# model provenance

China’s New ‘GEO’ Economy: Firms Paying to Seed and ‘Poison’ AI Recommendations

Chinese media exposed a growing industry—known as GEO—that creates and distributes coordinated promotional content to bias AI models’ outputs in favour of paying clients. By automating content production and leveraging networks of publishing accounts, firms can cause mainstream models to recommend fabricated or promoted products, posing risks to consumer trust and market fairness.