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Latest / Media, elections and online safety

ReportMediaGovernmentUS MassachusettsConfirmed

US political candidates engineer messages to influence AI chatbots

See how this story connects

Source: The Economic Times

US political candidates have been tailoring campaign messages to influence how AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini describe and recommend them, according to documents seen by Reuters. A Visigent strategy document for Mike Minogue, Republican challenger to Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, proposed creating hundreds of AI-friendly policy pages and systematically altering content until chatbot answers reflect his platform on issues including taxes, housing and public safety. Cameron Hickey of the National Conference on Citizenship said some 25% of eligible voters have asked a chatbot about a political candidate when deciding how to vote.

Why it matters

Visigent CEO Thomas Howell said political fees start at $5,000 a month and could reach $50,000 a month if paid placements or influencer outreach are included, and the Minogue presentation lists a top success fee of $200,000 for a “category win”.

When
26 Oct 2026
ID
WTA-N-2026-0430
Where
United States, Massachusetts
Who
Visigent, Relentless Awareness, CampSight, Run for Something Action Fund, Caucus AI, National Conference on Citizenship; Mike Minogue, Maura Healey, Joe Bonilla, Thomas Howell, Cameron Hickey, Meg Schwenzfeier, Jordan Haines, Amanda Litman

Summary written with AI by wheresthe.ai, from The Economic Times. Checked against the source on 26 Oct 2026.

Read the original at The Economic Times

Source copy: saved on 26 Oct 2026 to check this story and not republished, because the text belongs to its publisher. Also held by the Internet Archive.

Cite this story

WTA-N-2026-0430: “US political candidates engineer messages to influence AI chatbots.” wheresthe.ai, 26 Oct 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-us-political-candidates-engineer-messages-to-influence-ai-2026-10/ (source: The Economic Times).

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