E16: AI vs Human Content, Missing Google Reviews & the Evolution of Q&A

with Mike Blumenthal 🧠

December 23, 2025

For the last episode of 2025, I’m joined by the one and only Mike Blumenthal. Mike has been one of my biggest mentors and my guiding light in local search, and I always leave our conversations more enlightened.

Today’s discussion on the Whitespark Local Update is no different. One of the topics we dissect is the ongoing spike in missing Google reviews. Mike suggests two options for the business owners who have been affected by it:

  1. If only a couple of your reviews are missing, ask the customers who left those reviews to request a “review of their review” from Google’s Local Guide system.

  2. If a big chunk of your reviews are missing, it’s important to keep a log of all of your reviews (and, ideally, additional evidence that they are real) before submitting your claim to Google.

Mike also notes that Google tends to believe they are “right” in removing your reviews, so your chances of success are slim 🙁

We also discuss:

  • Google Removing Q&A Feature In Google Maps For AI-Powered Ask Button (Barry Schwartz)

  • A Guide to Web Guide: Our Hybrid Search Future (Dr. Peter J. Meyers)

  • AI-generated VS Human-written SEO Content (Andrew van Rossenberg)

  • People Prefer AI-written Content (Kevin Indig)

  • The Global Wave of Deleted Google Reviews: What Our Data Reveals About AI, Law, and Trust (Michel van Luijtelaar)

  • AI Mode and Agentic Local Results (Mike Blumenthal)

  • Future of the SERP Is Dynamic (Near Media)

Watch the episode here 👇️

🎧 Or if you prefer listening, find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

See you in the new year 🎆

Darren