Today’s digital environment is unforgiving for global brands. The fallout of short-sighted strategy choices, misinformation, negative coverage and overlooked executive reputation gets amplified tenfold in search and chat.
As generative AI becomes the primary interface between audiences and information, brands face a growing risk: AI systems speak based on the information they see and trust. Without actively shaping that corpus, brands cede narrative control to third parties.
As AI adoption accelerates in 2026, what goes uncorrected today becomes tomorrow’s default narrative.
Mistake 1: Reacting to crises as they arise
A major error even the biggest brands make is treating controversy as a one-time event to react to, instead of something that’s minimized through proactive infrastructure. Today’s digital ecosystem proves that reaction isn’t enough. AI platforms can recirculate negative coverage indefinitely, resurfacing old controversies long after events pass. Unprepared brands face a massive risk when it comes to losing control of their brand narrative and stakeholder trust.
Take Southwest Airlines, for example. Today, a quick ChatGPT search about Southwest still mentions the company’s 2022 holiday season service disruption, which affected almost 17,000 flights due to the winter storm Elliott.
At the time, the brand was unprepared for the long-reaching flood of negative content related to the event. Instead of having a network of owned assets to influence the narrative in the event of a crisis, the airline was trapped in reaction mode, scrambling to mitigate reputational harm from behind.
High-profile crises like this damage financial health — including a $140 million fine by the U.S. Department of Transportation — but the narrative impact often lasts far longer. This coverage still appears in Southwest’s branded search results in 2026, showing how AI systems continue to surface outdated narratives long after events pass.
Crisis management must be an ongoing strategy of monitoring, response and reinforcement, powered by brand-influenced content. Brands must continuously publish updated, authentic content that is targeted and at a sufficient scale to influence negative sentiment in a positive direction. It’s the secret to coming out on top when the inevitable happens.
Dig deeper: How digital visibility drives — or destroys — brand trust
Mistake 2: Neglecting the importance of executive reputation
The personal reputations of executives have grown inseparable from the trustworthiness and market value of their organizations. Organic search results and generated responses increasingly link executive behavior directly to brand credibility, associating leadership actions and missteps with whether a company is perceived as trustworthy.
Through periods of controversy, third-party coverage and AI platforms can amplify executive narratives one response at a time, making leadership behavior inseparable from brand identity in generated outputs. When negative sentiment dominates that corpus, it doesn’t stay contained — it becomes the default context audiences encounter.
That dynamic played out clearly following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022. The controversy surrounding Musk’s leadership style and rapid operational changes triggered advertiser boycotts and ongoing public scrutiny. Over time, third-party content and AI-driven responses reinforced those associations, tying the Twitter brand closely to Musk’s personal controversies rather than the platform’s broader value proposition. Within two years, the company was estimated to be worth 79% less, reflecting how deeply leadership credibility and brand trust had eroded.
Executive reputation has a direct and measurable impact on brand perception, trustworthiness and financial health. Brands that underestimate the role of executive narratives — or treat them as separate from marketing and communications strategy — risk losing control of how they are represented in AI-generated environments. Marketing and communications leaders must account for executive reputation as part of broader brand planning to maintain narrative control and preferred visibility with target audiences.
Dig deeper: GenAI is telling your brand’s story — with or without you
Mistake 3: Recklessly using AI with limited oversight
AI-related ethical concerns, questions about best practices and oversight are trending topics as global organizations continue to integrate AI. Companies that rely on AI solutions for business operations without instituting data security, privacy, transparency and bias best practices risk backlash from consumers, prospective hires and employees alike.
iTutorGroup is one example. An English-language tutoring services provider, iTutorGroup, allegedly used an AI hiring tool to automatically reject job applicants based on their age. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued iTutorGroup for age discrimination, becoming the first EEOC anti-discrimination lawsuit involving AI software. This story remains a common narrative point in branded AI responses, continually associating the company with a past controversy rather than its current initiatives.
As companies roll out AI systems to support day-to-day operations, those efforts must include documented, consistent ethics and oversight. Many AI-driven controversies are avoidable through responsible deployment, governance and oversight. Ensure that fairness, transparency and accountability are your guides to protect your brand’s reputation.
Dig deeper: The hidden AI risk that could break your brand
Reputation management in an AI-first era
Reputation is fragile, cumulative and algorithmically amplified. It must now be managed as a system, just as critical as revenue, product innovation or customer acquisition.
As we move into 2026, consider learning from these three examples and evolving your brand to meet the challenges of the moment, navigating a new path. Approach reputation management as a continuous project, be clear about how much executive reputation matters for brand health and make AI governance an internal imperative as AI becomes the norm.
Take these steps to make a long-term investment in your reputation. It’s an opportunity for your brand and leaders to be known for their successes instead of their mistakes.
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Contributing authors are invited to create content for MarTech and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the martech community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. MarTech is owned by Semrush. Contributor was not asked to make any direct or indirect mentions of Semrush. The opinions they express are their own.
