If you’ve ever Google-searched a peer, partner, prospective employee, or that one actor who somehow makes an appearance in all of your favorite shows, then you know how important it is that the results are accurate. (How else will you ever figure out who that actor is?)

And if you’ve ever searched your own name — this is a safe space, so you can admit you’ve done this at least a few times — you probably feel like the accuracy of those results is even more critical.

It’s part of why I write so often about topics like thought leadership and ways to build your brand. In the digital world, the web is often our first and most important impression, and finding ways to monitor, improve, and control our reputations online is something that benefits everyone.

While there are some comprehensive guides out there about online reputation management, the numbers bring the necessity into focus. What do they tell us, exactly? Online reputation affects all of us in many different ways.

Major decisions often come down to online search results

Before the internet, what anyone could learn about you was pretty limited to the Yellow Pages. Reputation was mostly gleaned by word of mouth, so concrete evidence of a person’s character took, well, actually getting to know him or her.

Today, however, meeting someone in person isn’t so much a first impression as it is your chance to confirm or refute what you’ve already found online. People are Googling all the time and making critical decisions based on what they find:

• Seventy-five percent of HR departments are required to research a candidate online before making a hire. Whether you’re actively managing it or not, your online reputation is becoming an important part of the hiring process. Seventy percent of employers have rejected candidates based on information they found online, and 85 percent say positive information has influenced them to make a hire.

• Ninety percent of executive recruiters Google candidates before making a hire. And the number is even higher for executives: Eighty-two percent of executive recruiters report that a candidate’s job prospects improve when positive information is found online, while half of them have eliminated an executive job candidate because of information they found publicly available on the internet.

• Sixty percent of employers screen candidates via social media. This number is rapidly increasing — from 52 percent just last year and 22 percent in 2008. Employers are scanning social for red flags: 46 percent were turned off by provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos, or information; 43 percent by evidence of a candidate drinking or using drugs; 31 percent by bad-mouthing of previous company or fellow employee; and 29 percent by poor communication skills.

• Forty-two percent of U.S. adults online who look someone up do so before doing business with him or her. Forty-five percent said they have found something in an online search that made them decide not to do business with the person, and 56 percent have found something that solidified their decision to do business with that person.

Searches don’t shine positive lights on everyone

People are using Google to find information about you and other people that cross their paths, for better or for worse. The question is this: What are they finding? According to the above study, the prognosis isn’t great for most people:

• According to an aforementioned survey, 48 percent of online U.S. adults who’ve searched their own names say their Google results aren’t positive. Nearly a third say nothing shows up at all. So while the odds that people are searching for you are pretty good, the odds that they’ll find positive results aren’t as great.

• Only 2 percent of users own their entire first page of Google, and less than half own their very first result, which is the most important. This number is astoundingly low. Sure, not all of our names are unique (Am I right, other people named John?), but for company leaders, failing to secure a positive first page is a huge missed opportunity.

• According to the above study, 15 percent of adults have at least one negative result surface about them. It’s even more unfortunate that these people being Googled will greet the researcher with something negative, hurting their professional and social prospects.

The internet isn’t known for being an overly hospitable place

So people are looking you up, and in all likelihood, the results are average at best. You may be willing to live with that, but keep in mind that things can go badly online fast, and the damage can be disproportionate:

• Seventy-three percent of American adults have witnessed online harassment, and 70 percent of young Americans say they have been victims themselves. Negativity comes in all forms, and harassment can be one of the most painful. What we say and do online is essentially permanent, so online harassment or slander has a unique way of staining a person’s reputation.

• People create, share, and consume content constantly. On average each day, they: Upload 52 million Instagram photos send 500 million tweets; make 3.5 billion Google searches; and send 269 billion emails. That’s a lot of content and plenty of room for failure. As much as you want to believe you’d never be that person who damages his company’s brand or loses his job over a tweet, anything is possible in a sea of this much content.

• We spend 23 days a year, and rising, on our phones. The massive amount of time we spend on our smartphones means we’re constantly shaping our digital identity and those of others, sometimes without being very mindful of the greater effects.

The days of passive reputation management are over. We’re all online, making major decisions based on the information we find on search and social. Not only is the strength of your personal brand on the line, but your company’s brand is at stake, too. And as a leader, that reputation has to start with you.