Reputation Alerts

Reputation Monitoring Setup Guide

Skill Purpose

Generate a comprehensive reputation monitoring strategy for a business, covering what platforms to track, what tools to use (free and paid), keyword monitoring setup, alert triggers, escalation procedures, team responsibilities, and daily/weekly/monthly checklists. The output is a complete operational playbook that a team can follow immediately.

When to Use

• User wants to set up ongoing reputation monitoring
• User asks how to track reviews, mentions, or brand sentiment over time
• User needs an alert system for negative reviews or social mentions
• User wants to know what tools and processes to use for reputation monitoring
• Triggered by /reputation alerts <business name>

How to Execute

Step 1: Business Profile Discovery

Use WebSearch to understand the business and its digital footprint.

Search queries to run:

"[business name]" reviews
"[business name]" site:google.com/maps
"[business name]" site:yelp.com
"[business name]" site:bbb.org
"[business name]" site:trustpilot.com
"[business name]" site:glassdoor.com
"[business name]" site:reddit.com
"[business name]" complaints OR scam OR terrible OR worst

Establish the monitoring baseline:

Step 2: Platform Monitoring Matrix

Identify every platform where the business has or should have a presence, and assign monitoring priority.

Tier 1: Monitor Daily (High Impact, High Volume)

Tier 2: Monitor Weekly (Moderate Impact)

Tier 3: Monitor Monthly (Lower Volume, Still Important)

Industry-Specific Platform Priorities:

Step 3: Keyword Monitoring Setup

Brand Keywords (Always Monitor):

• Exact business name: "[Business Name]"
• Common misspellings: "[Busness Name]", "[Bussiness Name]"
• Abbreviations: "[BN]", "[B.N.]"
• Product/service names: "[Product Name]"
• CEO/founder name: "[Person Name]" + "[Business Name]"
• Domain name: "[domain.com]"
• Phone number: "[phone number]"

Sentiment Keywords (Pair with Brand Name):

Contextual Keywords (Industry-Specific): Generate 10-15 industry-specific keywords that would indicate someone is discussing the business or its category. Examples:

• Restaurant: food poisoning, health code, wait time, cold food, reservation
• Dentist: overbilling, pain, insurance, wait time, billing dispute
• SaaS: downtime, outage, bug, data loss, pricing increase, cancellation

Step 4: Google Alerts Setup Instructions

Step-by-step setup for each alert:

1. Go to https://www.google.com/alerts
2. Create the following alerts:

Alert 1: Brand Name (Exact Match)

Query: "[Business Name]"
How often: As-it-happens
Sources: Automatic
Language: English
Region: [Business region or Any Region]
How many: All results
Deliver to: [monitoring email address]

Alert 2: Brand + Negative Keywords

Query: "[Business Name]" AND (scam OR fraud OR complaint OR terrible OR lawsuit OR avoid)
How often: As-it-happens
Sources: Automatic
Language: English
Region: Any Region
How many: All results
Deliver to: [monitoring email address]

Alert 3: Brand + Review Keywords

Query: "[Business Name]" AND (review OR reviews OR rating OR rated OR stars)
How often: As-it-happens
Sources: Automatic
Language: English
Region: Any Region
How many: All results
Deliver to: [monitoring email address]

Alert 4: CEO/Founder Name

Query: "[CEO Name]" AND "[Business Name]"
How often: Once a day
Sources: News
Language: English
Region: Any Region
How many: Only the best results
Deliver to: [monitoring email address]

Alert 5: Competitor Monitoring (create one per competitor)

Query: "[Competitor Name]" AND (review OR complaint OR news)
How often: Once a week
Sources: Automatic
Language: English
Region: [Business region]
How many: Only the best results
Deliver to: [monitoring email address]

Pro tip: Create a dedicated email address for alerts (e.g., alerts@businessname.com or a Gmail address like businessname.alerts@gmail.com) and set up filters/labels to organize incoming alerts by type.

Step 5: Monitoring Tools Recommendations

Free Tools:

Paid Tools (by budget tier):

Recommended Stack by Business Size:

Step 6: Alert Triggers and Thresholds

Define what triggers an alert and what priority level it receives.

Alert Priority Levels:

Automatic Escalation Rules:

• Any review mentioning legal/lawsuit/attorney -> Escalate to owner + legal immediately
• Any review mentioning health/safety/injury -> Escalate to owner + operations immediately
• 3 or more negative reviews within 7 days -> Escalate to owner (pattern alert)
• Rating drops below [threshold] on any platform -> Escalate to owner
• Any mention in news/media outlet -> Escalate to owner + PR
• Employee review mentioning harassment/discrimination -> Escalate to HR + legal

Step 7: Escalation Procedures

Escalation Flowchart:

New alert received
       |
       v
Is it a crisis (P0)?
  YES -> Immediately notify Owner/CEO + PR + Legal
         -> Draft holding response within 15 min
         -> Activate crisis protocol (see /reputation crisis)
  NO  -> Continue
       |
       v
Is it negative (P1-P2)?
  YES -> Route to appropriate responder
         -> Draft response using templates (see /reputation respond)
         -> Log in tracking system
         -> Monitor for escalation (replies, shares)
  NO  -> Continue
       |
       v
Is it a review requiring response (P3-P4)?
  YES -> Queue for response within SLA
         -> Use appropriate template
         -> Log in tracking system
  NO  -> Log for monthly report

Response SLA by Platform:

Reddit Note: Reddit requires a careful approach. Do NOT use a branded account to respond defensively. If the business already has a genuine Reddit presence, respond transparently. If not, monitor only and address systemic issues internally. Responding on Reddit when the community perceives it as damage control often backfires.

Step 8: Team Responsibilities

RACI Matrix for Reputation Monitoring:

R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consulted, I = Informed

Role Definitions:

Reputation Manager (primary):

• Checks all monitoring dashboards daily
• Responds to all reviews within SLA
• Escalates P0 and P1 alerts immediately
• Produces weekly and monthly reports
• Manages monitoring tools and alert configuration
• Trains staff on review request procedures

Owner/CEO:

• Reviews weekly reputation summary
• Approves crisis response strategy
• Makes final decisions on difficult responses
• Reviews monthly reputation trends

Front-line Staff:

• Executes review request campaigns (verbal asks, QR distribution)
• Flags customer complaints or issues to Reputation Manager
• Does NOT respond to online reviews or social mentions directly

Step 9: Monitoring Checklists

Daily Checklist (5-10 minutes):

• Check Google Business Profile for new reviews and Q&A
• Check Yelp for new reviews and messages
• Check industry-specific platform for new reviews
• Check social media mentions and DMs (primary platforms)
• Review Google Alerts email digest
• Respond to any reviews within SLA
• Log new reviews in tracking spreadsheet
• Escalate any P0 or P1 alerts

Weekly Checklist (30-45 minutes):

• Calculate weekly review count by platform
• Calculate weekly average rating by platform
• Review sentiment trends (positive/negative/neutral ratio)
• Check Facebook, LinkedIn, BBB for new reviews
• Check Glassdoor/Indeed for new employee reviews
• Search Reddit for brand mentions
• Review competitor ratings and recent reviews (top 3)
• Identify and document top complaint themes
• Identify and document top praise themes
• Update response templates if new patterns emerge
• Brief owner/CEO on any notable developments

Monthly Checklist (2-3 hours):

• Produce monthly reputation report (see output format below)
• Calculate month-over-month rating trends across all platforms
• Calculate review velocity (reviews per month) by platform
• Analyze sentiment breakdown with percentages
• Review response rate and average response time
• Compare ratings against competitors
• Audit Google Alerts -- add/remove keywords as needed
• Audit monitoring tools -- check all integrations are working
• Review and update escalation procedures if needed
• Identify systemic issues from recurring complaint themes
• Present findings and recommendations to leadership
• Plan next month's review request campaign adjustments

Quarterly Checklist (half day):

• Full platform audit -- ensure profiles are claimed, complete, and accurate on all platforms
• Review and update monitoring tool stack
• Competitive reputation benchmark (full comparison)
• Review and update response templates
• Staff training refresher on review request procedures
• Evaluate ROI of paid monitoring tools
• Set goals for next quarter (review volume, rating targets, response time)

Step 10: Tracking and Reporting Template

Weekly Tracking Spreadsheet Structure:

Output Format

Generate a file called MONITORING-GUIDE-[business-name].md:

# Reputation Monitoring Guide
## [Business Name]
### Generated: [Date]

---

## Business Profile
- **Business Name:** [name]
- **Industry:** [type]
- **Locations:** [count and areas]
- **Current Rating Overview:**
  - Google: [X] stars ([N] reviews)
  - Yelp: [X] stars ([N] reviews)
  - [Platform]: [X] stars ([N] reviews)

---

## Platform Monitoring Matrix

### Tier 1: Daily Monitoring
[Platform list with what to monitor and how]

### Tier 2: Weekly Monitoring
[Platform list]

### Tier 3: Monthly Monitoring
[Platform list]

---

## Keyword Monitoring
### Brand Keywords
[Complete keyword list]

### Sentiment Keywords
[Negative and positive keyword pairs]

### Industry Keywords
[Contextual monitoring terms]

---

## Google Alerts Setup
[Step-by-step for each alert with exact queries]

---

## Recommended Tools
### Free Stack
[Tools with setup instructions]

### Recommended Paid Stack
[Tools with justification and cost]

---

## Alert Triggers and Priority Levels
[P0 through P4 definitions with response times]

---

## Escalation Procedures
[Flowchart and contact list template]

---

## Team Responsibilities
[RACI matrix and role definitions]

---

## Monitoring Checklists
### Daily (5-10 min)
[Checklist]

### Weekly (30-45 min)
[Checklist]

### Monthly (2-3 hours)
[Checklist]

### Quarterly (half day)
[Checklist]

---

## Tracking Template
[Spreadsheet structure and KPI definitions]

---

## Response SLAs
[Platform-by-platform response time targets]

---

## Competitor Monitoring
[What to track for each competitor]

---

## Setup Action Plan
### Week 1: Foundation
- [ ] Claim and verify all business listings
- [ ] Set up Google Alerts (all 5 queries)
- [ ] Enable notifications on all review platforms
- [ ] Create monitoring email address
- [ ] Set up free monitoring tools

### Week 2: Process
- [ ] Create tracking spreadsheet
- [ ] Define team roles and responsibilities
- [ ] Set up escalation contact list
- [ ] Train team on monitoring procedures

### Week 3: Optimization
- [ ] Evaluate and select paid tools (if budget allows)
- [ ] Set up integrations (Slack, email, etc.)
- [ ] Run first weekly report
- [ ] Adjust alert keywords based on initial results

### Week 4: Steady State
- [ ] Confirm all alerts are firing correctly
- [ ] Run first monthly report
- [ ] Document any gaps or adjustments needed
- [ ] Schedule recurring calendar reminders for all checklists

Terminal Output

Display a condensed summary:

=== REPUTATION MONITORING GUIDE GENERATED ===

Business: [name]
Industry: [type]

Monitoring Coverage:
  Tier 1 (Daily):    [X] platforms
  Tier 2 (Weekly):   [X] platforms
  Tier 3 (Monthly):  [X] platforms
  Total platforms:    [X]

Alerts Configured:
  Google Alerts:      5 queries
  Keywords tracked:   [X] brand + [X] sentiment + [X] industry
  Alert priorities:   P0 (Crisis) through P4 (Informational)

Recommended Tools:
  Free:  [list]
  Paid:  [list] (~$[X]/month)

Setup timeline: 4 weeks to full operational monitoring

Full guide saved to: MONITORING-GUIDE-[business-name].md

Key Principles

• Monitoring without action is pointless. Every alert must have a clear owner and response procedure.
• Start with free tools and upgrade only when volume or complexity demands it. Google Alerts + platform notifications cover 80% of what small businesses need.
• The daily checklist should take under 10 minutes. If it takes longer, the process is too complex and will be abandoned.
• False positives are better than missed negatives. Cast a wide net with keywords and filter manually rather than risk missing a crisis.
• Competitor monitoring is not optional. Reputation is relative. A 4.2-star rating is excellent if competitors average 3.8, but concerning if they average 4.7.
• Employee reputation (Glassdoor, Indeed) affects customer reputation. Candidates and customers both search the business name.
• Document everything in the tracking spreadsheet. Patterns only emerge with data over time.