To
Adult, wellness and nightlife brand teams
From
BrandAfterdark
Re
Reputation
Date
· 8 min read

Adult brand search reputation: a step-by-step cleanup

Many search reputation problems for adult brands are not scandals. They are old pages, exposed personal details and a thin first page. How to find each one, use the right Google tool, and fill the page with results that belong there.

Illustration of a briefing memo listing four reputation steps

Step 1: Search like a stranger

Open a private browser window and run the searches an investor, reporter or customer would. Start with your brand name on its own, then add words people use when they are unsure: reviews, scam, legit, complaints. Repeat for each founder and spokesperson, and for your main product names. Save a screenshot of the first page for each.

Then ask two or three AI assistants simple questions: what is this brand, is it trustworthy, who runs it. Keep the answers. They draw on the same web, and they often surface pages your team has forgotten.

Step 2: Sort every result

Put each result on the first page into one of six groups. The group decides the response.

GroupExampleResponse
YoursYour site, your profilesKeep accurate and current
EarnedPress coverageLink to it from your own pages
OutdatedA deleted article still listedRefresh request
PersonalA founder's address or ID numberRemoval request
Fair criticismA complaint threadFix the problem, reply once
UnfoundedA copied or false pageContact the site; legal route only if there is a real basis

Step 3: Use the right removal route

  • Personal contact details and ID numbers: Google's Results about you. Since February 2026 it covers driver's license, passport and Social Security numbers as well as phone numbers, emails and home addresses.
  • Non-consensual explicit images: the "It shows a sexual image of me" request from the image's menu in Google Images, with an option to filter similar results in future.
  • Pages already changed or deleted: Google's Refresh Outdated Content tool, for pages that no longer exist or have removed important content. It will not work while the content is still live.
  • Everything else still online: the site owner first. Removing a result from Google does not remove the page from the web.

Step 4: Build pages that deserve to rank

A thin first page fills with whatever is left. Give search engines better options you control: a clear about page, a leadership page with accurate bios under the names your people use in public, a press page listing coverage, and consistent profiles on the professional sites where your industry is discussed. Mark up your organization details so search engines connect them.

Keep public and legal names apart

If a founder uses a professional name, every owned page should use it consistently. Never publish a legal name on a page meant to rank for the public one.

Step 5: Earn coverage

Owned pages only go so far. Independent coverage in outlets search engines trust tends to rank for a brand's name and shapes what AI assistants say. That is the work described in our digital PR guide and expert commentary.

Step 6: Check monthly

Repeat the same searches and AI questions once a month, from the same list, and compare with your screenshots. New problems are far easier to handle in their first week than their first year. If you would rather hand this over, it is the core of our brand reputation work.

On the record: questions

Which searches should we check?

Your brand name alone, with words like reviews, scam and legit, each founder and spokesperson name, and your main product names. Check in a private window, and ask two or three AI assistants the same questions.

A site deleted an old article but it still shows in Google. What now?

Use Google's Refresh Outdated Content tool. It asks Google to update results for pages that no longer exist or have removed important content. It does not work while the content is still live.

Should we reply to negative threads?

Sometimes. A calm, factual reply that fixes a real problem can rank well and read better than silence. Arguing never helps.

For immediate release

Your brand has a story. Let us find the reporter who wants it.

The PR opportunity review is free. Tell us about the brand and any news coming up, and we reply with the angles we would pitch, the outlets that cover them, and what to leave alone.

Request a PR opportunity review