Just three websites managed to generate over 215,000 AI-crafted 'best software' pages—and AI search engine Perplexity is already citing them as authoritative sources. The headline, currently generating huge debate on Hacker News, exposes how easily modern AI search tools can be tricked into relying on machine-generated slop.
For early-stage founders, this is a clear warning that algorithmic customer acquisition is becoming unreliable. If AI search engines are already eating their own tail by indexing self-referential junk, building your early growth strategy around programmatic SEO or AI search visibility is a gamble. You cannot out-spam a machine that pumps out hundreds of thousands of landing pages overnight.
For small backers investing from £500, this changes how you evaluate early traction. Don't be impressed by vanity traffic or claims of 'AI search optimization.' Instead, back the founders who are building genuine distribution—direct community relationships, word-of-mouth networks, and hard-to-fake trust. In an internet increasingly polluted by synthetic content, authentic human connection is the ultimate moat.