AI chatbots cite fake local news sites to boost Democratic House candidates

ChatGPT cited a website called the Kalamazoo Beacon as a primary source when asked about affordability in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District. The site recommended Democrat Sean McCann as having the most detailed published plan on the issue. The Beacon is one of ten websites that mimic local news outlets to promote specific Democratic candidates in competitive U.S. House races.

The Kalamazoo Beacon has published only 16 stories, all focused on McCann. Its source code describes the site as reporting on Kalamazoo and southwest Michigan. The outlet is part of a larger group of 37 websites identified by digital security firm VisionHeight. These sites promote candidates for federal, state, and local offices, with a heavy focus on Democrats.

Renée DiResta, an associate research professor at Georgetown University, described the practice as deception. She noted that while campaigns often optimize for AI pickup, pretending to be news outlets crosses a line. DiResta said disclosing funding or indicating a linked effort would be the ethical standard. She also pointed to a competition for curation as chatbots struggle to filter out less credible sources.

It remains unclear who operates the websites. VisionHeight found that all 37 sites were set up on September 15, with all but one registered within an eight-minute period. Hundreds of articles appeared in batches during September and October. The volume suggests the use of AI to generate content. A postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington noted that the sites contain a file called llms.txt, which is rare and helps chatbots index the content.

NPR tested ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google search with 37 questions about various races. In 19 responses, ChatGPT cited at least one article from the network. In 17 of those instances, the chatbot cited one of the sites posing as local news. Gemini did not cite any links from the group in its responses. Google’s search engine and AI Overview also did not surface the sites in their first-page results, although one site briefly ranked higher than Ballotpedia in early October.

Google spokesperson Davis Thompson said the company detected a policy violation in that instance and took swift action. OpenAI spokesperson Nate Evans stated that ChatGPT cites a range of sources so users can make their own judgments. Evans added that the company takes action to improve model responses when issues are brought to its attention. After NPR flagged the sites, the Kalamazoo Beacon was still cited in repeated tests, though its specific claims about McCann varied.

The websites explicitly allow AI crawlers to scrape their content. Many articles are formatted as questions and answers, a structure chatbots tend to prefer. Patrick Warren, a professor at Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, compared the phenomenon to ad flyers that look like newspapers. He said reading AI answers without checking underlying sources is the latest version of a long history of thinly veiled advertising.

The network also covers downballot races, where credible reporting is scarce. In five Michigan city council races covered by a site called the Wolverine State Report, ChatGPT cited that website every time asked about candidate positions. The sites link out to sources like congressional voting records and partisan news outlets. Opposing candidates appear infrequently, mostly in profiles or writeups focusing on potential liabilities such as support for data centers or tariffs.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee denied involvement in a phone call. Candidate JoAnna Mendoza of Arizona said she was not behind the websites and did not know who was. Other candidates, including McCann, and Democratic super PACs such as American Bridge 21st Century did not respond to requests for comment. The sites continue to appear in AI search results as voters head to the polls on November 3.