Most recovery plans start with the scandal. The strategic ones start three to five years after it.
To rebuild trust after a scandal, decide where the organisation needs to be in three to five years, write down what people should be able to say about it, and work backwards.
As Stephen Covey famously said, ‘Start With the End in Mind’.
Every decision between now and then can move you towards that description.
Write the answer you want in 2030
Imagine someone in 2030 asking ChatGPT, Copilot or Google’s AI Overview about your company. Write the answer. Three or four sentences, in the flat, factual tone those AI tools use.
The scandal might still be in it. It’s on the public record. But it will be near the bottom if you’ve executed a strong recovery plan. What you control is the sentences above it.
Answer engine optimisation, or AEO, is the work of shaping what AI tools say when someone asks about you. In a recovery, it can’t be spun. The engines read the record, so the only way to change the response is to change the record.
Three years is long enough for behaviour to show
If you plan in weeks, you’ll measure headlines. If you plan in years, you’ll measure behaviours.
I’m a fan of behaviours instead of values because you can see them, in actions or results. A culture is built on what people do. Wilkinson Group’s are Excellence, Creativity, Nimbleness, Strong & Honest Relationships and Constant Learning. They are built on top of our ethical Code of Conduct.
While three years is long enough to bed down change, it’s short enough to be tangible and for people to visualise how to get behind the plan.
The Author – Peter Wilkinson
The plan runs Aim, Context, Guidelines, Objectives, Implementation
The plans I like have five parts. Each depends on the one before it.
Aim: the destination
That 2030 paragraph becomes the aim. “In 2030 we will be the most respected company in our sector, measured by shareholder, customer, supplier and staff sentiment.”
Context: measure where you stand today
Start with an honest account of the present: what has happened, which parts are established and what each stakeholder group now believes.
That creates a baseline. Without it, nobody can measure whether trust is returning or the headlines have simply stopped.
Guidelines: set the rules before they’re tested
Guidelines are the rules that guide everyone, when a decision is hard.
For me, guidelines are our Code of Conduct, and the five behaviours. They are directed to one standard:
Trust = Truth + Transparency + Traceability
In practice, the truth is non-negotiable, the reform is visible, and every claim can be traced.
Objectives: put a date on each ambition
Objectives turn the aim into a target for each stakeholder group. If in doubt about how to write one, start with the word, ‘Ensure …’. “Ensure the staff are kept informed of our plan and our progress.”
And date it. An objective without a date can be interpreted as a hope.
Implementation: name who owns it
Crisis communications gets an organisation through the first weeks. Reputation management is the three years that follow, and implementation is where it’s won or lost.
Implementation has two components: strategies and tactics.
Strategies are the ‘how’. “Our media strategy is to be proactive engagement.”
Tactics are the ‘what’. “Tactically we will engage with key financial journalists”.
Strategies are fixed unless circumstances change. Tactics can vary according to the day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Decide where the organisation needs to be in three years and write what you want an AI answer engine to say about you. Build the plan to get there in five parts: Aim, Context, Guidelines, Objectives, Implementation.
Plan on three years. Behaviour can take that long to manifest, and the record is what stakeholders, journalists and AI models read.
No. An apology opens the door. Changed behaviour, on dates people can check, is what rebuilds trust.
