Google AI Citations Spam Warning: Don't Buy Mentions

Google's spam policies cover its AI answers, and nobody can reserve you a slot in one. Here is how to score the proposal in your inbox.

AI SEARCH · 10 Oct 2026 · 10 min read

Tuesday morning, an office in Stowmarket, and a proposal has just landed. It promises 20 mentions a month inside ChatGPT and Google's AI answers. The price is per mention, the deadline is this week, and it says almost nothing about how the mentions get there. (This one is illustrative, not a real company.)

Don't sign it. Buying AI citations isn't legitimate and the product mostly can't be delivered, which is the Google AI citations spam warning in a sentence. We should declare a bias. FutureProofs sells website plans with SEO and AI search setup included, so we have views on what honest work looks like. We don't sell AI visibility on its own, and we can't guarantee anyone a mention either.

The post covers what Google has said about spam and AI answers, why no one can promise a citation, a scorecard to run against the proposal, and 6 questions that end the call fast when the answers are bad.

What does buying AI citations actually get you?

Almost every offer is one of 3 things, and each is either risky or overpriced.

The first is placement on sites the seller controls. They publish a page that mentions your business, point at it and call it a citation. You don't own the page. If the seller stops, or Google devalues their network, it's gone.

The second is bulk thin profiles. Your business name turns up on dozens of low-quality domains that no customer would ever visit. It looks like activity and reads like the link directories of an earlier era. This is the dangerous one.

The third is ordinary content work with an AI label on it: a few blog posts, some tidied listings, a report. Not dangerous. Just expensive for what it is.

Take an aesthetics clinic in Newmarket, and to be clear, this is a hypothetical, not a client. It has a real budget, an owner busy with patients and nobody in-house to say no. That's who these pitches find. If you run one of these clinics and aesthetics businesses, expect to be on the list.

Is buying AI citations against Google's rules?

Yes. Google's spam policies apply to its generative features, so deceptive or paid placement in an AI answer gets treated like bought links.

What Google actually said

Google hasn't written a new AI rule, and it doesn't need to. Google Search Central's guidance on AI features says AI Overviews and AI Mode build on the same foundations as ordinary Search, and that you don't have to add anything special to appear in them. The spam policies for Google web search already list buying or selling links that pass ranking signals as link spam, alongside other ways of manipulating results.

A tactic that's manipulative in search doesn't turn fine because the target is a generated answer.

What happens if you're caught

The same spam policies say Google may demote or remove a site that breaks them, and manual actions are reported in Search Console. For a local firm that's the part to take seriously. The bet isn't "20 mentions or nothing". It's 20 mentions that may not exist, set against the visibility you already have.

Picture a firm in Haverhill that gets most of its bookings from people searching on a phone and tapping the map. That's an illustrative case with no figures behind it. Now it gives a seller permission to create pages and profiles in its name across sites it can't see. If it goes wrong, the symptom is fewer enquiries, and the cause is hard to pin down. A dip could be seasonal, a competitor or an algorithm change. We've written about pages disappearing from Google without warning, and slow, confusing diagnosis is the common thread. If you're weighing the real work instead, SEO for Newmarket businesses starts from your own pages.

Why can't anyone guarantee an AI citation?

An AI assistant builds each answer when the question is asked, from sources it judges useful at that moment. Nobody holds a slot.

Ask the same question twice and the answer can change. Phrasing matters, so does where the person is, so does which model version responds, and so does whatever gets retrieved that day. That's how generated answers work.

So a guarantee has 2 possible explanations. The seller doesn't understand the system, or the mentions will be manufactured on sites they control. Neither is worth paying for.

Here's a sentence for the meeting: "If answers are built fresh for every query, where is the slot you're selling me, and who holds it?" Then stop talking and let them answer.

Google doesn't require special AI markup or a file to be included, and nobody can promise inclusion. That's our position, which is why we won't promise it either.

How do you score the proposal against the red flags?

Tick anything that applies. One "automatic no" is enough to decline.

The four that are an automatic no

A guaranteed number of citations ends it, for the reasons above. So does per-mention pricing, which is the old links-by-the-dozen model with a new label. If the seller refuses to name the websites, you can assume you wouldn't want to be on them. And any claim of paid inclusion or special access to AI Overviews is a claim Google's documentation doesn't back.

The four that mean slow down

• A "limited onboarding window". That's pressure standing in for substance.
• Vague nouns such as seeding, syndication and networks. If you can't picture the thing, you can't inspect it.
• No named person, company number or address. Look the company up on Companies House before you reply. It takes 2 minutes.
• A dashboard visibility score as the main deliverable, which is a report and not work.

Three or more "slow down" ticks and you're buying a report at agency prices.

What does a real scope of work look like next to a citation scheme?

A real scope lists deliverables you could inspect yourself at the end of the month. If you can't open it, read it and point at it, it isn't a deliverable.

We put "Low" in that bottom row on purpose. No SEO work is entirely risk-free, and a table that said "None" would be doing what the sellers do.

Owners underestimate the cleanup. If pages were created in your name on sites you can't log into, you can't just delete them. You'd be writing to site owners, asking for removals and waiting. Some will never reply.

Which 6 questions end the call?

Ask these 6 in order. An honest supplier can answer all of them in minutes.

1. Name 3 sites my business will be mentioned on.

2. What gets created, and does it live on my site or yours?

3. What happens to the work if I stop paying?

4. How does this comply with Google's spam policies on generative features?

5. Who does the writing, and can I see 3 examples with the client named?

6. What's the month-one deliverable, in words I can check?

We'd expect a client to put these to us, and we'd want them to. Knowing who you'd actually be dealing with is part of the answer to question 5.

Vague answers have a shape. The reply swerves to results, or to a case study with the name blanked out, or to how busy the team is this quarter. Question 1 usually settles it on its own. A seller who can't name 3 sites has told you what the product is.

Where does the same money do more, and where are we the wrong answer?

Put it into pages that answer real customer questions, consistent business details, structured data and reviews that describe the actual job. That work also improves ordinary search.

What the budget should buy

Start with our guide to earning ChatGPT citations and the plain guide to answer engine optimisation. Both describe work you can see on your own site.

At FutureProofs, SEO and AI search setup come with every plan, from £189 a month. Hosting is included, so is a page for every service in every town you cover, and the minimum term is 12 months. After that it rolls monthly at the same price. The prices on the page are published rather than quoted per opportunity, because a price per opportunity is the same problem as a price per mention. To see what's in the package, the search work that sits inside the website plan is set out in full.

Where we're the wrong answer

Clearly labelled advertising inside AI products is legitimate. It's a different thing from buying citations, and we aren't the people to ask about it. If you're considering it, read what ChatGPT ads are first.

If you already have an agency doing honest, inspectable work, leave it alone. If you only serve one town and already rank, you probably don't need us.

We can't guarantee inclusion in AI answers either. Nobody can. What we can do is make your site easy to understand and worth citing. Whether an assistant picks it on a given day isn't ours to promise.

Frequently asked questions

Is buying AI citations against Google's guidelines?

Yes, and the reasoning is short. Google's spam policies already list buying or selling links that pass ranking signals as link spam, and its AI features documentation says AI Overviews and AI Mode build on the same foundations as Search. Paying for organic-looking mentions in an AI answer is the same behaviour aimed at a new target. Google may demote or remove sites that break the policies.

Can an agency guarantee my business appears in ChatGPT?

No. Answers are built fresh for each query, and wording, location and model version all change what comes back, so there's no fixed slot for an agency to hold. If one promises a number anyway, either it doesn't understand the system or the mentions will sit on sites it controls. Treat that as an automatic no.

Can you pay to appear in Google AI Overviews?

Not according to Google's own documentation, which describes no submission or paid inclusion route for AI Overviews or AI Mode. It says nothing special is needed beyond sound ordinary SEO. Anyone claiming a fast lane is selling something Google doesn't describe. Labelled advertising is a separate matter, and it's marked as an ad.

How do I know if an SEO agency is legitimate?

Companies House first. Check there's a named director and see how long the company has existed. Then ask what you'll receive in month one, in words you can verify. A legitimate agency names its deliverables and shows client examples you can actually contact. It also tells you what happens to your work if you leave. Reluctance on any of that is information.

What should I do if I've already paid for an AI citation service?

Stop the renewal. Then ask the seller in writing for a list of every page, profile and site created in your name, and keep copies of the emails. Remove what you control and document what you don't. After that, keep an eye on Search Console and your enquiry numbers. If a manual action appears there, deal with it directly.

Is any paid AI visibility legitimate?

Some of it is. Paying an agency for real work on your website, listings, content and reviews is fine, and so is advertising that's clearly labelled as an ad. The spam policies are aimed at paying for mentions that look organic and have been arranged. If you can see exactly what was created, where it lives and who owns it, you're probably on the right side of that line.

What should you do with the proposal this week?

Reply with question 1 and see what comes back. It takes 5 minutes and costs nothing.

While you wait, run the 8-flag scorecard against the proposal and look the seller up on Companies House. One "automatic no" or three "slow down" flags and you have your answer. Whatever the reply says, don't sign anything under a deadline. The honest route is slower and less exciting than the pitch, and it's the version that still stands after the next policy update.

Forward us the proposal and the towns you cover. We'll tell you what it is and what the same money could do instead, whether or not you ever hire us. Start a project and attach it.

Written by the FutureProofs team in Suffolk. Updated 10 Oct 2026.