Business
Published by Wanda Rich
Posted on August 8, 2025
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Money mistakes don’t just hit your bottom line. They hit your reputation. Late payments, liens, bankruptcies, or lawsuits tied to financial issues almost always end up online. Once they’re visible in search results or public records, clients, investors, and partners start to wonder if you’re worth trusting.
Travis Schreiber, Director of Operations at Erase, has seen this happen countless times. He’s spent years helping businesses and professionals manage how they appear online. “You can’t separate money from reputation,” he says. “When a lien or bankruptcy shows up in search results, people assume it’s a red flag, even if it’s old or resolved.”
Schreiber’s work centers on taking these financial scars and building strategies to offset them with stronger, more positive narratives. Here’s how financial missteps show up online, how they impact credibility, and what you can do to rebuild.
How Financial Trouble Shows Up in Search
Financial issues are public record, which means they often make their way into search results. Court filings, news reports, and even government portals get indexed by Google.
Bankruptcies are especially sticky. In the U.S., they remain public for up to 10 years. “We’ve had clients who filed a bankruptcy almost a decade ago,” Schreiber explains. “Even after bouncing back, it was still the first thing anyone saw when they Googled them.”
Liens and lawsuits are similar. Many states publish searchable databases of judgments and tax liens. Those listings are dry, but they carry weight. Pair that with news articles or aggregator sites that highlight these cases, and you’ve got a reputation problem that keeps resurfacing.
“Even if it’s resolved, the internet doesn’t care,” Schreiber says. “Search results aren’t designed to tell people you fixed it. They just show what’s there.”
The Impact on Credibility
Perception is reality in business.According to BrightLocal, 84% ofpeople won’t consider a company rated below 3 stars online[1] , and financial issues can have the same effect. They signal instability and create hesitation.
Investors see risk. Partners worry about reliability. Clients start questioning if you’ll be around long enough to deliver on what you’re selling.
Schreiber recalls a professional services firm that had a tax lien pop up in local court records. “They didn’t even know it was online until a big client mentioned it,” he says. “It didn’t matter that they’d already paid it off. The damage was done the moment it got brought up.”
In some industries, this isn’t just bad PR, it’s a dealbreaker. Companies in finance, law, or healthcare often undergo due diligence checks. Public filings are one of the first things reviewed. “If something like that’s unresolved or visible, it can kill a deal before you even get a call,” Schreiber warns.
Why These Records Stick
Financial records stick because they’re indexed by platforms people trust: government portals, court sites, and credible media outlets. Unlike social posts or old blog content, these aren’t things you can just delete.
“A lot of people don’t realize that sites like court record aggregators make money by surfacing this stuff,” Schreiber explains. “They’re incentivized to keep it there because it drives traffic.”
On top of that, AI-driven search makes it worse. Google’s AI Overviews and tools like ChatGPT pull from those public records and summarize them. “We’ve seen AI summaries flat-out misstate things,” Schreiber says. “One client had a bankruptcy from a dissolved LLC show up as if it was tied to their current business. It wasn’t even close, but to a reader, it looked legit.”
Rebuilding After Financial Mistakes
Avoid shortcuts. Buying fake reviews or paying shady “removal” firms can backfire. With the FTC’s 2024 rules, deceptive review practices can trigger fines up to$51,744 per violation[2] . In the UK businesses can face penalties up to 10% of global revenue[3] .
“Trying to bury a financial record with fake PR pieces or paid reviews is a terrible idea,” Schreiber says. “It’s not just risky, it looks worse if you get caught.”
So how do you fix it? You can’t always remove public records even after they’ve been resolved. But you can outnumber and outweigh them.
1. Own the Narrative
If there’s context to share, add it to your website or bio. “Don’t ignore it if people bring it up,” Schreiber says. “One client added a simple FAQ: ‘Why does a lien show up under our name?’ They explained it was resolved years ago. It took the sting out of it.”
Transparency, when done right, can turn a red flag into proof of recovery.
2. Push Positive Content
Create content that ranks higher than old records. Publish articles, case studies, and thought leadership that showcase expertise.
This is where structured, long-tail content helps. Target searches like “Is [Your Company] trustworthy?” or “[Your Name] reviews.” These are the queries AI tools and search users rely on.
3. Build Review Volume
Fresh, authentic reviews drown out old baggage. Encourage satisfied customers to leave feedback on Google, Yelp, or industry-specific sites.
“Someone might see the bankruptcy, but then they see 150 recent 5-star reviews,” Schreiber says. “It reframes the whole picture.”
4. Audit Public Records
Check your name or company in state and court databases. If something’s outdated or inaccurate, file a correction. It’s not instant, but it’s worth doing.
5. Be Proactive with Search Monitoring
Set up Google Alerts for your name, company, and related terms. “You don’t want to find out from a client that an old lien just popped up on page one,” Schreiber warns. “You need to see it first.”
The Bottom Line
Financial missteps happen. What matters is how you handle them. In the age of AI search and automated due diligence, those issues don’t stay private. They get indexed, summarized, and put in front of anyone who’s considering doing business with you.
Schreiber’s advice is blunt: “You can’t rewrite the past, but you can build enough of a future online that people stop focusing on it.”
By owning the story, building positive content, and staying ahead of what’s visible, you can rebuild credibility, and turn financial scars into proof that you’ve come back stronger.