Fake company fooled ChatGPT into recommending it, outperforming real rivals by up to 3,100% in AI searches
jia_seed · x · 2026-11-11
An AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) experiment created a fake company called Civoryx, presented as a Global Fraud Index tool, with a full website (About page, FAQs, guides), then published articles about it on 11 owned websites with existing search history. Within 30 days, ChatGPT began recommending the invented brand as a real company, outperforming real competitors by up to 3,100% in certain AI searches.
The reposter argues AEO is currently the most underrated, highest-ROI acquisition channel. The experiment also exposes how manipulable AI search authority signals are.
Related event: Fake company fools ChatGPT in 30-day AEO experiment(2 posts)→
More from Venture
- Higgsfield says it'll hit $2B annualized run rate within 3 months, after crossing $1.35B in October — piotrbinkowski · 2026-11-11
- Vinod Khosla bets AI will kill the static website as Coframe raises $25M — rohanpaul_ai · 2026-11-11
- Startup acquired by OpenAI just 3 weeks after launch, drawing 'unprecedented times' reactions — alexmacgregor__ · 2026-11-11
- Emerging managers say LPs care about being in hot deals, not 7x fund returns — jonchu · 2026-11-11
- Indie hacker playbook: build $0 MRR, make a dashboard, share it, repeat — martyamark · 2026-11-11
- Mercor raises $750M Series D at $20B valuation with Nvidia's NVentures joining — dr_alphalyrae · 2026-11-11