Negative PR Campaign Scenarios — Identify the Pattern You're Facing
Every coordinated negative PR campaign follows a recognizable template. This library breaks down the most common attack patterns — SEO poisoning, bot-driven review attacks, AI answer-engine poisoning, deepfake smears, lawfare and more — so you can identify the one targeting you and apply the matching defense playbook.
See the full simulation: OPERATION ECLIPSEFilter by attack category, scan the tell-tale signs on each card, and open the pattern that matches what you are seeing for the full defense playbook.
All attack patterns
8 templatesSEO Poisoning & Search-Result Hijacking
Damaging pages are engineered to rank on page one for your name or brand, pushing your own content out of sight.
- Negative URLs you don't control appear on page one for your name or brand
- Multiple new negative pages appear in a compressed 2–4 week window
- The same dossier or source material recurs across the rising pages
Deepfake & Synthetic Media Smears
Fabricated audio, video, or images of you doing or saying something you never did are laundered through platforms until treated as real.
- A compromising recording or image appears with no verifiable provenance
- The media surfaces first on an anonymous or newly created account
- Audio/video quality anomalies inconsistent with the alleged source
AI Answer-Engine Poisoning
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude start summarizing the damaging narrative as the dominant answer about you.
- ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude returns predominantly negative summaries about you
- Google AI Overviews begins surfacing the damaging narrative for your name or brand
- The same narrow claim recurs across multiple engines
Bot-Driven Review Bombing & Marketplace Trust Attacks
A sudden flood of negative reviews or trust flags from accounts with no real purchase history, engineered to collapse your rating.
- A spike of negative reviews in 24–72 hours from accounts with no verified purchase
- Recurring phrasing or complaint themes across unrelated reviewers
- Reviews clustered on one or two specific complaints rather than varied experience
Coordinated Social Amplification & Astroturfing
Thousands of accounts make a single damaging narrative look like spontaneous, cross-demographic public outrage.
- A sharp spike in negative mentions across multiple unrelated accounts in 24–72 hours
- Coordinated posting times, shared hashtags, and recycled headlines
- Many new accounts created shortly before the spike
Short-Seller Dossier Attack
A research 'dossier' drops alongside a short position, engineered to move your share price before you can respond.
- A negative research report drops alongside disclosed short interest
- Coordinated amplification across media and social within 24–48 hours
- The spike aligns with a financing, earnings, or lockup window
Lawfare & Strategic Litigation
Lawsuits, bar complaints, and regulatory tips filed not to win in court but to generate headlines and suppress your activity.
- Multiple filings or complaints from related parties in a compressed window
- Filings briefed to media before they are served on the target
- Complaints unusually timed to a financing, election, or product window
Planted Stories & Leaked Dossiers
A 'whistleblower' leak or exclusive drops and is echoed across outlets, engineered to look organic and feed every other vector.
- An exclusive or leak appears and is echoed by multiple outlets within 24–48 hours
- Downstream coverage cites the original rather than independent sources
- The 'leak' is selectively missing exculpatory context
Not sure which pattern is targeting you?
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