How to Make Sure Your Company Has Trustworthy Content

Untrustworthy content can destroy a company’s credibility faster than any competitor could. When audiences detect misinformation, vague claims, or manipulated facts, they lose confidence not only in what’s written, but in the brand itself.

To ensure your company produces trustworthy content, every piece must be grounded in verified data, clearly sourced, and transparent in its intent. This means establishing rigorous editorial standards, enforcing fact-checking protocols, and aligning all communication with the company’s core values and expertise. Read on to discover proven strategies your company can implement today to build and maintain a reputation rooted in trust.

What Erodes Content Credibility?

Unfortunately, trust in your content can be quickly eroded by actions and signals that undermine your company’s content credibility and transparency. When customers encounter these issues, they are far less likely to trust your company or return to your content in the future. Some of the biggest red flags in untrustworthy content may include:

Out-of-date information

Content that contains outdated statistics, expired events, or obsolete product details signals neglect. Audiences can quickly notice when material feels stale, reducing the confidence in reliability of your insights, resulting in less trustworthy content. Maintaining accuracy and freshness shows readers that your organization values current, relevant information.

Content published by a former employee

Retaining blog posts or articles authored by employees who have since left the company may create the impression of an unmanaged content ecosystem. Readers may question whether the information still reflects your organization’s perspective or processes. Regularly reviewing and updating ownership reinforces that your brand maintains active oversight of every piece it publishes.

Inaccurate information

Publishing unverified or biased information erodes trust faster than almost any other content flaw. Readers expect factual precision and sound sourcing, especially in professional communications. Every claim should be backed by credible data to strengthen overall content credibility and brand integrity.

Inconsistent messaging

When your content conflicts with prior statements or deviates from your established tone, it weakens brand credibility. Consistency across all platforms signals professionalism and reliability. Aligning every message with your core values ensures the audience knows exactly what your organization stands for. 

AI Hallucinations

AI-generated content can introduce fabricated facts or misinterpretations that appear convincing but are entirely false–especially when models pull from unverified or outdated sources. These errors can quickly erode content credibility and undermine trust in your brand. Platforms like Bloomfire take a different approach: every AI-delivered answer is grounded in trusted, governed knowledge, ranked for relevance, and supported with citations so users can verify accuracy instantly. If the platform can’t confirm the source, it simply won’t surface the answer. This level of transparency and safeguards minimizes the risk of hallucinations and ensures your teams act only on reliable insights.

Effects of Untrustworthy Content in the Workplace

Untrustworthy content in the workplace undermines employee confidence in the organization’s communications and decision-making processes. When staff members encounter factual errors, outdated details, or misleading information, they may become skeptical of management’s capabilities and intentions. This erosion of trust leads to a lack of psychological safety, making employees less likely to engage openly or innovate in their roles.

A company culture of misinformation and inconsistency can also damage morale, stifle collaboration, and reduce overall productivity. When employees feel their leaders are either uninformed or deceptive, they become disengaged and may focus only on meeting bare minimum requirements, rather than striving for excellence. 

Even worse, 61% of employees who consider leaving their jobs cite poor internal communication as the issue, with 26% naming it as a major cause. With untrustworthy content and management, the organization risks losing its competitive edge as valuable team members seek workplaces that prioritize factual accuracy and transparency.

5 Strategies to Build a Library of Trustworthy Content

To maintain credibility and honesty with both employees and customers, it’s important to build a library of trustworthy content. By centralizing resources in a well-organized content library, organizations make essential information easily accessible, ensuring consistency and reliability for all stakeholders. Here are five strategies for building and maintaining a library of trustworthy content.

1. Establish Governance for Content Integrity

Implementing formal governance ensures that all regular and shared content follows clear standards, roles, and workflows across its lifecycle, creating accountability and maintaining consistent quality. A governance framework helps organizations address compliance, privacy, and branding requirements, preventing errors and outdated material from propagating. Regular audits, documented processes, and a steering committee maintain continuous oversight, adapting to evolving best practices and regulations.

2. Enlist Subject Matter Experts for Accuracy

Involving subject matter experts (SMEs) in the process ensures that content is factually correct, up-to-date, and reflective of current trends and insights in the field. Their specialized knowledge enhances content credibility, helping to prevent misinformation and errors that could undermine trust or cause reputational harm. Continuous collaboration with experts also supports compliance with industry or technical standards.​

3. Automate Workflows to Streamline Quality Control

Automation tools enable consistent enforcement of editorial, compliance, and formatting standards by reducing manual effort and increasing speed without sacrificing accuracy. Automated workflows help catch errors early, flag outdated or non-compliant content, and trigger necessary reviews across teams. These methods ensure quality control remains scalable as your content library grows in size and scope.

4. Build and Customize Your Content Verification System

A tailored verification system integrates legal, technical, and industry-specific standards into every step of content creation and review. Customization allows an organization to address unique risks, regulatory needs, and audience expectations more effectively. Ongoing refinement and updates keep your system responsive to new challenges, helping sustain long-term content integrity.​

5. Curate, Cite, and Analyze for Continuous Improvement

Consistent curation and citation of sources demonstrate transparency, fostering trust in your content’s reliability. Regular analysis of performance and engagement metrics identifies gaps, outdated content, and areas for improvement, enabling targeted improvements. Continuous review and adaptation signal a commitment to quality and intellectual honesty, ensuring your library remains authoritative and relevant.

Ensuring Content is Trustworthy with Knowledge Management

Ensuring content is trustworthy in knowledge management starts with centralizing information into a well-organized, accessible platform so that employees and stakeholders can reliably find accurate data when needed. Start by establishing robust verification processes that assess the accuracy and reliability of contributed information at every stage of its lifecycle. This includes curating high-quality sources, implementing clear editorial standards, and facilitating transparent communication among stakeholders to address errors and outdated material swiftly.

Continuous feedback mechanisms, such as embedded forms and scheduled review reminders, empower users to flag inaccuracies and contribute to real-time corrections, strengthening collaborative integrity. Monitoring usage metrics and analyzing content performance through employee or customer feedback ensures that the most relevant information remains trusted within your knowledge base. 

Bloomfire’s Value of Enterprise Intelligence Report concludes that companies with effective KM reduce barriers to information access by 58.5%, with 64.5% saying it is easy to access what they need. Reducing barriers to knowledge ensures your content is accurate and up-to-date.​ By making routine quality assurance a core part of your approach, you prevent the decline of trust that comes from outdated or unchecked information. This will position your knowledge management initiative as a reliable business asset for trustworthy content.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we handle corrections or updates if our content is found to be inaccurate?

Updates and corrections to inaccurate content must be handled promptly and transparently, with clear correction notices that detail the changes and the nature of the errors. Corrections should be communicated across all affected platforms to ensure consistency while restoring credibility. Conducting a “mistake autopsy” also allows organizations to learn from errors and improve future editorial practices.​

What are the reputational risks of publishing untrustworthy content?

Publishing untrustworthy content can severely damage your company’s reputation, leading to public mistrust, potential financial losses, and diminished relationships with stakeholders. Failing to uphold accuracy standards can result in legal repercussions, loss of client confidence, and amplified harm from viral misinformation. Even a single inaccurate page can overshadow years of legitimate work, underscoring the lasting impact of online reputational damage.

How often should companies review their content for accuracy?

Companies should review their content for accuracy at least annually, though frequent updates and quarterly or monthly audits are recommended for high-impact or fast-changing materials. Periodic reviews enable organizations to spot trends, respond to evolving information, and maintain credibility with audiences. The chosen frequency should reflect company size, content volume, content sharing, and the strategic significance of individual pieces.

How can teams integrate stakeholder input into their content verification process?

Integrating stakeholder input into content verification requires early engagement to clarify needs, regular review meetings, and transparent feedback channels to resolve concerns promptly. Teams should define validation objectives and success criteria collaboratively, using participatory methods such as community-based monitoring or deliberative valuation to build consensus. Continuous updates, open communication, and formal sign-off processes help ensure all stakeholder requirements are addressed and reinforce legitimacy.

Implementing Trustworthy Content Leads to Company Success

A steadfast commitment to trustworthy content is fundamental to sustaining both internal cohesion and customer loyalty, and neglecting this responsibility puts every aspect of company reputation at risk. By investing in rigorous governance, expert validation, automation, and continuous review, your organization sends a clear message that transparency and accuracy are core business values, not just marketing slogans. Proactive knowledge management and library curation empower employees and audiences to rely on your insights, promoting innovation and deeper engagement every step.

Take decisive action to institutionalize trustworthy content practices at every level—centralize your knowledge, enforce rigorous oversight, and demand accountability from every content contributor. When your organization leads by example in knowledge management, competitors and clients alike will recognize your brand as the benchmark for integrity and excellence. Now is the time to elevate your standards—partner with Bloomfire to set the pace for a culture of trust that others aspire to follow.

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This blog was originally posted in August 2018, but was updated in November 2025 with new content and data.

About the Author

Emma Galdo

Emma Galdo is a customer success leader with deep expertise across the full knowledge management lifecycle—from implementation to long-term value realization. Throughout her tenure at Bloomfire, she’s held leadership roles across customer success, product operations, and marketing—giving her a 360° view of what it takes to build knowledge programs that scale.