# Sam Michelson

> Sam Michelson is the founder and CEO of Five Blocks, a New York-based digital reputation management firm that grew from his early experiments selling internet phone services through paid search. Since 2003, he has moved with the web from ads and search rankings to Wikipedia and AI-generated answers, while building a global consultancy, earning two U.S. patents and leading a company that has appeared seven times on the Inc. 5000.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Five Blocks
- **Organizations:** Five Blocks, AIQ
- **Education:** BA in Psychology, Yeshiva University, Master's in Management, Boston University
- **Known for:** Founded and continues to lead Five Blocks, a digital reputation management firm with New York and Jerusalem operations., Named as an inventor on two U.S. patents covering knowledge-base technology and interactive digital advertising., Led Five Blocks through seven appearances on the Inc. 5000: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Began selling VoIP services online using Yahoo Overture and Google AdWords, starting the venture that became Five Blocks.
- **2004** — Co-created KeywordsFinder, a tool for generating keyword misspellings, and began lead-generation work for a law firm.
- **2007** — Shifted the e-commerce operation into digital reputation management.
- **2010** — Spoke at Sphinncon Israel about reputation-management pitfalls.
- **2014-2016** — Five Blocks appeared on the Inc. 5000 for three consecutive years.
- **2020-2023** — Five Blocks returned to the Inc. 5000 for four consecutive years, bringing its total appearances to seven.
- **2025** — Discussed how AI search changes reputation management in a 45-minute FIR Interviews episode.
- **2026** — Five Blocks publicly launched AIQ, a platform monitoring narratives and source influence across eight AI systems.

## Achievements

- Founded and continues to lead Five Blocks, a digital reputation management firm with New York and Jerusalem operations.
- Named as an inventor on two U.S. patents covering knowledge-base technology and interactive digital advertising.
- Led Five Blocks through seven appearances on the Inc. 5000: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
- Oversaw the 2026 public launch of AIQ, which tracks brand narratives and source influence across eight major AI systems.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Published a personal experiment asking Google AI Mode to describe him and examining the answer and its sources.
- **2026-07** — Updated his map of which search engines power major AI platforms and discussed the reputation implications.
- **2026-06** — Wrote about completing a mountain-bike ride in Montenegro in support of Shalva.
- **2026-03** — Led the public launch of Five Blocks' AIQ platform.

## Links

- Website: https://www.samsblock.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammichelson
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sammichelson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sam.michelson

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sam-michelson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26