dealing With
Accountability starts with names and addresses. You should know who will work on your case.
5. Who exactly will work on my case, and can I speak to them?
A good answer sounds like: Named people with defined roles, and a clear line of who answers your questions after you sign.
A red flag sounds like: A sales contact who disappears after payment, or "our team" with no names.
6. Where are you based, and who leads the firm?
A good answer sounds like: A street address, a phone number and a named leader, all of which match what is on the firm's site.
A red flag sounds like: Only a web form, no address, or a leader who is not named anywhere.
If you are comparing Denver reputation management firms, ask each one who will do the work and where that person sits.
Questions 7 and 8: How Long and How Provable
Longevity is a weak signal, but a checkable one. Ask for the date and for proof of method.
7. When was the firm founded, and how can I confirm it?
A good answer sounds like: A year, and a way to confirm it, such as a state business record or an old copy of the firm's own site in the Internet Archive.
A red flag sounds like: A founding year that does not match any record, or a firm that changed names and will not say so.
8. What do you do when a request is refused?
A good answer sounds like: A described next step, such as an appeal, a different route or suppression work, with honest limits.
A red flag sounds like: Stories of results with no dates, numbers that cannot be sourced, or a claim that nothing is ever refused.
The week-by-week shape of a project is laid out in the best online reputation repair companies.
If the problem sits in Florida search results, ask whether a Miami reputation firm offers anything a remote firm cannot.
Questions 9 and 10: Do They Do Your Kind of Problem
A firm may be good and still not fit your problem. Check the match before you pay.
9. Do you handle my specific problem, and what do you do for it?
A good answer sounds like: A plain description of the route for your problem, whether article removal, a platform dispute, suppression or a crisis plan, and a clear note on what you must provide.
A red flag sounds like: The same pitch for every problem, or a plan that is just a monthly package.
10. What can you not do for me?
A good answer sounds like: A real limit. For instance, that the firm cannot control a platform's decision, cannot act as your lawyer or cannot promise a search position.
A red flag sounds like: "Anything is possible." A firm with no limits has not thought about the work.
Private individuals can see which firms pass this test in the best reputation management for individuals.
Before you choose from the best reputation management companies in New York, ask who will actually handle your case.
Questions 11 and 12: Reviews and Removal Methods
How a firm handles reviews and removals shows how it works. A firm that is plain about both is safer to hire.
11. Do you write, buy or incentivize reviews?
A good answer sounds like: A flat no to writing or buying reviews, and a plain description of how the firm asks real customers instead.
A red flag sounds like: "We have our ways," or an offer to post positive reviews for you.
12. How do you get content removed, and what is the basis for each request?
A good answer sounds like: A route based on a platform's published policy or a legal process, described step by step.
A red flag sounds like: Secret contacts, insider access, pressure on a reviewer or threats to a publisher.
If the problem involves a Nevada business, ask whether any firm in the list of the best reputation management companies in Las Vegas has handled a similar case.
Get the One-Page Checklist
A printable version of the twelve questions, with space for notes. Free.
Reputation Resolutions offers reputation management for individuals. It offers results-based services for repairing, improving and protecting online reputations, with the result agreed in writing and payment only for results, and a specialist will take these twelve questions on a free call.
What to Do With the Answers
Compare, then check, then decide. The answers are a starting point, not a verdict.
Score each answer
Mark each answer good, unclear or red flag. A firm with three or more red flags is worth skipping.
Check what you can
Open every link the firm gave you. Confirm the founding year and the trust records yourself.
Get it in writing
Ask for the scope, the price, the pricing model and the result definition in a written agreement before you pay.
Compare with the scores
See the scored ranking and the methodology for how firms do on these same five criteria.
If you are not sure you need a firm at all, read software versus services. If you are comparing lists, read how best-of lists are made.
If the answers point you toward a single advisor instead, read the best online reputation management experts, compared.
Anthony Will
Founder and CEO, Reputation Resolutions
Anthony Will founded Reputation Resolutions, the publisher of this site, and has worked in online reputation management since 2013. He reviews the methodology and every scoring change.