Google Slips, TikTok Local Feed, Ads Not AIOs, Social Media on Trial

Google Review Dominance Slips

Near Media behavioral and survey research has found repeatedly that, across categories, reviews are a/the top consumer-decision driver. And despite still-rampant fraud, consumers appear more reliant on reviews than ever. But consumer behavior – mirroring search behavior – is changing. BrightLocal's new consumer review survey (8th year) reflects this increasing complexity. In general, consumers are looking in more places for business validation and local recommendations, including AI. They also have higher expectations – and they're really mad about review fraud. In this year's survey, Google lost 12 points as the dominant local reviews site. Generative AI sites grew from single-digit usage in 2025 to become the "third most popular source of business recommendations" (below). BrightLocal's findings show that users are diversifying (somewhat) to find or validate local recommendations. This suggests a lack of trust in any single source. Consumer expectations are also rising, both in terms of the number of desired reviews and star ratings: "31% of consumers will only use a business that has 4.5+ stars." While it varies by context, Near Media user testing has found consumer expectations of review volumes and star-ratings are sky high, especially in high-consideration categories. In parallel with other changes, according to the BrightLocal survey, consumers appear to be getting more sophisticated in their evaluation of reviews. And they want businesses committing fraud to be severely punished, including being banned from review sites and de-indexed from Google.