New technologies are redefining the way we interact with information and build perceptions online. According to Renan Bulgueroni, CEO of Hawkz, a company specializing in digital reputation in Brazil and Spain, the way reputations are built and perceived on the web is undergoing a significant change, especially with the rise of generative artificial intelligences, voice assistants, and increasingly intelligent search engines.
Digital reputation — once limited to what appeared on the first pages of Google — is now processed, interpreted, and delivered in real time by conversational algorithms, directly in your room, in the car, or even on your watch.
"These technologies not only shape our perception but also respond to the essence of human behavior: seeking security, meaning, and clarity in relationships. If we previously used Google as a modern oracle, today the oracle responds in real time, with context and natural language," evaluates Renan Bulgueroni.
The neuroscience behind "googling"
What seems like a habit shaped by modernity is actually—according to the expert—a primal behavior with neurobiological roots. The search for predictability and security, combined with the conveniences of digital searches, has become an essential filter in personal and professional decisions.
Faced with high market competitiveness, users seek to make more reliable decisions, and research helps validate perceptions and avoid surprises, whether when looking for a doctor, a lawyer, a company, or a person they want to connect with. Everyone wants to be sure they are choosing the best option, and digital reputation serves as a confirmation tool.
LinkedIn, for example, shows what the candidate wants to display. Google, on the other hand, shows everything: legal proceedings, social media, mentions, news articles. Search has become an essential part of the screening process for HR departments. In fact, this behavior also applies in social life. After meeting someone, it is normal to do a quick search of the person's name, concludes Bulgueroni.
From typing to voice commands
According to a forecast released by the consulting firm Gartner, by 2026, the use of traditional search engines could be reduced by up to 25%, progressively replaced by agents with artificial intelligence, driven by voice assistants and chatbots.
According to Renan, this projection should be interpreted with caution, as the actual impact will depend on the adoption rate by users and the ability of major platforms to reinvent their search experiences — as is the case with Google, which is already advancing in this direction with AI Overview, a system that provides answers in the first result based on generative AI.
The new reputation ecosystem
Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are undergoing a reinvention. Previously limited, now they feature integration with generative AIs:
- Siri is being redesigned with AI (Apple Intelligence project).
- Alexa is being integrated with more powerful LLMs, such as Claude and proprietary models.
- Google Assistant is already merging with Gemini.
This new ecosystem connects in the following way:
- Voice command →
- Generative AI
- Search mechanism →
- Contextualized answer
This is the new flow:
- The voice assistant receives the command (e.g., "Search for someone").
- It activates an AI model (GPT-4, Gemini, etc.).
- The model searches sources from the web (Google, Bing).
- AI interprets and responds based on context and relevance.
After detailing the new dynamics, the CEO indicates that these integrations show that, to ensure a good digital reputation, it is not enough to be "well" on Google. It is necessary to manage your online presence as a strategic asset — because now it will be read and interpreted by conversational algorithms, as well as consulted in meta-search engines.
Minimal effort, maximum reward
From a behavioral and neuroscientific perspective, the less effort required to obtain information, the higher the chance that the behavior will be repeated — this is how humans create the famous habit. Sendo assim, o comportamento automático foca exatamente nesta facilidade de buscar e encontrar informações sobre alguém.
“Se antes era preciso ir ao computador, depois ao celular, agora basta falar — e a resposta vem embalada em linguagem natural. A imagem de pessoas e empresas está sendo lida, interpretada e distribuída por robôs, em escala, com base no que eles encontram (ou não). A reputação não é apenas um reflexo de quem você é, e sim a percepção que os algoritmos têm sobre você”, finaliza ele.
