AI campaign strategies are becoming a political consulting business as US candidates seek to influence how chatbots describe them to voters. One proposal for Massachusetts Republican challenger Mike Minogue called for creating policy pages and buying online placements that AI systems might use in their answers.
Key Takeaways
- A proposal for Minogue sought to make him a preferred choice in chatbot answers on key issues.
- Visigent says its political services start at $5,000 a month and can cost more when paid media or placements are involved.
- Experts have raised concerns that authoritative-sounding chatbot answers could draw on unvetted information.
How AI campaign strategies work
The presentation prepared by Austin-based Visigent proposed creating hundreds of AI-friendly policy pages and citations on websites frequently used by chatbots. It also described tracking responses to political questions and changing content until answers reflected the candidate’s platform.
The pitch included paid placements on high-authority sites, as well as content on YouTube and Reddit. The approach is known as generative engine optimization, or GEO, and extends the search-engine optimization techniques campaigns have used for years.
The presentation was a proposal; the source does not establish whether Minogue’s campaign adopted it. The campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Visigent political services | Start at $5,000 a month; fees could reach $50,000 with services such as paid placements or influencer outreach. |
| Visigent success fee | The Minogue presentation listed a top fee of $200,000 for a “category win.” |
| CampSight | Charges $9 to $250 a month; statewide and federal campaigns receive custom pricing. |
A market for monitoring chatbot answers
Visigent CEO Thomas Howell said the firm had six political campaigns among its clients but did not identify them. He said political fees start at $5,000 a month and could reach $50,000 when services include paid media, paid placements or influencer outreach. The Minogue presentation also listed a top success fee of $200,000 for a “category win.”
CampSight, operated by Run for Something Action Fund, offers campaigns information about what large language models say about them and advice on influencing those answers. Its listed pricing is lower for some campaigns, while statewide and federal campaigns receive custom pricing.
Questions about voter information
Cameron Hickey, CEO of the National Conference on Citizenship, said about 25% of eligible voters have asked a chatbot about a political candidate when deciding how to vote.
Meg Schwenzfeier of Caucus AI said campaigns had focused this year on getting their websites to surface in chatbot results. She cautioned that chatbots can sound authoritative while consuming large amounts of unvetted information.
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