What role do online reviews play in shaping AI narratives about a business?

Reviews enter AI narratives through two paths. The direct path is retrieval: Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, and Google AI Overviews pull from Glassdoor, Trustpilot, Google reviews, Yelp, G2, and similar platforms when a user asks evaluative questions about an employer, product, or service. The indirect path is summarization: third-party articles, blog posts, and aggregators that summarize review platforms feed those summaries back into the engines as a different-looking source. The implication for a reputation program is that review-platform health matters for AI reputation, not just for the review platforms themselves. A Glassdoor profile dominated by a small set of dated negative reviews can shape what ChatGPT tells a senior candidate about an employer, even if the company’s earned media coverage looks strong elsewhere.