Increasingly, people are turning to artificial intelligence for answers to their questions. This trend has attracted the attention of marketing firms, which are now targeting this emerging "channel for user engagement." Some agencies are employing tactics such as fabricating "authoritative reports" and leveraging "expert profiles" to manipulate or even "customize" AI-generated responses. By embedding commercial promotional content into these answers and presenting it in a seemingly objective manner, they push this information to users who may be unable to discern the underlying commercial intent, thereby influencing and persuading them unknowingly.

Artificial intelligence, which should function as an "intelligent filter providing objective recommendations," is instead being distorted into a marketing tool for "targeted content delivery and precise consumer conversion." The potential harm of this misuse is significant. It is crucial that legal measures and technological solutions work in concert to sever this hidden hand that manipulates AI search outcomes.