The way people discover and choose organizations is changing dramatically. Whether someone is looking for a restaurant, medical practice, volunteer opportunity, or community service, it’s no longer just about showing up in Google search results or having a beautiful website. Now, artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT are making recommendations based on your online reviews, and video testimonials on platforms like TikTok are influencing decisions more powerfully than traditional advertising ever could.
If you thought managing your online reputation was important before, the stakes just got significantly higher. Your Google Business Profile reviews aren’t just being read by potential customers, donors, or volunteers anymore—they’re being analyzed by AI systems that can either recommend your organization to thousands of people or leave you completely out of the conversation.
AI Is Reading Your Reviews and Making Recommendations
When someone asks ChatGPT or other AI assistants for recommendations—whether for a plumber, food bank, youth program, or restaurant—these systems pull information directly from sources like Google Business Profile, Yelp, and other review platforms. According to recent industry research, Yelp appears as a source in one-third of all searches with local intent processed by AI systems.
This means your reviews are now influencing both human decisions and AI-powered recommendations. A person might never visit your Google Business Profile directly, but an AI system will read every review you have and use that information to decide whether to recommend your organization when someone asks for suggestions.
The implications are significant for businesses and non-profits alike. One additional star in your rating can boost revenue by 5-9% for businesses, while non-profits with higher ratings see increased donations and volunteer engagement. Organizations that respond to every review are twice as likely to be chosen by people compared to those that ignore feedback. These statistics take on new meaning when AI systems are factoring responsiveness and rating quality into their recommendations.
Video Testimonials Have Become the New Social Proof
Text reviews still matter, but video testimonials have emerged as a dominant force in decision-making. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels have fundamentally changed how people share their experiences—whether it’s a restaurant meal, a volunteer experience, or the impact of a non-profit’s services.
Video testimonials capture something text cannot convey—facial expressions, tone of voice, and genuine emotional reactions. This authenticity resonates with viewers in ways that written reviews simply can’t match. Studies show that 70% of marketers report video converts better than any other medium, and two out of three consumers say they’re more likely to take action after watching a testimonial video—whether that’s making a purchase, signing up to volunteer, or donating to a cause.
Search engines have noticed this shift too. Google’s algorithms increasingly prioritize multimedia content, giving organizations with video testimonials visibility advantages over those relying solely on text reviews. If you’re not encouraging people to share video testimonials, you’re giving your competition a significant edge.
Transparency Beats Perfection Every Time
The old approach to reputation management—trying to hide or suppress negative feedback—no longer works. Modern audiences actively want to see how organizations handle criticism, not just praise. They’re looking for accountability and authenticity, not a suspiciously perfect five-star rating.
Research shows that 63% of people actually lose trust after seeing nothing but positive reviews. They know that no organization is perfect, and an absence of any negative feedback raises red flags about authenticity. Conversely, when people observe an organization acknowledging its mistakes and demonstrating concrete improvement steps, trust grows exponentially stronger.
This is why responding to reviews—especially negative ones—has become crucial. People are twice as likely to choose organizations that respond to all reviews versus those that ignore them. Your response to criticism shows potential supporters, customers, or volunteers how you’ll handle issues if something goes wrong, which often matters more than whether problems occur in the first place.
Your Reputation Evolves in Real Time
Unlike traditional marketing where you control the message, your online reputation changes constantly. Every new review shifts how AI systems summarize your organization. Recent feedback gets prioritized over older reviews, meaning your reputation is never static—it requires consistent attention.
AI-powered monitoring tools now track sentiment and emotional context behind comments, moving beyond simple keyword monitoring to understand nuanced feedback. These systems can identify emerging negative patterns before they escalate into full-blown crises, providing early warning systems that enable proactive intervention rather than reactive damage control.
For business owners and non-profit leaders, this means reputation management can no longer be an occasional task you handle when you remember. It needs to be part of your regular operations, just like checking your email or managing your finances.
The New Threat: AI-Generated Misinformation
As AI becomes more sophisticated, a troubling trend has emerged—synthetic defamation and AI-generated false content targeting organizations. Competitors or malicious actors can now use AI tools to create convincing fake reviews, fabricated complaints, or misleading information about your organization.
Leading reputation management providers are deploying machine learning systems to detect and counter this growing threat. These tools analyze patterns in review language, timing, and user behavior to identify content that appears artificially generated or coordinated. For business owners and non-profit leaders, this represents both a new vulnerability and a reason to work with professionals who understand how to defend against AI-powered attacks.
What This Means for Your Organization
The convergence of AI recommendations, video testimonials, and real-time reputation monitoring creates both challenges and opportunities. Organizations that actively manage their online presence—encouraging reviews, responding promptly to feedback, gathering video testimonials, and monitoring their reputation across platforms—will thrive in this new environment.
Those that ignore these trends will find themselves increasingly invisible. When an AI assistant doesn’t recommend your organization because your reviews are outdated or unanswered, you’ve lost a potential supporter, customer, or volunteer without even knowing they were looking. When people scroll past your organization because others have engaging video testimonials and you don’t, you’ve missed an opportunity you might not get back.
The good news is that the tools and strategies for effective reputation management are more accessible than ever. The key is recognizing that your online reputation isn’t separate from your organization—it is your organization in the eyes of most people searching for you.
Taking Action on What Matters
Start by ensuring your Google Business Profile is complete, accurate, and actively managed. Respond to every review, both positive and negative, in a timely and professional manner. Encourage satisfied customers, volunteers, and service recipients to share their experiences, and make it easy for them to do so through video if they’re willing.
Monitor your online presence regularly so you can address concerns before they become crises. Consider how your reputation appears not just to human readers, but to AI systems that might be analyzing your reviews to make recommendations.
The organizations that succeed in this new landscape won’t be those with perfect records—they’ll be those with authentic engagement, transparent communication, and consistent attention to how they’re perceived online. Your reputation is being shaped every day, whether you’re actively managing it or not. The only question is whether you’re participating in that process or leaving it to chance.
Ready to take control of your online reputation? We can help you optimize your Google Business Profile, develop a review management strategy, and ensure your organization shows up strong in both human searches and AI recommendations. Contact ECITS here — let’s build a reputation management system that works for you.
