For Investors, Acquirers, Boards & Counsel
Reputational Due Diligencefor M&A, PE, and IPO Decisions
Before you invest, acquire, partner, or appoint, we deliver a discreet, structured read on a subject's public reputational risk. Adverse media, search results, litigation visibility, and how they show up in AI answers, in one clear red-flag report. Confidential under NDA from the first call.
Discreet, Senior-Led, Confidential
Strategy by Anthony Will, Founder & CEO · 13+ years in ORM · 5,000+ clients- When it's used. Pre-investment, pre-acquisition, pre-partnership, and pre-hire checks on a company, founder, executive, counterparty, or board candidate. Why it matters →
- What you receive. A structured red-flag report with severity ratings across media, search, litigation visibility, social, and AI answers, with an optional remediation plan. What we cover →
- How we work. Senior, founder-led analysis of publicly available information, confidential under NDA from the first conversation. Start a confidential assessment →
What is reputational due diligence?
The short answer
Reputational due diligence is a discreet, structured assessment of a subject's public reputational risk profile before a transaction, investment, partnership, or hire. Working from publicly available and open-source information, we map how a target company, founder, executive, counterparty, or board candidate is represented across adverse media and news, search results and autocomplete, litigation and record visibility, social and forum presence, and AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. The output is a clear red-flag report with severity ratings, and where relevant a remediation plan. It is reputational and digital-footprint diligence, not an FCRA-regulated background check, a credit check, licensed private investigation, or legal, financial, or investment advice.
The risk the data room misses, and how we surface it
The risk that sinks a deal or an appointment usually is not in the data room. Financials, contracts, and filings are covered by standard diligence, but a founder's adverse media history, a counterparty's pattern of complaints, a damaging search-results footprint, or a confidently wrong AI answer often is not, and any of them can shape a transaction just as much. A reputational issue that surfaces after you invest, acquire, partner, or hire costs far more to manage than it would have to surface beforehand, and the association becomes your problem the moment it is made.
Every engagement is confidential under a strict NDA from the first conversation, whether the request comes from a deal team, general counsel, a board chair, or a principal directly, and we begin by scoping the subject and the decision behind it so the review is proportionate to what is actually at stake. The research is systematic and senior-led, not handed to junior researchers, because reading reputational risk accurately is a judgment task: we assess adverse media and news, the search-results and autocomplete landscape, publicly visible litigation and records, social and forum presence, and how the subject is represented in AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. We work only from publicly available and open-source information and are candid about what that scope can and cannot establish, and we say plainly that this is reputational and digital-footprint diligence, not an FCRA-regulated background check, a credit check, licensed private investigation, or legal, financial, or investment advice.
You receive a clear red-flag report that rates each finding by severity, separates verified issues from unverified allegations, and flags what warrants a closer look versus what is noise. Where a genuine exposure is identified and the subject is a party you may still transact or partner with, we can outline an optional remediation plan, drawing on the same removal and suppression work we have delivered across more than 5,000 engagements in 40+ countries since 2013. Turnaround is set to your deal timeline, and the entire engagement stays confidential.
Why Reputational Checks Matter in Diligence
The risk that financial diligence misses
Reputational risk sits outside the data room
Financials, contracts, and legal filings are covered by standard diligence. A founder's adverse media history, a counterparty's pattern of complaints, or a damaging search-results footprint often is not, and it can shape a deal or an appointment just as much.
Post-close surprises are expensive
A reputational issue that surfaces after you invest, acquire, or hire can cost far more to manage than it would have to surface it beforehand. Diligence is the cheapest point at which to learn what you are taking on.
Headline and association risk is real
In M&A, PE and VC investment, partnerships, and senior hiring, your name becomes associated with the subject's. A public reputational problem can become your problem the moment the association is made.
AI answers now form the first impression
Investors, partners, counsel, and journalists increasingly ask an AI answer engine about a company or person first. What ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, or Perplexity say about a subject is now part of their reputational risk profile, and we assess it directly.
What A Report Covers
Every public surface, one structured read
Adverse media & news coverage
News, trade press, and blog coverage, screened for adverse findings, controversies, resolved-versus-current framing, and coverage that signals a pattern rather than a one-off.
Search results & autocomplete
The first-page search-results and autocomplete landscape tied to the subject's name and entities, showing what anyone running the same check would immediately see.
Litigation & record visibility
Publicly visible litigation, filings, and records tied to the subject, assessed for what is actually surfacing in public view. This is visibility of public information, not a licensed investigation or a legal opinion.
Social, forum & AI-answer presence
Social and forum presence, plus how the subject is represented in AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity, where a first impression is increasingly formed.
The Process
How a diligence engagement runs
- 01
Scoping under NDA
Confidential.We sign an NDA and scope the subject, the decision behind the request, and the depth required, so the review is proportionate and confidential from the first conversation. Senior, founder-led throughout.
- 02
Structured research
Open-source.We systematically assess adverse media, the search and autocomplete landscape, litigation and record visibility, social and forum presence, and AI-answer representation, working only from publicly available and open-source information.
- 03
Red-flag report
Severity-rated.You receive a clear report that rates each finding by severity, separates verified issues from unverified allegations, and flags what warrants a closer look. Findings inform your decision; they are not a legal opinion.
- 04
Optional remediation
If you need it.Where a genuine exposure is identified and you still intend to transact or partner, we can outline a remediation plan drawing on our removal and suppression work. Optional and separate from the assessment.
Free to find out. No obligation, no pressure.
Get a free, honest assessment of what we can actually do, with no upfront cost and no obligation.
Honest Timelines
How fast can you turn this around?
No honest firm quotes one number for everything. The timeline depends on the type of work, so these are the real ranges we quote by scenario, and you get a case-specific estimate in writing before you commit to anything.
A focused, senior-led read on a single subject when a deal, offer, or partnership is moving quickly and you need the reputational picture fast.
A full structured assessment across all coverage areas on a company, founder, executive, or counterparty, sized to your deal timeline.
Several related subjects or entities, or coverage spanning multiple jurisdictions, where the public footprint is larger and more distributed.
The red-flag report on your timeline, followed by an optional remediation plan for any exposure you choose to act on.
AI Search & LLMs
What ChatGPT & Google AI Overviews say about a subject
More people now read an AI answer before they ever click a result. For a subject, that answer is the new first impression. If it repeats an old complaint, a false claim, or a competitor's talking point, it shapes the decision before you even know the conversation happened.
The answer is assembled from sources. We change the sources.
ChatGPTGoogle AI Overviews
Gemini
Perplexity
ClaudeAI answers trace back to what ranks
Google says its AI Overviews are grounded in its core Search ranking, and ChatGPT and Perplexity cite what is indexed and authoritative. So what AI says about you is not random, it comes from sources you can actually influence.
We audit what AI says today
We prompt ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews the way real people ask about you, document every answer, and trace each claim back to the source feeding it.
We correct it at the source
We remove or suppress the false and damaging sources, strengthen accurate authoritative content, and reinforce your verified entity data and Knowledge Panel, so as the models re-read the web their answers move with the truth.
We are honest about the limits
No one can edit an AI model's output directly, and we will not pretend otherwise. Change comes from the sources and takes time as models refresh; we monitor each engine and re-check rather than assume one fix holds.
Monitor
We track what AI says about a subject, monthly
A recurring prompt panel across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews logs how you are described, what gets cited, and what changed, so a bad answer is caught before it spreads.
AI reputation monitoring →Influence
We change the sources AI draws from
No one can edit an AI's answer directly. We correct, remove, or outrank the sources behind it, structure your own site so models cite it (LLM SEO), and build presence on the third-party surfaces models trust (LLM seeding).
LLM seeding & LLM SEO →Why We're Different
Reputational due diligence vs. a background check or PR firm
| Feature | Generic Background Check / PR Firm | Reputation Resolutions |
|---|---|---|
| What it delivers | A records report, or messaging and media relationships | A structured reputational risk read across media, search, litigation visibility, social, and AI answers |
| AI-answer footprint | Not addressed | How the subject appears in ChatGPT, AI Overviews, and Perplexity, assessed directly |
| Severity & context | Raw records or general narrative | Findings rated by severity, verified issues separated from unverified allegations |
| Analysis level | Automated database, or account team | Senior, founder-led judgment on what the findings actually mean |
| Confidentiality | Varies | Strict NDA from first contact, cross-jurisdictional |
| If a red flag is found | You are on your own | Optional remediation plan drawing on our removal and suppression work |
Who runs your case
Senior specialists, no junior handoffs
Reputation Resolutions is run and managed by a world-class team of online reputation management experts. Your case is handled by senior, multidisciplinary specialists: removal strategists who know each platform's rulebook, SEO and content experts who rebuild your search results, legal partners for the matters that need them, veteran PR professionals, and AI-search specialists who help you control what LLMs like ChatGPT say about you. There are no junior handoffs and no learning on your case, and every person here treats your name as if it were their own.
Get Started
Request a confidential assessment
A discreet, senior-led read on a subject's public reputational risk, scoped to your decision and delivered on your timeline. Confidential under NDA.
Free & Confidential
Start a Confidential Diligence Engagement
No obligation. Tell us the decision you're weighing and we'll scope a discreet assessment.
- A free audit to start, no cost and no obligation
- You pay only for results, never a retainer
- 5,000+ clients since 2013 across 40+ countries
- Confidential and senior-led from the first call
Reputational Due Diligence FAQs
Reputational Due Diligence, Answered Honestly.
The same straight talk we give every deal team, board, and principal on their confidential call.
It's a discreet, structured assessment of a subject's public reputational risk profile before a transaction, investment, partnership, or hire. We map how a target company, founder, executive, counterparty, or board candidate is represented across adverse media, search results and autocomplete, litigation and record visibility, social and forum presence, and AI answer engines, then deliver a red-flag report with severity ratings and, where relevant, a remediation plan.
No, and we're careful to say so plainly. This is reputational and open-source digital-footprint due diligence. It is not an FCRA-regulated background check, a credit check, or licensed private investigation, and it is not legal, financial, or investment advice. We assess publicly available and open-source information, and our findings inform your decision rather than serving as a legal opinion.
Most commonly in M&A and corporate development, private equity and venture investment, partnership and counterparty vetting, and pre-hire checks on executives or board candidates. In short, any moment your name is about to become associated with a subject's and you want to understand the reputational risk before you commit.
Expedited single-subject checks can turn around in 48 to 72 hours, with standard assessments typically one to two weeks and larger or cross-jurisdictional work two to four weeks. Every engagement is confidential under a strict NDA from the first conversation, and we don't disclose the engagement or the subject to anyone outside your team.
Adverse media and news coverage, the search-results and autocomplete landscape, publicly visible litigation and records, social and forum presence, and how the subject is represented in AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. Each finding is rated by severity, and we separate verified issues from unverified allegations so you can see what warrants a closer look.
The report tells you plainly, with severity ratings and context. If the exposure is genuine and you still intend to transact, partner, or hire, we can outline an optional remediation plan that draws on the removal and suppression work we've delivered across thousands of engagements. That step is separate from and optional to the assessment itself.
Yes, directly. Investors, partners, counsel, and journalists increasingly ask ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, or Perplexity about a company or person first, so how a subject is represented there is now part of their reputational risk profile. We assess it as a standard part of the review and can address the underlying source content through remediation where it matters.
Senior, founder-led analysts, not junior researchers. Reputation Resolutions was founded in 2013 and has completed more than 5,000 engagements across 40+ countries, holds an A+ BBB rating, and has been recognized by the Forbes Agency Council and Inc. Reading reputational risk accurately is a judgment task, and we staff it accordingly.
Still not sure if your situation qualifies?
Get a straight answer from a senior specialist in one call: free, confidential, and you'll know exactly where you stand before you decide anything.
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