When the FBI announces an arrest, an indictment, or a conviction, that announcement goes up on fbi.gov and it stays there. You cannot ask the FBI to take it down. You cannot ask Google to remove it. What you can do is suppress it.
Suppression means building enough high-authority positive content about yourself that Google's first page for your name shows something other than an FBI press release when someone searches for you. It takes time and it takes real work. It is the approach that actually works.
What FBI press releases cover
The FBI's media office publishes press releases about arrests, indictments, guilty pleas, sentencing announcements, and other notable moments in federal criminal cases. These releases are written to inform the public about law enforcement activity. They describe the allegations in the strongest possible terms. That is by design. They are not written to be balanced accounts of the individuals named in them.
For people who eventually had their charges reduced, were acquitted, or cooperated with the government in ways that resulted in favorable outcomes, the original FBI press release often tells none of that. It captures the worst framing of the situation as it existed when the press release was published. That framing is what Google serves up years later.
Why FBI.gov ranks so well
Fbi.gov has been publishing content for decades. Every major news organization in the country links to FBI press releases regularly. The domain is trusted by Google as an authoritative, reliable source. Pages on fbi.gov inherit all of that accumulated authority. When a press release names you, you are effectively competing with one of the highest-authority websites on the internet for your own name search result.
This does not mean the press release is unbeatable. It means you need to build enough credible, well-optimized content about yourself from enough different authoritative sources that Google considers those sources collectively more relevant to a search for your name than a single FBI press release page. That is achievable. We do it regularly.
Building the content that displaces it
The assets that most reliably displace government press releases in name searches are the ones that carry genuine authority.
A personal website. Your own domain, professionally built and optimized for your name, typically claims a top position in Google for personal name searches. There is no more relevant source for information about you than a page you built about yourself. A personal website is both the highest-impact single asset and the one you have the most control over.
LinkedIn. LinkedIn profiles rank consistently well for personal name searches. A complete, well-written profile is one of the fastest ways to claim a positive first-page result. If your profile is thin, outdated, or missing entirely, updating it should happen immediately.
Press coverage. A feature in a local business publication, an author byline in an industry journal, or a quoted expert appearance in a news article creates a page that mentions your name in a positive professional context. These pages rank, and they accumulate over time. Our press placement services are built specifically for situations like this. See our guide on how to get press coverage for what makes a placement stick.
Professional profiles. Industry directories, professional association profiles, and platform bios on credible third-party sites all contribute to a first-page presence. Each one is an additional result Google might show instead of the press release.
The long game
The most durable answer to an FBI press release in your search results is a life and career that generates its own positive coverage. Every professional accomplishment, every media mention, every publication you author or contribute to adds another result to the first page of Google for your name. Over time, the press release is outcompeted by a body of content that accurately reflects who you are.
This is not a quick fix. Depending on the authority of the press release and the current state of your online presence, meaningful suppression may take 6 to 12 months. We give you a realistic assessment up front and track progress throughout. We also pursue any available quick wins, like direct outreach to news outlets that covered the original arrest story, in parallel with the longer-term content strategy.
For people returning from incarceration, we approach this work with the respect it deserves. For the full picture of the government press release suppression strategy, see our complete guide to suppressing government press releases from Google. We also offer dedicated removals and suppression services for coordinated campaigns.
If an FBI press release is affecting your ability to move forward, get in touch with us.