Your address, phone number, age and relatives are sitting on people-search sites you've never heard of, and anyone can look you up for a few dollars. This guide gets ChatGPT or Claude to find every one of those sites, write the removal request for each, submit them for you in its own browser and recheck every week until you're gone. Then you scrub Google, take down your photos and close the old accounts that leaked your info in the first place.
One Chat, Start to Finish
The plan · 5 steps
- 1Paste the master prompt. Your AI finds every site showing your info.
- 2It writes the exact removal request each site wants.
- 3Its browser submits them for you while you watch.
- 4A weekly check resubmits anything that ignores you or comes back.
- 5Scrub Google, take down your photos and close old accounts.
Before you start
Your app
ChatGPT or Claude. Steps 1 and 2 work on any plan. To let it submit for you: the ChatGPT desktop app with Work, or Claude in Chrome on a paid Claude plan.
Your details
Your full name (plus maiden names and nicknames), your current and past cities, and the email and phone number you want checked.
Your time
About an hour for the first pass. After that, the weekly check runs on its own.
Run the whole thing in one conversation. Don't start a new chat between steps, because your AI needs the list of sites it found to write and submit the requests.
How it works
- Find. It searches data brokers and people-search sites like Spokeo and Whitepages for you, and pulls the exact opt-out link for each one.
- Write. It drafts the removal request each site wants: a web form, an email or a letter.
- Submit. In its own browser, it opens each opt-out page, fills it in and submits it, checking with you before each one goes through.
- Recheck. Every week it goes back to every site and resubmits anything that ignored you or came back.
ChatGPT or Claude?
Both do the whole job, so use the one you already have. The only real difference is the browser in Step 3: ChatGPT uses the built-in browser in its desktop app, and Claude uses Claude in Chrome.
Maverick's tip
Want the extra-careful version, with a private tracker, receipts for every request and California's free DROP option? Pair this with Find Who's Selling Your Data.
Step 1, Find Every Site That Has Your Info
Open ChatGPT or Claude, start a new chat and paste this. It asks for your details first, then goes searching.
Search the internet for everything you can find about me and list every data broker and people-search site that is exposing my personal information. Before you search, ask me for my full name (plus any maiden names or nicknames), my city and state (plus any past cities), and the email address and phone number I want checked. Wait for my answers. Then, for each site you find, give me: 1. The site name and URL 2. What data they have on me (address, phone, email, age, relatives, etc.) 3. The exact opt-out or removal link for that specific site 4. Whether they require email verification or ID to remove Check sites like Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, Intelius, PeopleFinders, MyLife, Radaris, FastPeopleSearch, TruePeopleSearch, and any others you can find. Put it all in one table, worst exposure first.
Expect anywhere from 15 to 50+ sites, depending on how long you've been online. Sites you've never heard of will have your home address, your phone number and your relatives' names.
Then dig deeper
Stay in the same chat and send this to catch the ones it missed:
Good, now search for these specific categories too: - People search engines (Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, Intelius, TruePeopleSearch) - Public records aggregators - Background check sites - Marketing data brokers - Phone number lookup sites - Email lookup services - Social media scraping sites Also search for my name in quotes on Google and show me any results from sites I should be removed from.
Maverick's tip
Give it every version of your name and every address you've had. Data brokers often list the same person several times under different name formats.
Write Your Removal Requests
Stay in the same chat. Now it writes the exact request each site wants, in the format that site requires.
Now write me the exact removal request to send to each site you found. For each one: 1. Write the request in the format that site specifically requires (email, web form, or letter) 2. Reference the privacy law that applies where I live (CCPA, GDPR, or my state's law) 3. Include my specific data that needs to be removed 4. Request confirmation of deletion 5. Set a 30-day deadline for compliance
Some sites have an online form, some want an email, and a few want a letter or a call. It tells you which is which.
Tell it where you live
Privacy laws give you real leverage. In the US, California's CCPA and a growing list of state laws give you the right to have your data deleted. GDPR does the same in the EU and UK, and PIPEDA in Canada. And most big people-search sites have an opt-out anyone can use, wherever you live.
Tell your AI your state or country and it cites the law that actually covers you. That makes it a formal request with real obligations behind it, not a casual "please remove me" that sits at the bottom of the pile.
Maverick's tip
Use an email alias (Apple Hide My Email or SimpleLogin) for every removal request and every new signup. Some shady brokers use your opt-out email to confirm your info is current.
Let Your AI Submit Them
This is the part that saves you hours. Your AI opens each opt-out page in its own browser, fills it in and submits it while you watch. Turn on the browser for your app, stay in the same chat, then send the prompt.
In ChatGPT
Use the ChatGPT desktop app (chatgpt.com/download), where the built-in browser lives. Flip the Chat / Work switch at the top to Work and stay in the same conversation. Put @Browser at the very start of the prompt below. If the browser won't open, turn on Let ChatGPT control the built-in browser in Settings > Browser. Work is on every paid plan, and Free and Go get limited Work in the desktop app.
In Claude
Install Claude in Chrome from the Chrome Web Store and sign in with your Claude account (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise). In Claude, open Customize > Connectors and switch Claude in Chrome on. Then in this chat, open the + menu, go to Connectors and turn on Claude in Chrome. It's off in every new chat, and that's the step everyone misses. Full setup: Claude in Chrome guide.
Send it to work
Now go to every one of those sites in your browser and submit my removal request for each one. For sites with opt-out forms: - Navigate to the opt-out page - Fill out the form with my info - Submit the request For sites that just need a URL visit, go there and complete the opt-out process. For sites that need email: - Draft the email (I will send it myself from my account) Keep a log of: - Which sites you submitted to - The date of each submission - Any confirmation numbers - Any sites that could not be completed (and why) Ask me for approval before each submission goes through.
You watch it work site by site and approve every form before it goes out. Some sites send a verification email, so click the link in your inbox. If one adds a CAPTCHA, an ID photo or a text code, your AI flags it, you finish that step in a minute, and it carries on with the list.
Recheck Every Week Until You're Gone
This is the part most people skip, and it's the most important. Data brokers buy fresh data and re-add you over time, so one round isn't enough. A weekly scheduled task keeps going back until every site is clear.
Now recheck every site every week and keep going until I'm completely gone. Create a scheduled task that runs every Monday morning: 1. Search each site on my removal list for my name 2. Search for my name, phone number and email across other data broker sites, Google results and social media, and add any new site that shows my info to the list 3. For any site still showing my data, resubmit the removal request where you can, or draft an updated request and flag it at the top of the report 4. Flag any site that has ignored 2+ requests so I can escalate it Send me a status report showing which sites are clear and which still have my data.
Where the task lives
- In ChatGPT: It confirms the schedule, and you manage it from Scheduled in the sidebar. When a report flags sites, open the desktop app in Work and say: @Browser re-submit the flagged removal requests from this week's report.
- In Claude: Type /schedule or open Scheduled in the sidebar. Keep the Claude desktop app open so the weekly check can use Chrome, or say resubmit the flagged requests in the same chat when the report comes in.
Most sites remove you within a couple of weeks. A few take up to 45 days. Keep the task running after your list comes back clean: brokers re-add people as they buy new data, and a clean report every Monday is how you know you're still gone.
Sites that ignore you
When the report flags a site that has ignored you twice, send this in the same chat:
[SITE NAME] has ignored my removal request for [NUMBER] weeks. Write me an escalation email that: 1. References my original request date and any confirmation number 2. Cites the specific privacy law they are violating 3. States that I will file a complaint with [FTC / STATE AG / ICO / DATA PROTECTION AUTHORITY] if not resolved within 7 days 4. Requests the name and contact of their Data Protection Officer
Still nothing? File a complaint with the FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov), your state attorney general's consumer protection office, or your national data protection authority if you're in Europe. Ask your AI to fill in the complaint with every date and confirmation number from your log.
Clean Up Google and Your Photos
Removing the source sites is the big win. Now clear what's left in search and get your photos down.
Scrub your Google results
Google has a free tool for this, and most people don't know it exists. In the Google app or at myactivity.google.com, find Results about you. Enter your name, address and phone, and Google shows you which search results expose your contact details. Request removal on each one right from the tool.
It covers your home address, phone, email and other contact or identifying info, not general mentions of your name. Getting a result out of Google doesn't delete the page itself, which is why Steps 1 to 4 go after the sites directly. Do both.
Search Google for my full name and list every result on the first 5 pages that shows my personal information (address, phone, old social profiles, public records). For each result, tell me: - Can it be removed? (yes/no) - How to remove it: Google's Results about you tool, a request to the source site, or Google's outdated content tool if the page is already gone - If it can't be removed, how to push it down in search rankings
Maverick's tip
Set up Google Alerts (google.com/alerts) for your name and phone number, so Google emails you when something new shows up.
Find your photos
Upload the photo you care about to Google Lens (images.google.com, click the camera) or TinEye (tineye.com) to see every other place it appears. For the full face search, see Find Every Photo of You Online.
Take them down
If you took the photo, you own the copyright. A selfie or a picture you shot is yours. If someone reposted it without permission, a DMCA takedown notice to the site or its host is the strongest tool you have.
I own the copyright to a photo that has been posted on a website without my permission. Write a proper DMCA takedown notice I can send to the site and its host. Leave blanks for the image URL, where it is posted, and my contact info, and include the standard good-faith and accuracy statements a DMCA notice requires.
If it's on a social platform, use the platform's report tool for photos posted without consent or impersonation. It's the fastest path, and your AI can write the explanation you paste in.
If someone else took it, DMCA may not apply, but you can still ask the site to remove it as a privacy request, and many will.
Write a polite but firm request asking a website to remove a photo of me that I did not consent to have posted. Frame it as a personal privacy request. Leave blanks for the page URL and a short description of the photo.
Maverick's tip
Photo gone from the site but still showing in Google? Use Google's Remove outdated content tool to clear the leftover result.
Close Old Accounts and Lock It Down
Data brokers build your profile from public records, loyalty cards, data they buy and old accounts you forgot about. Close those doors and your info stops flowing back out. Start with the accounts you forgot about (deeper dig: Find Your Old Online Accounts).
Help me find old accounts I may have forgotten about. Search for: - My email address on sites like haveibeenpwned.com to see which services had my data in breaches - My username variations across social platforms - Any accounts tied to my phone number - Old social media accounts on MySpace, Tumblr, old forums, dating sites, and any other platforms I might have signed up for years ago For each account found, tell me how to delete it or request data removal. If the site has been shut down, tell me if my data is still accessible anywhere.
Heads up: Download your data archive before deleting any old account, so you keep your photos and posts. Facebook can take up to 90 days to delete everything.
Lock down your social accounts
Walk me through the exact privacy settings I should change on each platform to minimize data exposure: - Facebook: what to set to "Friends" or "Only me" - Instagram: what to make private - LinkedIn: what to hide from public search - X: what to restrict - TikTok: account privacy settings Also: how do I stop search engines from indexing my social profiles?
Stop feeding the brokers
Based on the data brokers that had my info, what are the most common ways my data is being collected and sold? Then build me a personal privacy lockdown checklist: old accounts to close, social settings to change, phone and camera settings to adjust, and habits to stop feeding data brokers. Keep it to things I can actually finish in an afternoon, and put the 3 highest-impact changes to make this week at the top.
Bonus Prompts
A formal CCPA or GDPR deletion request
For any company that holds your data, not just people-search sites.
Write a formal data deletion request I can send to any company under the privacy law that applies where I live (CCPA, GDPR or my state's law). Include: - A subject line referencing my data deletion rights - My full name and identifying info so they can find my record - A request to delete all personal data they hold on me - A request to stop selling or sharing my data - A request for written confirmation of deletion within 30 days - Reference to the specific legal provisions that require compliance - A note that I will follow up with a regulatory complaint if it isn't honored
A manual removal request to Google
For results the Results about you tool won't take.
Write a clear, polite request to Google to remove a search result that exposes my personal contact information under their personal information removal policy. Leave blanks for the URL, the specific info exposed, and my contact details. Keep it concise and factual.
Common Mistakes and Quick Fixes
| If this happens | Try this |
|---|---|
| It forgot which sites it found | You started a new chat. Keep everything in one chat, or paste the site list back in. |
| It wrote a paragraph instead of opening the browser | ChatGPT: use Work in the desktop app and start with @Browser. Claude: turn on Claude in Chrome in this chat's + menu > Connectors. |
| A site wants a CAPTCHA, ID photo or text code | Finish that one step yourself, then say "keep going." |
| The verification email never came | Check spam, then ask it to resubmit that site. |
| You used your real email for opt-outs | Switch to an alias for every removal request from now on. |
| A site still shows you after two weeks | Most take 7 to 45 days. Let the weekly check resubmit, then send the escalation prompt. |
| You cleared a few sites and stopped | Work through the whole list. The sites you skip still show you to anyone who searches. |
| A site only takes removals by phone | Call during business hours. It takes a few minutes. |
| Google still shows a page that's gone | Use Google's Remove outdated content tool. Search updates after the site does. |
| You're about to delete an old account | Download your data archive first. |
Quick Reference: The Cleanup on One Page
| Step | What your AI does | Done looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Find | Lists every site showing your info, with opt-out links | One table of sites |
| 2. Write | Drafts the exact request each site wants | A request for every site |
| 3. Submit | Fills in and submits every opt-out in its browser | A log with dates and confirmation numbers |
| 4. Recheck | Rechecks every Monday and resubmits | A report with more sites clear every week |
| 5. Google and photos | Finds removable results, writes takedown notices | Results about you requests filed |
| 6. Lock down | Finds old accounts, tightens your settings | Old accounts closed, aliases set up |
The big ones to check off
Make sure these are on your list. Their data feeds a lot of the smaller sites.
| Site | What they usually show | How removal works |
|---|---|---|
| Spokeo | Name, address, phone, email, social media, photos | Online opt-out form |
| Whitepages | Name, address, phone, age, relatives | Suppression request form |
| BeenVerified | Background report, records, relatives | Online opt-out form |
| Intelius | Address, phone, background, property records | One opt-out also covers TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate |
| TruePeopleSearch | Address, phone, email, relatives, neighbors | Online removal tool |
| FastPeopleSearch | Name, address, phone, email, age | Online opt-out form |
| Radaris | Address, phone, property, court records | Claim the profile, then remove it |
| MyLife | Reputation scores, background | Request by email or phone (see its privacy page) |
| PeopleFinders | Name, address, phone, age, relatives | Online opt-out form |
| Acxiom | Marketing data, purchases, interests | Opt-out request (cuts off the source) |
DO THIS TODAY
Open ChatGPT or Claude, paste the master prompt and answer its questions. That one search shows you exactly how exposed you are, and it's all the motivation you need to finish the rest.
Published · Checked