In this age of alternative facts, with megalomaniacs in power, checks for misinformation being removed at the rate of knots, and the tsunami of AI ‘fakes’ adding insult to injury, how do we build our professional reputation?
When the world’s largest social media companies have deprioritised content moderation and are busy rolling back other protections for users’ trust and safety, how do we accurately represent ourselves in a way that is believed?
How do we create a personal brand in 2025, when AI is enabling acres of useful, valuable, relevant marketing to be generated in a matter of moments? How do we stand out, build our professional reputation, and render our competitors irrelevant amid changing consumer behaviours and diminishing digital returns?
Done well, your professional reputation becomes a bankable asset – enabling you to command higher fees, reduce marketing costs as opportunities come to you, attract partnerships that further amplify your visibility, and increase your business resilience during economic downturns.
As we navigate through 2025, the rules of reputation-building are shifting dramatically, creating challenges as well as opportunities for consultants, coaches, experts, and thought leaders.
The new world of influence: Branding, publicity, SEO, social partnerships
When I left the Public Relations industry in 2007, it was at the precipice of the explosion of social media. This wreaked havoc on the PR industry, pitching old school broadcast media, reputation-management PRs who were slow to embrace digital, against the rising new breed of digital and social media natives, who had far less idea about the nuances of credibility and authority.
My proprietary Influence Framework was developed out of this need for an omnichannel, holistic approach to building influence, through a combination of PR and publicity, SEO and content, digital marketing and networking — not as separate disciplines, but as interconnected elements of a cohesive reputation strategy.
Today’s most effective PR strategies focus on creating genuine relationships with platforms and people, which could include podcast appearances, influencer marketing and user-generated content (UGC), speaking engagements, or collaborative content with complementary experts.
Everything is interlinked; when you appear on a podcast, the backlinks from that show’s website boost your search visibility. When you’re quoted in an industry publication, those mentions create digital breadcrumbs that lead new audiences back to your platforms.
Google’s algorithm values expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) more than ever, which means that your content must demonstrate deep knowledge, while also building strategic associations (read: backlinks and website appearances) with relevant, established, credible platforms.
AI has fundamentally altered how we approach search visibility. With AI search assistants providing direct answers rather than lists of links, your content must now be structured to address specific questions with exceptional clarity and depth.
The omnichannel approach has become non-negotiable. Your reputation exists across multiple platforms simultaneously, and while you absolutely don’t need to be everywhere, having a strategic presence on key platforms creates a powerful network effect, with each touchpoint reinforcing your credibility exponentially.
When someone discovers you, you want them to have a Netflix-binge-worthy experience of you – with a ‘go to’ body of work where they can quickly understand your insights, opinions, and ideas
This integrated approach to PR, SEO, and digital marketing doesn’t happen by accident. It requires insight into how the differing elements work together to build your professional reputation.
Credibility through character
Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female Prime Minister and feminist icon, aided by her viral misogyny speech, was repeatedly reminded that she voted against gay marriage. Her credibility suffered. Admitting that she ‘got it wrong’ went a long way to rebuilding that credibility.
Gillard demonstrated something valuable here – that it’s okay to get it wrong or change your mind – in fact, it’s far preferrable to mistaking integrity for obstinance.
Your professional reputation isn’t just about being known – there are plenty of people who are well known for all the wrong reasons – it’s about being known for something specific and valuable, that’s actually representative of who you are.
You can buy authority, via a talented PR team and behind-the-scenes people. But you cannot buy credibility.
The foundation of any lasting professional reputation is character. In a sophisticated market, audiences have developed a sixth sense for authenticity; we expect transparency and when it’s not given, it’s easy enough to uncover it. In a sophisticated market, we can see when someone is genuinely passionate, or simply chasing trends or engagement metrics.
True credibility emerges from a combination of expertise and genuine character. It’s your everyday small decisions, habits and routines, your emotional regulation when under pressure, your apologies and clarifications. Otherwise known as walking your talk, doing what you say you’re going to do, and how you act when no one is watching.
Your digital footprint – including your comments on other people’s posts, in forums where you believe confidentiality is assured – will be accessible for years to come. Rather than let this to become self-censorship; instead, recognise this invaluable opportunity to get to know yourself, trust yourself, and live in alignment with yourself.
Technology may change, but the fundamental human desire to work with people we trust remains constant. In this new world of influence, establishing credibility through character isn’t just good ethics — it’s good business.
Don’t outsource your creative thinking
Resist the temptation to outsource the very thing that makes you unique – your thinking. By all means, delegate the heavy lifting, but hold onto your original insights and hard-won perspectives.
While your opinions, insights and perspectives may be shared by others, your stories from which these sprung are unique to you alone, and must be told if they’re to be remembered, and repeated.
When the commodity of the age of information is our attention, then the most valuable currency in the attention economy is original thinking.
Anyone can repackage existing ideas – business books are full of them – but those who contribute fresh perspectives, challenge common wisdom, or synthesise established concepts into new approaches, create intellectual value that builds remarkable reputations.
This is the edge of where reputation- and publicity-building and thought leadership blur – because thought leadership is not marketing, and marketing is not thought leadership.
You can be a genuine thought leader with next-to-no marketing nor visibility, and you can have high visibility and a solid reputation, without being a thought leader. Confusing the two is where delusion resides.
This doesn’t mean that your every insight must be revolutionary. Sometimes, your unique value comes from explaining established concepts with exceptional clarity, applying principles across different contexts, or simply articulating what others think, but struggle to express.
Outsource the amplification of your thinking, but ensure your core ideas, densely branded language, and expert frameworks remain uniquely yours.
Our response to controversy is important
Leaders are forged in hard times, not good. The question isn’t whether or not you’ll encounter controversial topics – it’s how you’ll navigate this when it inevitably arises.
In March 2020, I unfollowed and disengaged from a marketer I had respected for years, when she jumped onto an international flight, seemingly to put herself at the centre of the action.
Controversial engagement may create short-term visibility, aided by algorithmic amplification, but it’ll erode your hard-won credibility.
Every field has fault lines, of competing methodologies, ethical dilemmas, or shifting best practices; how you position yourself relative to these tensions communicates volumes. You don’t need to have an opinion on everything, but avoiding controversial topics is the faster way to become the elevator music of the internet.
Approach potential controversy with intention rather than reaction, which means:
- Choosing which discussions warrant your engagement
- Responding thoughtfully rather than impulsively
- Focusing on adding clarity to complexity, rather than taking sides
- Maintaining respect for those with different perspectives
Your response to controversy signals your intellectual integrity, emotional intelligence, and professional judgment. Leaders who can contribute to divisive topics with nuance, clarity and respect build far stronger reputations far faster, than those who avoid difficult conversations entirely.
Your reputation is a bankable asset
Establishing your professional reputation isn’t merely a nice-to-have — it’s a quantifiable, bankable asset that creates a competitive advantage. When potential clients or partners can easily discover your expertise through multiple channels, when your name consistently appears in conversations about your field, when the ‘word on the street’ about you is generally positive, you’ve built an asset that generates opportunities for years to come.
This asset appreciates over time, creating exponential, compounding returns. Like any valuable asset, your reputation-building efforts need to adapted to changing market conditions, technological shifts, and evolving client needs.
Professionals who recognise their reputation as a strategic asset invest in it consistently, measuring returns not just in immediate revenue, but in long-term growth opportunities.
If you’re interested in developing a strategic approach to building your professional reputation in this new landscape, I’m hosting a two-day live masterclass called ‘Reputation Revolution’, on May 17 and 21. We’ll dive deeper into these topics and provide you with actionable frameworks for turning your reputation into a bankable asset. Learn more and nab your spot now.
