Paying for mentions in AI answers may now backfire
Glenn Gabe says the new Google spam update could land on the businesses buying AI search visibility, though Google has not said that.
Google is rolling out another spam update, and one well known SEO thinks people paying for mentions in AI answers should be nervous. Glenn Gabe, who tracks Google updates closely, posted that he is watching this one because "there are a lot of companies gaming AI search visibility".
A spam update is a change Google makes to catch sites breaking its rules. Unlike a core update, which is a broad reshuffle of what ranks, a spam update is aimed at specific tactics.
What he thinks might get hit
There is a market for getting your brand named inside AI answers. Publishers sell the mention, brands buy it, and brokers connect the two. Gabe wrote that he wonders if the spam update will target the companies involved, naming all three groups. He added that he has been saying for a while how dangerous that was to do.
He made the point right after speaking on a panel about AI visibility spam, where he covered what he calls "inauthentic mentions".
This is his read on it. Google has not said the update targets AI visibility schemes, and there is no confirmation either way yet.
Why the timing matters
Gabe also flagged a difference between this update and the last one. The August spam update took only two days to finish rolling out, and he described it as powerful and said it impacted a lot of sites. This one is going to take longer, so he is waiting to see how it looks.
A longer rollout means the effects show up slowly. If your rankings wobble over the next couple of weeks, you may not know for a while whether the update caused it.
What to do
Most small business owners are not buying AI mentions, and nothing here says you need to change how you write or publish. If someone has pitched you a package that promises to get your brand named inside ChatGPT or Google's AI answers, that is the thing to stop and look at. Ask exactly how the mention gets placed. If the answer is that a publisher is paid to insert it, one experienced SEO now thinks that is a risk.
Everybody else can do nothing. Keep publishing pages that actually answer the question someone searched for, and check Search Console over the next few weeks for any unexplained drop in clicks.
for those gaming AI search visibility, this should be a giant heads-up