Gary Illyes from Google reportedly said at the Search Central Live Sydney 2026 event on May 15th that he and Google strongly warns against buying or manipulating mentions brand mentions to try to show up in the AI responses, AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Kenichi Suzuki posted about this on LinkedIn after a popular AI software platform started to promote the ability to automate the process of buying brand mentions with the intent of placement within AI responses across Google, ChatGPT, Claude and other AI systems.
Kenichi Suzuki wrote:
Gary Illyes and Cherry Sireetorn Prommawin did not confirm whether organic, authentic mentions provide a direct benefit for AI search, noting they were unsure how useful standard mentions on the internet actually were.However, they strongly cautioned against buying or manipulating mentions, comparing the practice to paid links—which Google's internal systems detect, disregard, and ultimately ignore.
The warning is not new, Google posted covered this when the search company posted its how to optimize for generative AI. Google wrote about "Seeking inauthentic "mentions."
Google wrote:
Seeking inauthentic "mentions": Just like the rest of Google Search, our generative AI features can show what's being said about products and services across the web, including in blogs, videos, and forum discussions. However, seeking inauthentic "mentions" across the web isn't as helpful as it might seem. Our core ranking systems focus on high-quality content while other systems block spam; our generative AI features depend on both.
This reminds me of the pre-Penguin link building services and how things can go well for a while and then overnight, things go really really bad.
So don't go for these services, it will backfire eventually. I assume, in this case, it will backfire much quicker than it took with Penguin to act.
Regarding "Seeking inauthentic mentions", Gary addressed this in Sydney. Kenichi shared this on LinkedIn based on a question Gary received about the topic. Gary compared it to paid links. BEWARE:
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) May 27, 2026
⚠️However, they strongly cautioned against buying or manipulating mentions,… https://t.co/RewfCZCFy4
Forum discussion at LinkedIn.
