Researchers' test sites about real Senate candidates were cited by chatbots within 19 hours, Caucus AI reports
In its post-election report the independent project says about a third of answers linking its sites called them official candidate sites, and that ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews discussed a fictional election as if it were real.
Why it matters
The test shows how cheaply outsiders can shape what chatbots tell voters: the sites were generated with an AI agent, cost about $12 per domain and took about 48 hours to launch, with disclaimers saying they were not official. A few sentences on data centres made answers about those candidates 4.4 percentage points more likely to mention data centres. The report also finds 44% of likely voters use AI products at least weekly. Watch whether OpenAI and Google change how their search tools rank new sites.
Key facts
- Test sites cited within 19 hours
- About a third of linking answers called them official sites
- Sites launched on 10 October; about $12 per domain
- Data-centre text raised mentions by 4.4 percentage points
- 44% of likely voters use AI products at least weekly