Key takeaways
- Save the exact question, answer, date, AI service and any cited links.
- Distinguish a false fact from an omission, opinion or incomplete description.
- Check whether cited sources genuinely support the incorrect statement.
- Correct verified errors you control, request relevant third-party changes and use platform feedback where appropriate.
- Check source updates and later AI answers separately; neither guarantees the other will change.
An AI answer gives your former telephone number, describes a service you no longer offer or confuses your company with another business. Start by identifying the precise error and preserving the answer, then investigate what can actually be verified and corrected.
Record exactly what the AI said
Save enough detail for another person to understand the issue: the exact question, full answer, date, AI service, cited links, a screenshot where useful, and relevant conversation, search or location settings. Write down why the statement is wrong and what supports the correct information.
A wrong booking number may need prompt attention. An accurate description that simply lacks detail may need a clearer explanation, not an urgent correction request.
Separate false facts from other concerns
Not every disappointing answer is a factual error. An omission means the business is not mentioned; that does not prove why. An incomplete description may be less detailed than you would prefer without being false. An opinion such as “the best” is different from a checkable statement about an address, opening hours or service. Define the concern first.
Check the sources behind the answer
Where citations are available, open the pages and read the relevant passage. Does the page contain the same incorrect detail? Is it outdated? Is it about your business or a similarly named one? Does it genuinely support the AI's statement?
A citation is a useful lead, not a complete explanation of how an answer was generated. If the page is accurate but the answer misrepresents it, preserve both together. Do not change accurate website information merely to match an inaccurate summary.
Correct verified errors you control
Review the relevant website pages and business information you manage. Put the correct fact where customers expect to find it: contact details on the contact page, service scope on the relevant service page. Check for old values elsewhere rather than assuming one edit changes every occurrence.
Google Business Profile guidance explains how owners and managers can update applicable details. Google reviews changes before publishing, so check the public profile rather than treating submission as completion.
Request corrections from other publishers
If the incorrect fact appears in a directory, association listing or other publisher's page, check whether you can manage it or need to request a correction. Provide the exact URL, incorrect detail, requested replacement and evidence. Record when the request was made and whether the public page was actually corrected.
Use the appropriate platform feedback route
Correcting a source and reporting an AI answer are separate actions. Google provides feedback controls for AI Overviews, and other services have their own current reporting routes. Good feedback identifies the false statement, explains the correct information and provides a supporting public URL where available. Submitting feedback does not guarantee a correction or a timeframe.
Keep a simple correction log
A shared document or spreadsheet keeps the work clear. Record the observation, error, evidence, source checked, action taken, status and recheck date. Keep source edits separate from feedback submissions, so completed work is not confused with results that remain outside your control.
Recheck sources and answers separately
After an edit, confirm that the public source displays the correct information. Then repeat a comparable AI question and record the result. A corrected answer documents one observation; it does not prove every user will see the same wording. Accurate public information remains useful to customers even if a sampled AI answer has not yet changed.
Choose one verified problem to resolve
Start with the incorrect detail most likely to affect a customer's decision or ability to contact you. Preserve the evidence, correct information you control, request relevant third-party changes and report the answer where appropriate. Do not automatically publish more articles when a specific factual correction is needed.