How to Google Yourself: What to Look For and What to Do

Why You Should Google Yourself

Over 70% of employers search candidates online before making hiring decisions. Clients, business partners, and even dates routinely Google people before meeting them. What they find shapes their first impression of you before you even get a chance to speak.

Googling yourself is the simplest way to see what others see. It takes 30 seconds and can reveal surprises — both good and bad.

How to Search Yourself Properly

Open an incognito or private browsing window. This ensures Google shows you neutral results, not personalized ones based on your search history. Regular browsing gives you a skewed view of your results.

Search your full name in quotes: "John Smith". Then try variations: "John A. Smith", "John Smith [your city]", "John Smith [your company]". Each variation may surface different results.

Go beyond page one. Check at least the first 3 pages of results. While most people only look at page one, thorough self-awareness means knowing what exists deeper in the results too.

What to Look For

Professional profiles: Are your LinkedIn, portfolio, or company page showing up? These are positive signals. If they are not appearing, you may need to optimize them.

Social media: Check which of your social profiles appear. Are the visible posts ones you are proud of? Old tweets, Facebook posts, or Instagram photos could be surfacing.

News and mentions: Articles, press releases, or blog posts mentioning you. Positive mentions build credibility. Negative ones need attention.

Images: Click the Images tab. What photos of you are publicly available? Profile pictures, event photos, and screenshots could all appear.

Nothing at all: If Google shows almost no results for your name, you have a visibility problem. In many fields, having no digital presence is almost as bad as having a negative one.

What to Do With Your Findings

If results are positive: Great. Keep building on what is working. Continue posting professional content and maintaining your profiles.

If results are negative: Address the source directly if possible. For outdated content, contact the website owner to request removal. For content you cannot remove, create enough positive content to push negative results down.

If results are sparse: Start building your presence. Create or optimize profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and any industry-specific platforms. Publish content related to your expertise.

For a comprehensive analysis beyond what a simple Google search reveals, try our free Digital Presence Report. It evaluates your search visibility, social media presence, and provides personalized recommendations.

Set Up Ongoing Monitoring

Google Alerts is a free tool that emails you whenever your name appears in new search results. Set up alerts for your full name and common variations.

Make searching yourself a quarterly habit. Your digital presence changes over time as new content is published and old content is indexed or removed.