Online reputation monitoring

What three search results decide for you

Your online reputation directly influences your sales. An untreated negative review, a problematic mention, or a poorly managed crisis can cost an SMB dearly: a customer hesitating between you and a competitor often decides based on three search results. Grok combines X search and web search to give you a complete view of your online presence, whereas most professionals just type their name into a search engine once a quarter.

Set up monitoring

Grok’s advantage lies in its ability to cross-reference X Search and Web Search in a single query. You don’t get two lists to reconcile but a single overview, already sorted by mention type. The last line of the prompt below is the most useful of all: it turns an observation into an action plan.

Search for all mentions of [your company]
on X AND on the web over the last 7 days.

Classify results into:
- Positive mentions (testimonials, recommendations)
- Neutral mentions (information, citations)
- Negative mentions (complaints, criticism)
- Risk mentions (crisis potential)

For each negative mention, propose a response strategy.

Monitoring only your company name misses the essentials. For a freelancer, your personal name is often the term prospects search for most, even before your business name. Your product or service names capture discussions from people talking about what you sell without naming you. Your executives’ names matter as soon as they speak publicly. As for terms associated with your activity coupled with “scam”, “problem”, or “review”, they surface precisely the pages that will decide a hesitant buyer.

Search on X and the web for the following terms:
"[your company] review"
"[your company] problem"
"[your product] alternative"
Summary of results with urgency level (low/medium/high).

Handle reviews and feedback

When you receive ten or fifteen reviews a week across different channels, the real work isn’t reading them but deciding which one to start with. Grok can do this sorting for you by evaluating each feedback on four dimensions rather than just the star rating: a three-star review written by a followed account can weigh much heavier than an isolated star.

Here are the latest reviews received this week
(Google, X, forums):
[paste or describe reviews]

For each, evaluate:
1. Sentiment (positive/neutral/negative)
2. Response urgency (high/medium/low)
3. Potential reputation impact
4. Proposed adapted response

Next comes writing the response, an exercise where it’s easy to get the tone wrong. The natural reflex, when you feel the criticism is unfair, is to justify yourself; this is precisely what you must avoid, because the reader of a review is never its author but your next customer. The following prompt enforces the five moves of a good response and a length limit that prevents you from losing your cool.

A customer left this negative review:
"[review content]"

Write a response that:
- Acknowledges the problem
- Expresses empathy
- Proposes a concrete solution
- Invites to continue privately
- Remains professional without being defensive
Maximum 80 words.

Always proofread the proposal before publishing. Grok doesn’t know your history with this client or the commitments you can actually keep, and a promise of compensation slipped into a public response binds you.

Anticipate rather than react

A reputation crisis rarely starts with an explosion. It starts with three customers complaining about the same thing in two weeks, or a post gaining unusual traction. These weak signals are detectable, provided you look for them.

Analyze conversations on X and the web around
[your industry/company] this week.
Identify:
- Topics gaining traction
- Recurring complaints
- Viral posts concerning you
- Mentioned regulatory changes

The time to prepare a crisis communication plan is when everything is going well. Written calmly, it gives you pre-framed messages on the day you have neither the perspective nor the time to write them.

Prepare a crisis communication plan for [your company]
covering these scenarios:
1. Viral negative reviews
2. Product/service quality issue
3. Massive delivery delay
4. Social media controversy

For each scenario: initial message (within the hour),
detailed communication (within 24h),
distribution channels, spokesperson.

Automate daily monitoring

Once your queries are stabilized, hand them off to a script that runs every morning. The traffic-light format used below has a practical merit: it lets you process the report in three seconds on days when nothing moves, and know immediately when you need to stop and focus.

response = client.responses.create(
    model="grok-4.3",
    input="""Daily reputation report for [Company].

    Search on X and the web for mentions from the last 24h.
    Report format:
    - Reputation score (green/orange/red)
    - Notable positive mentions
    - Negative mentions requiring attention
    - Recommended actions""",
    tools=[
        {"type": "x_search"},
        {"type": "web_search"}
    ]
)

The cost calculation fits in three lines. One X search and one web search per day come to $0.01 per day, or about $0.30 per month. Add the tokens consumed by the fast model, around $1 monthly. So you monitor your reputation every day for less than $2 per month, whereas specialized monitoring platforms charge a subscription.

Rates as of August 5, 2026 — prices change regularly: before any budget calculation, check the current schedule on the official xAI models and pricing page.

Key takeaways

• Combined X + Web search offers a complete view of your e-reputation
• Monitor your company name, products, and terms associated with problems
• Respond quickly and professionally to negative reviews
• Prepare a crisis communication plan before you need it
• Automated monitoring costs less than $2 per month via the API