What Your Clients Are Googling Before They Call You (And What They're Finding)
A potential client just heard your name.
They were at a dinner party. Someone mentioned you in passing. Maybe a friend dropped your name in a group chat or a stranger overheard someone saying you sold their house and they "loved working with her." The seed got planted.
So what's the very first thing that potential client does next?
They Google you.
Not later. Not after they've thought about it. Right then, while your name is still fresh, while their phone is still in their hand, they type your name into Google and they scroll. Sometimes for thirty seconds. Sometimes for fifteen minutes. And in that window, they form an opinion of you that's almost impossible to undo.
Most agents have no idea what that window actually looks like.
What They Actually See in the First 90 Seconds
Open an incognito window. Type your full name. Add "real estate" or your city. Hit search. What you're looking at is exactly what your next client is looking at.
For most agents, here's what shows up:
A brokerage-hosted profile from 2018 that still has their old headshot and outdated bio.
A Zillow profile that hasn't been updated in months — fewer reviews than they actually have, listings from a year ago, generic blurb at the top.
A LinkedIn profile that says "Real Estate Agent at [Brokerage]" and stops there.
An Instagram with 1,200 followers and a recent post about your dog.
A Realtor.com profile that pulls public records and presents a sanitized version of someone they don't recognize.
That's it. That's the first impression.
It's not a track record. It's not a story. It's not a brand. It's a scattered set of digital breadcrumbs that say almost nothing about the actual professional their friend just recommended.
And here's the thing — this is the moment. This is the moment they decide whether you're a maybe or a no.
The Quiet Gap That's Costing You Business
Most experienced agents have built something real. A track record. Relationships. Hard-won expertise. But the version of you that lives on page one of Google was built four or five years ago and hasn't been updated since.
That gap is a problem.
Because the client doing the Googling doesn't know about your eighteen years of experience or your two hundred-million in career volume. They don't know about your three best reviews. They don't know about the deal you closed last week that everyone said was impossible.
They know what they see.
And what they see — for most agents — is invisibility dressed up as a profile.
Three Things to Fix This Week
You don't need a six-month branding overhaul to fix this. You need to take control of the first ninety seconds.
1. Audit your own search results.
Open an incognito browser. Search your name. Search "your name + real estate." Search "your name + your city." Make a list of every single thing that comes up on page one.
Anything outdated? Anything inaccurate? Anything missing? That's your fix list.
2. Take control of the three properties you actually own.
For most agents, the three highest-leverage spots are: your Instagram bio, your LinkedIn headline, and the hero section of your website. Those are the three things you have full control over, and they're the three things people scan first.
Update each one to clearly say who you are, who you help, and what you do. Not "Real Estate Agent at Brokerage." Something specific. Something that feels like you.
3. Update your professional photo.
If your headshot is more than two years old, replace it. If it doesn't match the energy you bring to a listing appointment, replace it. The photo on page one of your search results is the closest thing your potential client gets to meeting you. Make it count.
Why This Matters More Than Anything Else You'll Do This Week
Here's the truth most marketing advice misses: you can post every day, run ads, mail postcards, host events — and if the first thing a curious client finds online still feels like a stranger or a stale logo, none of it lands.
Visibility on page one of Google is a foundation. It's the version of you a stranger meets before they ever decide to meet you.
You've built something. Make sure they can see it.
When You're Ready for the Bigger Version of This
If your search results need more than a quick refresh — if the deeper issue is that you've never actually clarified what your brand should look like, sound like, or feel like in the first place — that's exactly what my Brand Audit was built for.
You'll get a written audit of your presence across four platforms of your choice (Instagram, LinkedIn, your website, Facebook — whichever you pick), specific recommendations for each one, and a 30-minute recorded call with me walking you through every piece of it.
No guessing. Just clarity.