I think we'll see those cheesy "10 best XYZ companies in 2026" type of blog posts finally die off in the next 6 months or so

I think we'll see those cheesy "10 best XYZ companies in 2026" type of blog posts finally die off in the next 6 months or so.

It was a greasy tactic some people have used to try to sway what AI tools say about them, and the articles are always these goofy "here's why this person/company walks on water," type of nonsense.

Oh, and they're all paid for. Not a single one of these articles are legit. They are 100% pay to play and everyone with an IQ above 75 can see this in 3 seconds flat.

So sure, maybe will work in getting you cited in AI tools for now, but every major AI platform has already implemented measures to counteract this deceptive tactic, so it will stop working and you'll likely drop out of the AI tools.

Not to mention the fact that when anyone Google's your name, they can easily find these cheesy paid posts and they can see that you're actively misrepresenting yourself, and that hurts your reputation immediately.

Both short term and long term damage.

It's not worth it.

Short cuts always hurt your brand.

P.S. If you want to see if someone is legitimate, Google their name and see if they bought a bunch of these fake posts. If you find more than one, there's about a 99.997% chance that they're a complete fraud.