Insights
Are you ready for the new reputation imperative?
June 12, 2026
Corporate reputation is facing a stress test. New data from RepTrak show declining reputation scores across sectors and a growing reluctance among stakeholders to trust, support and advocate for organizations.
We spoke with Lyndsey Tierney, vice president, advisory at RepTrak, about why reputation can no longer be treated solely as a communications function and how AI, geopolitics, economic uncertainty and shifting audience expectations are reshaping how organizations earn trust and support in 2026.
ICYMI: The AI jobs debate is no longer just a tech story. We examined what communications leaders can do now to build credibility as questions about automation, reskilling and workforce impact intensify. Read it here.
What’s driving reputation today
Reputation has always been difficult to earn. Right now, it’s becoming harder to hold. RepTrak’s latest data show U.S. reputation scores hit their lowest point since 2017 this past March.
The forces driving that decline are layered: Economic uncertainty has reduced the touchpoints people have with companies; anti-American sentiment has created new risk for multinationals; and AI has introduced a new layer of reputation risk that most companies are just beginning to understand.
A conversation with Lyndsey Tierney, vice president, advisory at RepTrak, about navigating a ‘lower-forgiveness’ environment
In this COMPASS Q&A, we spoke with Tierney, whose firm tracks the reputation of more than 6,000 companies across 30+ industries. She shared her perspective on why reputation is a growing priority for CEOs, stakeholder behavior trends from RepTrak’s latest data, and how AI influences corporate reputation.
The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: Why has reputation become a bigger priority for CEOs and executive teams?
TIERNEY: We’ve definitely seen an increase in interest. CEOs are asking, “Are we doing anything to manage reputation?” Clients want data, but they also want help to act on that data, build reputation councils, expand into new stakeholders and understand where risk exists. Last week alone, I presented to three different CEOs. That didn’t always happen a few years ago.
Q: Your latest data show reputation declining across industries. What are you seeing?
TIERNEY: It’s not isolated to one or two industries. Virtually every industry faces a challenge right now. It’s a very difficult environment for companies to be communicating in.
Q: What does that mean for stakeholder behavior?
TIERNEY: We’re seeing fewer ambassadors, people who strongly support companies, and more fence sitters and detractors. There’s been a significant drop in willingness to buy, trust and give companies the benefit of the doubt. The result is a behavior pullback. We’re operating in a less resilient, lower-forgiveness environment right now.
Q: One trend that surprised many companies is growing anti-American sentiment. What are you seeing?
TIERNEY: We’ve seen a huge increase in concern about American-headquartered companies. If you’re based in the U.S., you need to be aware of this and prepared for it. Make sure you understand how to localize your communications and not just lean into the idea that you’re this big U.S. company. Think about what that really means locally, and understand some of those sensitivities.
Q: How has AI changed the way reputation is formed?
TIERNEY: We’re seeing fewer people recall traditional earned, paid and owned media. At the same time, more people are using AI to research companies, compare products and gather information before making decisions. AI is increasingly becoming a source of information for the same stakeholders communicators care most about.
Q: Can you give an example of what that risk looks like in practice?
TIERNEY: One example we can look at is that of a leading electric automotive manufacturer, which AI scores lower than its actual customers. We can look at this at an individual factor level: Product quality is the number one most important factor for this company’s reputation among customers, and customers rate them well on it.
But AI is giving them a 64.6 on that same factor, a pretty average score, significantly behind customers. Part of the reason is that AI is only going to the company’s website 12% of the time. Everything else is being formed by earned media that AI is scraping. As more people get their information from AI, that gap becomes a real risk.
Q: What do companies get wrong about AI and reputation?
TIERNEY: The goal isn’t simply getting people to use AI more. It’s understanding what AI is saying about your company and how that information is shaping perceptions. As AI adoption grows, the real question is whether those systems are surfacing accurate, impactful information about your organization.
Q: What’s the biggest lesson for communicators right now?
TIERNEY: Every touchpoint matters. Understand what’s most important to your reputation, make sure you’re ready to tell that story simply, and then bang that steady drumbeat consistently. That’s what moves the needle right now.
Key upcoming events
Talent + Workforce
- Aspen Ideas Festival (Aspen, June 25-July 1) One of the world’s most celebrated gatherings of bold thinkers, the festival brings together hundreds of leaders from business, technology, public service, science and the arts for wide-ranging conversations on the ideas shaping tomorrow — from the AI revolution and geopolitics to leadership, culture and the economy. Speakers include Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker; Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author; and Katie Couric, journalist and co-founder of Katie Couric Media.
- Semafor World of Work (Washington, D.C., July 22) In partnership with Gallup, this invitation-only gathering explores how AI, economic uncertainty and shifting employee expectations are reshaping organizations, with discussions focused on workforce trust, employee engagement, talent strategy, AI adoption and organizational resilience. Speakers include Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup; Katy George, corporate vice president of workforce transformation at Microsoft; and Claire MacIntyre, chief people officer at Sam’s Club.
Sports Business
- WSJ Sports (New York City, July 15-16) Join investors, team owners and senior executives to explore the transformation of sports into a trillion-dollar asset class, with discussion on rising team valuations, media rights, sports betting, performance technology and emerging investment opportunities across the sports ecosystem. Speakers include Michele Kang, CEO of Kynisca; Gerry Cardinale, managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners; and Mark Shapiro, president and COO of TKO.
- CNBC Game Plan (New York City, July 16) Held during Fanatics Fest, this annual gathering brings together athletes, team owners, investors and executives to explore the future of sports, media and entertainment, with conversations focused on the trends, technologies and business models shaping the industry’s next chapter. Speakers include LeBron James, NBA player and philanthropist; Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA; and Lindsey Vonn, Olympic gold medalist and entrepreneur.
AI + Tech
- Raise Summit (Paris, France, July 7-8) One of the world’s largest AI leadership gatherings, this summit brings together 9,000 executives, investors, founders and policymakers to explore how organizations can move from AI ambition to implementation at scale, with discussions focused on enterprise adoption, workforce transformation, governance, regulation and the practical challenges of deploying AI across industries. Speakers include Yann LeCun, executive chairman of AMI; Carolina Parada, head of robotics at Google DeepMind; and Guillaume Princen, head of international at Anthropic.
Health
- HLTH Europe 2026 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 15-18) The continent’s premier healthcare innovation event, where global expertise meets local insight to tackle Europe’s most pressing challenges — from AI-driven diagnostics to reimagining patient care at scale. Speakers include Gianrico Farrugia, CEO of Mayo Clinic; Elena Bonfiglioli, Global GM of Health & Life Sciences at Microsoft; and Freddy Abnousi, VP of Health Technology at Meta.
- Healthcare of Tomorrow (Washington, D.C., June 17-18) U.S. News & World Report’s exclusive annual forum for hospital and health system executives to discuss AI’s transformation of care delivery, post-acute care and policy shifts, while gaining behind-the-scenes insight into the methodology powering the Best Hospitals rankings.
- BIO International Convention (San Diego, June 22-25) The world’s largest biotech gathering brings together 20,000 industry leaders from pharma, startups, academia and government across 130+ sessions spanning AI and digital health, cell and gene therapy, oncology and rare disease, with exclusive partnering meetings that make it the premier destination for business development in the life sciences. Speakers include Bradley Campbell, CEO of Amicus Therapeutics; Sandeep Menon, Chief Development Officer at Alnylam; and Jean Bennett, Professor Emerita at Penn Medicine.
Bookmark Global Gateway Advisors’ event tracker, updated weekly.
Media news
- Fortune releases its annual Most Powerful Women list. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser leads the 29th edition, five years after becoming the first woman to head a major Wall Street bank. See the full list.
- A new chapter for The Verge? Status’ Oliver Darcy reported that the tech outlet’s editor-in-chief has been meeting with potential investorsas Vox Media prepares to spin off several brands not included in its recent deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
- The Economist launches AI app. The outlet has become the first major consumer news publication to launch a native app inside ChatGPT. The new offering, “The Economist – Graphs,” allows users to interact with polling data from the publication’s Trump approval tracker through charts and visualizations.
- NPR’s shrinking newsroom. The public broadcaster laid off 10 staffers and is buying out 18 others who voluntarily accepted offers as it tries to make up for the discontinuing of federal subsidies for public media.
- Turmoil at CBS continues. Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is taking on 60 Minutes, installing former New York Times tech columnist Nick Bilton as the show’s executive producer. She also fired on-air correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, as well as an executive editor and senior producer. In response, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” the program, while questioning Bilton’s “slender” qualifications. Pelley was fired days later following a confrontation with management over the changes.
- “Hallie Jackson NOW” goes local. For the first time, the national show, normally streamed on NBC News NOW, will air on NBC Bay Area / KNTV, weekdays from 2-3 p.m., giving residents more access to coverage around California primary elections.
- Bloomberg expands personal finance coverage. Bloomberg Money, which launched on Tuesday, offers a dedicated digital hub, newsletter, data tools and a weekly television program hosted by Tom Keene and Scarlet Fu, covering everything from investing and retirement to real estate, taxes and spending.
- Tech’s in-house media boom. First, OpenAI acquired the popular podcast TBPN. Now, Feed Me’s Emily Sundberg reports that New Yorker writer Adam Iscoe has joined Notion as part of a growing trend of tech companies hiring journalists and storytellers to explain AI and build direct relationships with audiences.
- Politico doubles down on energy. The outlet is folding E&E News, the standalone energy publication it acquired in 2020, into a broader energy expansion that includes new newsletters focused on AI-driven power demand, energy policy and geopolitics. The move reflects how energy has evolved from a niche specialty into a central business, technology and national security story.
Media moves
- Dakin Campbell (formerly Business Insider) was hired by The Information to cover the money behind artificial intelligence, while Grace Kay (formerly Business Insider) was hired to cover Elon Musk’s businesses.
- Brian Kahn (formerly Bloomberg) joined WIRED as a senior science editor.
- Ken Brown (formerly The Information and The Wall Street Journal) joined CNBC as managing editor of digital and editorial strategy. Meanwhile, Diana Ransom was promoted to deputy managing editor of money & success.
- Ethan Smith (formerly The Wall Street Journal) was hired by The Ankleras a news and features editor.
- Anna Silman (formerly Business Insider) was hired by The Wall Street Journal, covering culture and power.
- Mohammed Hadi was promoted to news director at The New York Times, while Lisa Friedmanhas transitioned to the energy beat on the business news desk.
- Mansur Shaheen was named managing editor of Health Payer Specialist, a Financial Times publication.
- Corbin Bolies (formerly The Wrap) was hired by Varietyto cover the intersection between AI and the entertainment industry.
- Ella Feldman was hired by Bloomberg News as a reporter and will begin her rotation on the wealth team. Rebecca Joneswas appointed senior editor on the Asia-Pacific news desk, focusing on AI initiatives and live coverage strategy across the region.
- Melissa Hancock (formerly Arabian Banker and Arabian Gulf Business Insight) joined Fortune to write Fortune Gulf Brief, a new weekly newsletter covering business and economic developments across the Middle East. Meanwhile, Sharon Goldmanis departing the outlet to go independent.
- Simon Hernandez-Arthur (formerly PayPal and CNN) will lead Axios Communicators.
- Ellen O’Brien joined Inc. Magazine as news editor.
- Jordan Hart has departed Business Insider.
- Emilia David (formerly VentureBeat) will be joining Information Security Media Group (ISMG) as an associate editor covering enterprise AI and technology later this month.
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