Yes, that definitely works. Ranking a PBN works fine for this. There are some easier options, though. Specifically:
- Web 2.0s. Same idea as PBNs -- put up relevant content with your brand in the post title. Rank the web 2.0. Works great if you take the time to make the blog look believable rather than some generic "ha ha brand is so great I love them so much for no reason and just happened to decide to write a blog post on my single page blog lol." Build out a real backstory, add some other posts, a custom contact and about page, etc. These rank quite well for low competition and some medium competition keywords, which is what your brand name is generally going to be (unless you have a very large brand).
- Guest posts. There are a number of sites that you can pay for guest posts on. Same concept as a PBN. You can get solid guest posts that will rank for your brand name for $50-$100 ish per post, and if it's on a real site, they tend to rank without you having to do anything. Send content that is optimized for your brand name and related terms ([brand name] scam, [brand name] reviews, is [brand name] legit, etc.) and that's pretty much it. Same as web 2.0s -- make sure the content actually makes sense beyond blindly praising your company for no reason.
One other note -- for both of those methods focus on getting a good click-through rate (CTR). Clickbait title and if possible, use rich snippet star ratings. CTR seems to have a large impact on why complaints and negative reviews of businesses tend to rank well. When you do reputation management, put out articles that will get a good CTR.
Related -- posted a guide about this type of thing a while ago. This post on branding has a number of suggestions for places that you can put up brand-related content to control the first page of Google for your company, brand name, and/or website:
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/branding-2-3-hour-branding-for-new-websites-domains.959225/
Also, there's a reputation management guide that might be of use to you. Link below. If the bad articles are from competitors who are posting false defamatory content, you might look into sending a cease and desist notice to them. Guide here to do that and some other relevant information:
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/reputation-management-takedown-notice-guide-removing-defamatory-content-dmca-notices-and-other.974097/#post-10421760
