This simple Google search can help you discover whether documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other business files are publicly accessible online, allowing you to identify potential information leaks before someone else does. Here’s how to check.
Why It Works
Many businesses focus on protecting their systems but rarely check what information search engines can already see.
Google indexes far more than websites. It can also index PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other files that have been made publicly accessible, sometimes intentionally, sometimes accidentally, and sometimes long after they were thought to have been removed.
How To Check
1. Open Google Search.
2. Search for PDF documents containing your company name:
"Your Company Name" filetype:pdf3. Search for Excel spreadsheets containing your company name:
"Your Company Name" filetype:xlsx4. Search for Word documents containing your company name:
"Your Company Name" filetype:docx5. Search for PowerPoint presentations containing your company name:
"Your Company Name" filetype:pptx6. Review any files that appear in the results.
Useful Variations
To focus on files hosted on your own website, search:
PDF files:
site:yourcompanywebsite.co.uk filetype:pdfExcel spreadsheets:
site:yourcompanywebsite.co.uk filetype:xlsxWord documents:
site:yourcompanywebsite.co.uk filetype:docxPowerPoint presentations:
site:yourcompanywebsite.co.uk filetype:pptxThis can sometimes uncover files that are no longer linked from your website but are still publicly accessible and indexed by Google.
Why This Is Useful
This quick check can help uncover old proposals, reports, presentations, price lists, spreadsheets, policy documents, or other files that may contain information you would rather not make easily discoverable. It is also a useful way to understand what a potential customer, competitor, journalist, cyber criminal, or AI system might learn about your business simply by searching online.