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AI Overviews and Scam Risks, What Every Brand Needs to Know
Published: 20/08/25 - Updated: 20/08/25
Recent reports show Google’s AI Overviews surfacing scam websites and fake customer service numbers. And brands are becoming worried, as this could mean a new reputational and commercial risk that marketing and digital teams simply cannot afford to ignore.
The risk for brands
AI Overviews sit at the very top of search results and are often perceived as definitive. That authority is precisely why scammers are exploiting them. If an AI-generated summary surfaces a fraudulent number as your customer contact, the fallout is immediate: misdirected calls, compromised customers, lost revenue, and brand trust under pressure.
Currently consumers rarely question whether information is AI-generated or brand-authored. One false detail can spark negative reviews, viral complaints, and escalations that extend far beyond the original error. Brands with strong reputations are not insulated from this, if anything, they have more to lose when trust fractures.
For marketing teams, this opens up an entirely new layer of strategy. The repost feature introduces a new way for content to gain visibility outside of your direct audience.
How scammers exploit AI
AI models synthesise data across sources. When a single inaccurate data point exists, it can be surfaced with unwarranted confidence. Fraudsters know this. By deliberately seeding false contact details and misleading support content across the web, they increase the probability that AI Overviews will reproduce those details as fact.
Strengthening your digital footprint
Minimising risk requires more than traditional SEO audit. It demands active management of how your brand surfaces in AI summaries:
- Audit information ecosystems: Check not only your owned channels but also directories, partner sites, and secondary listings. These are frequent weak spots.
- Interrogate AI Overviews directly: Run brand-critical queries as your customers would and monitor how your business is being represented.
- Lock down official sources: Structured data, schema, and verified listings reinforce accuracy signals. Make official contact points prominent and consistent.
- Guide customer behaviour: Proactively communicate which channels are authoritative. FAQs, pinned posts, and clear signposting reduce reliance on third-party summaries.
The commercial stakes
AI-driven misrepresentation impacts customer acquisition, call centre demand, fraud exposure, and long-term trust. High-value sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and retail are particularly vulnerable, but every brand operating in search should consider this part of its brand safety strategy.
What marketing teams should do now
- Incorporate AI Overview monitoring into brand and SEO audits
- Set up regular test queries around high-intent, brand-critical terms
- Align PR, SEO, and customer service teams to triage and correct misinformation
Treat AI visibility as part of risk management, not just organic growth
Conclusion
AI Overviews are shaping the next era of search. The same prominence that makes them valuable also makes them volatile. Brands that invest in accurate data ecosystems, active monitoring, and clear customer guidance will stay protected. Those that don’t risk allowing scammers to control the first interaction their customers have with them.
Where Kaizen Can Help
Protecting your brand in the age of AI requires more than monitoring. It demands a strategy that ensures your verified channels outrank fraudulent ones across every search surface. At Kaizen, we help brands audit their digital footprint, strengthen visibility signals, and stay ahead of AI-driven misrepresentation.
If you want to make sure your business ranks above scammers on every search platform, drop us an email now contact@kaizen.co.uk
Kamile Kupryte
Kamile Kupryte is a Marketing Manager at Kaizen, where she leads brand and content strategy. She specialises in combining creative storytelling with data-led performance across SEO, content, events and digital presence. Her work focuses on driving visibility, authority and sustained organic growth through insight-driven marketing.