In this paper, we develop a general regularization-based continuous optimization framework for the maximum clique problem. In particular, we consider a broad class of regularization terms that can be included in the classic Motzkin-Strauss formulation and we develop conditions that guarantee the equivalence between the continuous regularized problem and the original one in both a global and a local sense. We further analyze, from a computational point of view, two different regularizers that satisfy the general conditions.