# Google reportedly pays publishers for contributions to AI answers

_Published Wednesday, September 30, 2026 at 1:30 PM EDT · AI, Products · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![An illustration of the Google logo on a black, green, and blue background. — Primary](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/STK093_GOOGLE_B.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.732984293194%2C100%2C78.534031413613&w=1200)

Google is paying roughly 100 publishers in a pilot tied to how much their content contributes to AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini, The Information reported. The program began less than a year ago, according to Digiday.

Payments vary widely: one publisher that joined at the start earned over $1 million in a year, while another that joined a few months ago earned around $50,000 to $60,000. The pilot gives participating publishers a source of revenue as Google faces criticism and regulatory scrutiny over AI search features' effect on web traffic.

## Sources

- [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1002665/google-paying-publishers-ai-search-features)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/ap4oBEwL-W0LJdOM3hQGYQ
Published: 2026-09-30T17:30:04.588Z
Story chronology: 2026-09-30T14:51:49.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-09-30T21:24:17.379Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)