E8: Review Extortion, AI Content Audit Assistant & a Pair of Shorts

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October 21, 2025

Review extortion is real.

Scammers leave 1-star reviews, then demand hundreds of dollars to take them down. This has been happening for years.

But now, Google has finally acknowledged it and published a Help Document explaining how to report it (via Barry Schwartz).

❌ Here are Google’s key points on what not to do:

  • Do not engage with or pay the people leaving the fake reviews.

  • Do not try to solve it by offering money, discounts, or services.

✅ And what to do:

  • Gather evidence as soon as it happens (screenshots, messages, emails, everything).

  • Report it using Google’s Merchant Extortion Report form (you’ll see it in the podcast video) and hope Google takes action.

We cover this in detail on the new episode of The Whitespark Local Update, and we also discuss 👇

  • Google Local Results Without Call Button (Discovered via Jasson Hennesy)

  • Something Broke in GA4 (Dana DiTomaso)

  • A Guide to GBP Eligibility by Business Type (Miriam Ellis)

  • AI Citations, User Locations, & Query Context (Yext)

  • How To Build A Content Audit Assistant With ScreamingFrog and AI (Ian Lurie)

Also, Claire and I will record the podcast in person at BrightonSEO next week yaaay 🎉

Watch the new episode here 👇️

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

P.S. Reviews of the pod are always appreciated (as long as you’re not planning to message us afterward asking for money to change them).

Darren