Brand Safety in AI: Protecting Your Reputation When Algorithms Control the Narrative

Who controls your brand narrative? In the age of AI, it’s not just you or the press – it’s algorithms and models that aggregate and present information about your brand to the world.

This reality makes brand safety in AI a critical concern. Misinformation, outdated data, or even malicious content can be picked up and amplified by AI systems, potentially harming your reputation.

In this blog, we discuss how to protect your brand when ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, and others are “telling your story.” We’ll cover steps to monitor what AI is saying about you, how to correct inaccuracies (both at the source and by direct feedback to AI providers), how to handle negative or sensitive content that could surface, and how to proactively feed positive, accurate information into the AI ecosystem.

By being vigilant and proactive, you can maintain trust and credibility even as algorithms increasingly control the narrative.

Risks to Brand Safety in the AI Era

  • Misinformation and “Hallucinations”: AI can “make up” facts if it doesn’t have reliable info. For example, it might confuse your brand with another. A lawyer’s case even showed ChatGPT citing fake cases 33.

  • Outdated Information: AI models have training cutoffs. If your brand changed recently (new CEO, rebrand, resolved crisis), they may present old info 41.

  • Negative Content Amplification: Prominent negative articles or reviews can be surfaced without balance. E.g., “Brand had a data breach in 2022”.

  • Lack of Context/Nuance: AI may present sensitive facts without resolution (e.g., past accusations without noting they were cleared).

  • Defamation and Troll Content: Smears via semi-reputable blogs or impersonation can seep into AI outputs.

Strategies to Protect Your Brand

1. Monitor AI Mentions and Outputs

  • Regularly “audit” AI: ask, “What is [Brand]?”, “Is [Brand] reliable?”

  • Check indirect prompts: “Best companies in [industry]”.

  • Search for your brand on Wikipedia, Wikidata, Q&A forums, and media — main sources AI pulls from.

  • Use emerging monitoring tools (Forethought, etc.).

2. Correcting Inaccuracies at the Source

  • Update public info: Correct Wikipedia, your site’s About page, Google Knowledge Panel.

  • Provide AI feedback: Thumbs-down wrong ChatGPT/Bard answers and add corrections.

  • Escalate if serious: For defamatory cases, reach out directly (OpenAI and Google have forms for defamation requests).

  • Publish clarifications: Blog posts or social fact-checks help both AI and human audiences.

3. Proactive Reputation Management

  • Feed positive narratives: Publish achievements, CSR activities, partnerships. Gartner predicts 30% of companies will employ dedicated “AI-SEO” staff by 2026 30 84.

  • Address past issues openly: Provide official statements clarifying and showing resolutions.

  • Encourage balanced reviews: AI often phrases responses as “most customers say X, though some note Y”.

  • Secure high-authority mentions: Favorable coverage in Forbes, industry journals, etc. gets weighted heavily by AI 21.

4. Preventing Misuse of Your Brand

  • Deepfake & voice misuse: Clarify official channels, watermark media, support AI watermarking efforts.

  • Secure domains/names: Prevent confusion from fake sites (e.g., brandxofficial.com).

  • Report impersonation: To hosts, Google, or regulators when needed.

5. Responding to AI-Driven Crises

If false/damaging AI content goes viral:

  1. Release official statement correcting the record.

  2. Contact AI providers to fix errors.

  3. Publish clarifications on your own channels (and use SEO/ads if needed to outrank misinformation).

  4. Explore legal action if defamatory and harmful.

Example Cases

  • A financial firm faced a PR issue when ChatGPT wrongly reported negative performance. They corrected it via press releases and AI provider contact.

  • A law firm saw Bing reference an old lawsuit as ongoing; updating their site to highlight the case’s resolution fixed it.

  • Positive case: a brand rebranded and ensured updates in Wikipedia/news → AI quickly reflected the new narrative.

Conclusion

As AI becomes a go-to information source, brands must treat it as both an opportunity and a risk.

Protecting your reputation in this realm requires constant vigilance, quick action on inaccuracies, and a proactive approach to feeding AI with the best representation of your brand.

It’s about ensuring that when algorithms speak about you, they speak the truth – ideally, the truth that casts you in a fair, if not favorable, light.

By implementing the strategies above, you can navigate this new landscape with confidence, turning potential algorithmic pitfalls into another channel for reinforcing the strength of your brand.