Your online reputation can make or break your business.
Before someone buys from you, books a call, or even clicks your website—they’re Googling you. They're checking reviews, scrolling your social media, and reading what others are saying. And if they spot a bad review, an outdated blog post, or a negative news article? That could be the end of the conversation before it even begins.
That’s where an ORM agency comes in.
ORM stands for Online Reputation Management. Think of an ORM agency like your brand’s digital bodyguard. They don’t just “clean up” your online image—they build it, protect it, and help it grow.
If your brand has been impacted by negative reviews, unfair press, or outdated content, an ORM agency knows how to push that old noise down and bring the good stuff up to the top. But even if your online reputation is neutral or already good, they can help make it stronger, more visible, and more trustworthy.
In this post, we’re going to break down everything you need to know about what these agencies really do, why your business probably needs one (even if things seem fine), and how a smart reputation management strategy works in 2025 and beyond.
We’ll also answer some of the most common questions, like:
Let’s dive into the real secrets behind ORM—so you can take control of your online presence and keep your brand reputation working for you, not against you.
An ORM agency (short for Online Reputation Management agency) is a team of digital experts who help businesses take control of how they appear online. Whether it’s a glowing 5-star review or a frustrating blog post from five years ago, they know how to handle it.
These agencies don’t just “watch” your reputation—they actively manage it.
That means they’re keeping tabs on:
So, what happens if something negative appears?
Maybe someone left a bad review. Maybe a blog criticized your customer service. Or maybe there’s just outdated info that no longer reflects who you are. An ORM agency steps in with strategies to minimize the impact, like creating positive content, improving SEO, or responding to feedback in a professional way.
But here's the important part: they don’t only deal with problems.
A good ORM agency also helps you shine online. They promote the best parts of your brand—your success stories, customer testimonials, awards, press mentions, and more. Their job is to make sure the first things people see about your business make them want to learn more, not click away.
Because your online reputation is often your first impression—and you only get one shot at that.
Just think about how you make decisions as a customer. If you’re considering a restaurant, doctor, or contractor, what’s the first thing you do? You search them on Google. You check their reviews. You scroll through their social media.
Well, your customers do the same.
In fact, a study from BrightLocal found that 87% of consumers read online reviews before choosing a local business. That number goes up even higher when you’re selling a service or product online.
So, if the first thing they see is a one-star review or an old news article that doesn’t reflect your current team, you could be losing business before you even know someone was interested.
So now you know what an ORM agency is—but what do they actually do day to day?
A great ORM agency does way more than just respond to reviews or monitor your brand name. They’re constantly working behind the scenes to protect your reputation and promote the best version of your business online.
Let’s break down what that really looks like.
First things first—an ORM agency keeps a close eye on your digital footprint. That means they track mentions of your business across:
The goal is to catch anything—good, bad, or neutral—the moment it goes live. That way, you can act fast if something negative starts gaining attention… or celebrate the wins when something positive surfaces.
Think of it like having an alert system for your brand. If your business gets mentioned anywhere online, your ORM team knows about it first.
A big part of online reputation management is knowing how to respond—especially when it comes to customer reviews.
Ignoring negative reviews can make your business seem careless. But responding the wrong way (with blame, emotion, or frustration) can make things worse and damage your brand even more.
That’s why a good ORM agency knows how to respond professionally and calmly, even in tough situations. They’ll help you:
But it’s not just about negative reviews. Responding to positive feedback matters too! An ORM agency helps you stay engaged, build loyalty, and encourage more happy customers to share their experiences.
Here’s a common question:
“Can an ORM agency delete bad reviews or articles?”
The short answer is no—not unless it violates the platform’s policies (like hate speech, spam, or fraud). But here’s the good news: they don’t need to delete it to make it disappear from the spotlight.
A skilled ORM agency uses SEO strategies to “push down” unwanted content in search results. This means:
So even if there’s a negative blog post or review floating around, it gets buried under a pile of better, more current, and more helpful content. Most people never scroll past the first page of search results—so if the bad stuff is on page two or beyond, you’ve already won.
One of the best ways to improve your online reputation is to flood the internet with good content—and that’s where ORM agencies shine.
They’ll help you create content that shows your business in the best possible light, like:
But it doesn’t stop there. A great ORM agency also knows how to optimize that content so it ranks well in Google and shows up on platforms where your audience spends time.
The goal is simple: when someone searches for your business, they find content that builds trust, answers their questions, and shows why they should choose you.
Think of your ORM agency as your brand’s hype team and crisis manager rolled into one.
They make sure the internet tells your story the right way—highlighting what makes you great, cleaning up what’s not, and making sure your online presence reflects the business you’ve worked hard to build.
And when something negative does happen (because let’s face it, it happens to every business at some point), they’re already on it—minimizing the damage before it hurts your bottom line.
Having a strong reputation management strategy isn’t just about fixing problems after they happen. It’s about being proactive—building a plan to protect your brand before things go wrong, and promoting the best parts of your business along the way.
Think of it like maintaining your car. You don’t wait for the engine to break down before you get an oil change, right? Same idea here. A good strategy helps your online presence stay strong, trustworthy, and ready for anything.
Here’s what a great reputation management strategy looks like, step by step:
Before you can improve your reputation, you need to know what it looks like right now.
Start by searching your business name on Google. What shows up? Are the top results positive, neutral, or negative? Check places like:
This is called an online reputation audit. It helps you see the full picture—what needs to be fixed, what’s working well, and what’s missing.
Pro tip: An ORM agency can run a full audit for you using professional tools that scan hundreds of sources across the web. They’ll find things you might not even know are out there.
Once you know where you stand, it’s time to decide where you want to go.
Your goals might be things like:
Setting clear goals helps you stay focused. It also makes it easier to track your progress and adjust your strategy over time.
One of the best ways to improve your online reputation is to add more great stuff to the internet about your brand.
This content can include:
All of this helps push down older or unwanted content in search results, while building your authority and improving how people feel about your business.
Remember, Google loves fresh, helpful content. So do your customers.
Good reviews are like online gold. They build trust, improve SEO, and influence buying decisions.
A big part of any ORM agency’s reputation management strategy is helping you collect more positive reviews from happy customers—without being pushy or annoying.
Some easy ways to do this:
The more authentic reviews you collect, the better. And don’t forget to respond to them—both positive and negative. That shows customers (and Google) that you care.
Even if you do everything right, negative content or reviews can still happen. That’s why your reputation management strategy should include a clear plan for what to do when things go wrong.
This might include:
The key is not to panic. A trusted ORM agency knows how to respond in a way that protects your brand, shows accountability, and keeps small issues from turning into big ones.
A smart reputation management strategy is one of the best investments you can make in your business. It’s not just about defense—it’s about promotion, visibility, and trust.
With the help of an experienced ORM agency, you can:
Here’s how a good Online Reputation Management team would tackle this situation:
First, they’d help you create a simple, automated way to collect fresh 5-star reviews from happy customers. This could include:
The more positive reviews you collect, the faster your rating goes up—and the more those old reviews start to fade into the background.
Next, the ORM agency would work with you to write blog posts and website content that highlight your strengths. For example:
All of this content helps tell a better, more up-to-date story about your business.
To make sure people see the good stuff first, the agency would optimize this new content for SEO. That means using the right keywords, formatting it properly, and building backlinks so it shows up higher in search results than those old complaints.
They might also update your business listings, fix any inconsistent info online, and improve your local SEO ranking.
ORM isn’t just about words—it’s about visuals too.
Your agency might help you create videos, team photos, or short reels for social media. These show real people providing great service, which builds trust and helps humanize your brand.
People want to know who they’re buying from. A friendly face and a positive story can go a long way.
In just a few months, your dealership’s online presence starts to transform. Now when someone searches your name, they see:
Instead of focusing on outdated complaints, new customers start thinking:
“Wow—this place looks great. I want to check it out.”
That’s the power of an ORM agency in action.
When someone Googles your brand, the search results act like your digital storefront. The first few links—and even the review stars they see—shape how people feel about your business before they ever click.
A great ORM agency uses SEO techniques to shape and clean up those search results so your best content rises to the top.
Here’s how they do it:
One of the easiest ways to push down negative content is to create new, helpful, keyword-rich content about your brand.
That means writing blog posts, FAQs, and landing pages that include:
This content is then optimized to show up in search results—so people are more likely to see your best work first.
Search engines like Google look at how many websites link to a page when deciding how high to rank it.
ORM agencies use link-building strategies to send traffic and authority to the pages you want people to find, like:
The more links those pages have, the higher they rank—and the faster negative or outdated results get buried.
Your website and social channels are often the first things Google will show when people search your name. But only if they’re set up correctly.
An ORM agency will make sure your site is optimized with:
They’ll also clean up your social profiles to make sure they’re active, branded, and fully filled out. When everything is aligned, it sends a strong signal to search engines—and to your customers—that your business is legit and trustworthy.
Ever notice how some businesses show up in search results with gold stars and ratings under their names?
That’s not magic. It’s SEO.
ORM agencies use schema markup (a type of website code) to help review data show up in search listings. Those stars instantly boost your credibility—and can increase your click-through rate by up to 35%.
Why? Because people love social proof. Seeing that a 4.9-star average right under your name gives them a reason to trust you before they even visit your site.
If your ORM agency isn’t using SEO, they’re not doing the full job.
And if your SEO team isn’t thinking about your reputation, you could end up ranking content that hurts your brand instead of helping it.
When these two strategies work together, you don’t just look good—you stay ahead of anything that might try to damage your reputation down the line.
Let’s be real—almost every business needs some level of reputation management. If your brand shows up online, it’s being judged every single day by potential customers, partners, and even future employees.
But there are a few situations where having a strong reputation management strategy is especially important.
You definitely need an ORM agency if:
Maybe someone posted a one-star review that went viral. Maybe a blog wrote something unfair. Or maybe an old news article still shows up at the top of your search results.
Even if the issue was small—or happened years ago—it can still hurt your brand today. An ORM agency helps clean up your search results and build positive content that reflects who you are now, not who you were then.
Rolling out a new product, opening a new location, or starting a fresh marketing campaign? First impressions matter more than ever during launch.
With ORM support, you can make sure your online presence looks sharp, trustworthy, and current—so customers feel confident right away.
Do a quick search of your business name. Are the top results helpful and accurate? Or do they include:
If the answer is anything less than great, it’s time for a refresh. A solid reputation management strategy puts your best content front and center.
As your business scales, so does your digital footprint—and the risk of something slipping through the cracks.
An ORM agency helps you stay ahead of any potential issues by monitoring your reputation in real time, improving your SEO, and making sure customers see a consistent, polished image everywhere they find you online.
Sometimes, nothing’s “wrong”—but your online presence feels scattered or incomplete.
Maybe your reviews are okay, but you want more. Maybe your brand story isn’t coming through in search results. Or maybe your competitors look stronger online than they really are.
In any of these cases, working with a reputation expert gives you the tools and strategy to take control of how the internet sees your business.
At THAT Agency, we help brands of all sizes take charge of their online reputation—before someone else defines it for them.
As a full-service ORM agency, we don’t just react when something goes wrong. We help you build a strong foundation of trust, visibility, and authority that supports your business long-term.
Here’s what we bring to the table:
Whether you’re a local business trying to stand out in your market, or a larger company looking to control the conversation around your brand, we tailor our approach to fit your needs—not some one-size-fits-all template.
Don’t let a few bad reviews, outdated posts, or unfair mentions damage everything you’ve worked so hard to build.
Partner with an ORM agency that knows how to turn your reputation into one of your biggest strengths.
Click here to explore THAT Agency’s Reputation Management Services
Or just contact us to start the conversation. We’re happy to help—and ready when you are.
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