Spam Rules Now Cover AI Answers
Google has updated the wording of its spam policies to explicitly cover attempts to manipulate the generative AI responses in Google Search. The introductory language now names manipulating generative AI features alongside the traditional goal of manipulating rankings.
In plain terms, tactics designed purely to get a brand cited in AI Overviews or AI Mode are now treated the same way as tactics designed to game the ten blue links. That includes things like content engineered only to be scraped into an AI answer, or planting artificial recommendations to influence what an AI system says about a product.
Why This Matters
Over the past year a whole cottage industry has grown up around “AI visibility” tricks. Some are legitimate, such as structuring content clearly and answering questions directly. Others are simply old spam techniques with a new label.
This update removes any grey area. If a tactic would be spam in traditional search, it is spam in AI search too, and it can be enforced through Google’s normal spam systems and manual actions.
What You Should Do
Audit any AI visibility work you or an agency have carried out. Anything that relies on fake reviews, planted mentions, mass-produced comparison pages or content written for machines rather than people should be reconsidered now, before a spam update catches up with it.
The safe approach is also the effective one. Google’s own guidance says its AI features run on the same core ranking and quality systems as normal search. Clear, genuinely useful content from a credible source is what earns citations, and it carries no enforcement risk. If you want to build AI visibility the right way, our AI optimisation team can help.
