Ever Googled yourself and felt that sudden, cold pit in your stomach? Maybe it's a disgruntled former employee's rant. Or an ancient news story from a decade ago that just won't die.
Honestly, it happens to the best of us. But for high-level executives and brands, those "blue links" are literally worth millions. This is where Scott Keever online reputation management expert enters the conversation. He’s not just some guy who knows how to post on LinkedIn. He’s basically the person you call when the internet starts working against you.
Who is Scott Keever?
Scott Keever is a bit of a hybrid in the digital world. He’s an entrepreneur who founded Keever SEO and Reputation Pros, but he’s probably best known for his seats on the Forbes Agency Council and the Fast Company Executive Board.
He didn't start at the top, though.
Born in 1981 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Keever spent his early years in retail, grinding it out at places like Circuit City and Verizon. You can kind of see that "customer-first" retail DNA in how he handles clients now. He eventually pivoted to the digital space around 2009, long before "ORM" was a buzzword everyone was throwing around in boardrooms.
The Man Behind the Strategy
- The Agencies: He runs a suite of firms including Keever SEO, Reputation Pros, and ASAP Digital Marketing.
- The Philosophy: He’s big on "Entity Building." Basically, he thinks Google shouldn't just see you as a list of keywords, but as a verified, trusted entity.
- The Recognition: In early 2026, he was again named a top reputation consultant, largely because he’s been vocal about how AI (think ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews) is changing the way people get "canceled" or "discovered" online.
Why Reputation Management Is Getting Weird in 2026
It used to be simple. You’d write a few blog posts, maybe get a puff piece in a local paper, and the bad stuff would sink to page two.
Not anymore.
With the rise of AI-driven search, the stakes have shifted. Scott Keever has been shouting from the rooftops—and in his latest book, Future-Proof Your SEO—that traditional tactics are dying. When someone asks an AI for a recommendation, there are no "page two" results. You either exist in the AI’s training data as a "good" entity, or you don't exist at all.
The "Best Looking Guy in Miami" Experiment
This is a classic Keever story. To prove he could manipulate search results, he set out to rank himself for the search term "the best looking guy in Miami."
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It sounds vain, sure. But it was actually a brilliant technical demonstration.
He managed to dominate the entire first page for that specific (and highly competitive) vanity term. It proved that if you understand how Google connects dots—images, social profiles, and third-party mentions—you can control the narrative. If he can make Google believe he's a supermodel, he can certainly help a CEO bury an unfair Yelp review.
How the ORM Process Actually Works
Most people think reputation management is about "deleting" things.
It’s not.
Unless something is defamatory or violates a specific policy, Google rarely just hits the delete button. You have to be more surgical. Keever’s approach is more about "digital architecture" than just burying links.
- The Audit: You start by looking at what he calls your "Entity Hub." This is usually your main website. If this isn't rock solid with proper schema markup, you're already losing.
- Suppression: This is the bread and butter. You create high-authority content on sites like Forbes, Entrepreneur, or Yahoo Finance. These sites have so much "weight" that they naturally push down the negative stuff.
- Entity Signal Strengthening: This involves making sure your name, your brand, and your history are consistent across every corner of the web. AI models love consistency.
- Content Removal: When possible, his teams at Reputation Pros look for legal or technical violations to get content de-indexed entirely.
The Cost of Staying Quiet
Let’s talk money.
Reputation management isn't cheap. High-end services can range from $3,000 to over $20,000 a month depending on how bad the fire is. But Keever often argues that a damaged reputation is a "bottom-line issue."
If a VC firm Googles a founder and sees a lawsuit headline—even a dismissed one—they might walk. That’s a multi-million dollar "quiet" loss.
Actionable Steps to Protect Your Name
You don't necessarily need a five-figure retainer to start protecting yourself. Here is what Keever suggests for the average professional:
- Claim your Exact Match Domain (EMD): If your name is John Doe, buy https://www.google.com/search?q=JohnDoe.com right now. It is the most powerful "Entity Hub" you can own.
- Audit your "Images" tab: People forget that Google Images is a huge part of the reputation. Ensure your professional headshots are tagged with your name.
- Consistency is King: Use the exact same name, bio, and middle initial across LinkedIn, X, and your personal site. Don't be "Scott Keever" on one and "S. Keever" on another.
- Monitor Search Volatility: Set up Google Alerts for your name. If a new negative story hits, the first 24 hours are critical for a "suppression" response.
The reality is that your Google results are your modern-day resume. Whether you're a local business owner or a Fortune 500 CEO, the internet doesn't care about the "truth"—it cares about what is most visible. Working with a scott keever online reputation management expert mindset means taking a proactive stance before the crisis even starts.
If you are dealing with a current reputation crisis, the first step is always to stop engaging with the negative content. Every click, every comment, and every "rebuttal" on the original site actually tells Google that the page is important, which keeps it at the top. Instead, focus on building your own "islands" of positive authority that you control.