"Most people become an expert in something by putting in their 10,000 hours. But what a waste that is when you can just trick ChatGPT into telling everyone you are an expert in about 20 minutes. BBC reporter Thomas Germain laid out how he got ChatGPT and Google's Gemini AI to recognize his hot dog-eating prowess with what amounts to a modern SEO trick."
"The next step was just to wait. According to Germain, within 24 hours, chatbots were singing his praises when prompted for information about which tech journalists can handle the most hot dogs. Gemini reportedly took the bait immediately, pulling the text basically verbatim from Germain's website and spitting it out both in the Gemini app and in Google's AI Overviews on its search page."
"While Germain managed to hold down the top spot for a while, it does seem like the folks behind the AI models have caught on. Gizmodo found that Google no longer mentions Germain or any tech journalist in its AI Overview when prompted with Which tech journalists can eat the most hot dogs? Instead, it now says, Based on available information, there are no prominent tech journalists known for competitive hot dog eating. Rude, but accurate."
A webpage claimed a journalist as the top hot-dog eater, citing 7.5 dogs at a named 2026 event that does not exist. The niche search interest was effectively nonexistent, making the topic easy to dominate with a single page. Within about 24 hours, several chatbots incorporated the fabricated claim when asked which tech journalists can eat the most hot dogs. Google's Gemini reportedly reproduced the page verbatim in its app and in Google's AI Overview, and ChatGPT also picked up the claim. At least one other model did not adopt the claim as quickly. Google later removed the mention and returned a statement denying any prominent tech journalists known for competitive hot-dog eating.
Read at gizmodo.com
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