How has Five Blocks evolved over the years?
Quick answer
Five Blocks has evolved through four phases: e-commerce and SEO (2003-2007), digital reputation management (from 2007), Wikipedia and entity optimization (the 2010s), and AI reputation management (from 2023), built on its in-house AIQ platform.
Over twenty-plus years Five Blocks has moved through four phases, each adding a new layer of reputation work as search and AI changed: e-commerce and SEO, digital reputation management, Wikipedia and entity optimization, and AI reputation management.
Four phases of evolution
- 2003 to 2007, e-commerce and online marketing. The firm began as a search company, helping clients be found by customers.
- From 2007, the pivot to reputation management. The same search expertise was applied in the other direction, to help clients shape what was being found about them. Reputation management has been the sole focus since.
- The 2010s: Wikipedia, Wikidata, and entity optimization. As Google moved toward the Knowledge Graph and away from a pure ten-blue-links results page, the work grew to cover Wikipedia, Wikidata, and entity signals.
- From 2023, AI reputation management. Tracking and influencing what AI answer engines say about clients: ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode. Five Blocks built AIQ in-house for this work, the same way IMPACT™ was built for the search era.
Last reviewed: 19/05/2026
