Google Just Put It in Writing: A Human Has to Check AI Content.
The Agency Hour · Oct 9, 2026 · 21:28
The Agency Hour · Oct 9, 2026 · 21:28
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Google updated its AI content guidance this month. It now says it is critical to manually fact check and review all AI-generated content before publishing. Most agencies will read that as bad news. I read it as the best news this industry has had this year.
If AI does the typing, the human who signs off is the part your client pays for. This week's big idea is how to price that: sell the outcome and the sign-off. McKinsey already does, with about a quarter of its global fees tied to results.
This week: the news, one big idea, some homework, and your questions. Your homework is to Google your top five clients' brand names, screenshot the AI overview, and send each client what you're fixing.
In this episode:
Chapters:
0:00 Cold open
0:18 Intro: what's in this episode
1:35 The Feed: OpenAI Dots and Meta Muse
3:32 Google's AI overviews on branded searches
5:11 Big four consultancies move to outcome-based fees
6:42 The Deep Dive: Google's new rules for AI content
9:46 The model that works: AI types, humans judge
10:49 Nothing ships without sign off
11:51 How to price it: sell the outcome and the judgment
13:06 The human-in-the-loop checklist
14:53 Done Beats Perfect: Google your clients' brand names
15:45 Fan mail: send us your questions
16:57 When a client says they'll just use AI themselves
19:24 Outro and next week's guest
Work with us:
Mentioned in this episode:
