What Actually Scares Me About AI
by Alicia McCalla
Everyone’s afraid of AI replacing writers: I’m afraid of it hallucinating how many books I’ve written.
So, when I started digging deeper into Google’s AI Mode for search, I did what any curious author would do: I opened an incognito window and asked a simple question:
“How many books has Alicia McCalla written?”
The answers came back fast but completely different each time. A whole range of numbers pulled from who knows where.
That’s when I realized something important:
AI was sharing false information about me. And because it’s machine learning, it wasn’t “lying”—it simply didn’t have enough authoritative context to get the answer right.
That’s when my 20 years as a professional librarian kicked in.
The AI Overview
AI Overview mode was compiling and summarizing from whatever scraps it could find: fragments from Goodreads, Amazon, outdated interviews, old metadata, and even my Shopify store.
Then the anvil dropped:
I had never given the internet a definitive, authoritative answer to that question. And without a true source of truth, AI did what AI does and it filled in the blanks the best it could.
A lot of light bulbs went off for me. But the biggest?
The current debate we’re having in the fiction community about using AI for creativity is tiny compared to this. This issue is quietly reshaping our discoverability and our book sales.
This isn’t an “AI is taking our creativity” problem. This is an AI-without-our-authoritative-context problem.
And that distinction matters, because within the next 2–3 years, readers won’t just be searching Amazon or scrolling TikTok for their next book. They’ll be asking AI systems directly:
- “What should I read next?”
- “Who writes books like this?”
- “Where do I start with this series?”
And if your digital author footprint isn’t clear, consistent, and discoverable, AI won’t be able to place you in those conversations.
Without context, AI search may retrieve you, but it may hesitate, hallucinate, or bypass you completely. Moreover, without authoritative signals, AI cannot recommend you. Without discoverability, you simply will not appear in LLM searches.
Authors who lack context signals such as blogs, bios, book lists, series pages, themes, story summaries, metadata anchors, won’t just be hard to find. They’ll be absent.
Or worse:
They’ll appear in AI Overviews in distorted ways like mis-categorized, misrepresented, merged with other authors, or hallucinated into something unrecognizable.
Why Fiction Authors Should Care (Regardless of Publishing Path)
Many authors abandoned SEO years ago when blogging felt irrelevant and social media took over. But AI Overviews have brought this issue full circle. They don’t operate on trends, virality, or follower counts.
They operate on:
- consistency
- clarity
- definitional content
- accurate metadata
- stable author identity signals
And this affects every author, no matter how you publish.
Back to That Hallucinated Book Count…
If Google’s AI Mode can’t answer the simplest question about your career, it will not get your genre, themes, audience, tropes, storyworld, or series order right either.
This one question reveals whether your digital footprint is built for the future, or stuck in the past.
The Fix: Give AI a Single Source of Truth
Once my librarian brain kicked in and I saw how inconsistent the answers were, I didn’t debate AI or try to self-correct the hallucinations or “teach” the system anything from within AI Mode.
I did something authors have never needed to do before and I created an authoritative pillar post. One “book catalog” page that clearly spelled out who I am and how many books I’ve actually written.
That single post became the authoritative anchor AI Overview Mode was missing. And it too about 72-hours until the hallucinations were gone.
Your One-Step Assignment
If you’re concerned about what AI says about you, do this:
Open an incognito window on Google but use the AI Mode.
Ask: “How many books has [Your Name] written?”
If the number is wrong, or wildly wrong, don’t panic. Work on your discoverability footprint that works in 2025, not 2015.
And here’s the truth that many authors don’t want to here, if you don’t define yourself, AI Overviews will define you with whatever scraps it can find or hallucinate by filling in the blanks with made up information.
What did you find when you searched for information about your writing? Was it right?
If You Want to Go Deeper…
I created a step-by-step process for fiction authors on how to build a clear, discoverable identity AI Overviews can trust.
You’ll find it inside my AI Overview Power Punch Quiet Workbook. It’s something you can complete in a weekend or two.
Because when your context is clear, AI finally gets your story right.
* * * * * *
About Alicia
Alicia McCalla writes Sistas with Superpowers, blending speculative fiction, serialized storytelling, and entrepreneurial creativity into immersive reading experiences. Beyond her storyworlds, Alicia also shares practical tools for fiction authors navigating modern discoverability, including her Storyselling Superpower and AI Overview workbooks. Join her community of quiet writer rebels at: https://substack.com/@aliciamccalla
Top image by Deleyna via Midjourney.
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40 comments on “What Actually Scares Me About AI”
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That's scary. Thanks for telling us.
I'll be setting about rectifying things ASAP.
Yes, it is a little terrifying. Thanks for jumping on this. You've got this!
Good info.
Appreciate you reading!
I literally never thought of this. Thanks for forcing me to take control of my own narrative on-line.
YES! That's exactly it. You get to decide what the definitive story is, not whatever fragments AI scrapes together. Excited for you to claim that space!
Loved this, and it's kicking me into finally sorting out my website. Thanks so much.
Love that this gave you the push you needed! Sometimes all it takes is seeing how the pieces connect. Your website is going to be so much stronger once you sort this out and your readers (and AI) will thank you for it.😉
Wow! Well, AI is accurate with me for the number of books I've written and that more are on the way. It also mentioned what types of books they are. Having a bio out there helps.
I checked the prompted questions and there was no info on those, so I can see where I need to be more specific.
Thank you for the eye-opening article, Alicia!
That's fantastic! The fact that AI is getting your book count and genres right means you've already built a solid foundational context. Now you can layer in those prompted questions and really fine-tune what shows up. 🥳
Alicia, I've been around a long time but this is the single most helpful article I have read in my 40 years. Thank you for defining the problem and the actionable list. This is awesome.
I'm so honored that this helped you see the next steps clearly. Thank you for saying that.❤️
Thank you for posting! AI is scary but it is here to stay and we have to adapt as best we can.
Cheryl
Exactly 😉. AI isn't going anywhere. The good news? We actually have more control over how we show up in AI than we ever did with Amazon's algorithm or social media feeds. We just have to use it intentionally.
Alicia, this is great and so is your aforementioned AI Overview Power Punch Quiet Workbook. For seven bucks you can't beat it. Thanks!
I have red gloves too, and love 'em, but yours have those awesome studs on the cuffs. Nice!
Aww! Thank you so much for grabbing the workbook and for that kind word about it.
And YES, BAM!Superheroes need red gloves.😊
Hey Alicia, Thank you for another great post. I appreciate the insights.
KJ! Is that you? So fantastic to see you here. I literally just sent you a DM on Substack. Always appreciate you and your thoughts.
I'm so glad to have been invited to share. Thanks for having me.
Thank YOU for gracing us with your wisdom. You're brilliant and we love having you here!
What a helpful post!!!!!
Now my issue:
Spend some time correcting marketing strategy or write.
Do you help others with this?
A side gig, others can hire you to help?
Biggest hugs, Karen. That's THE question every author faces, isn't it? Write or market.
Here's my take: the workbook is designed so you can do the foundational work in a weekend or two, then get back to writing. Once your authoritative anchor is in place, it works for you 24/7 without constant upkeep.
I don't currently offer one-on-one consulting, but everything I teach comes from systems I built for myself as a working author who refuses to choose between writing and discoverability.
The workbook walks you through the same process I used—no hand-holding needed, just clarity and action steps.
I hope this helps.❤️
AI isn't accurate for me because it's pulling from old blog bios; thus, it's giving me a lower count. However, I fill the first couple pages of any search engine and always have. Great article!
Hi Diana, that's a perfect example of how AI pulls from whatever sources it finds most "authoritative." What worries me is that even if you dominate the first couple of pages of Google, closed AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude don't necessarily prioritize the same way search engines do. They're looking for clear, definitive answers rather than ranking signals.
The good news? Creating that single authoritative anchor (like a comprehensive book catalog page) gives AI systems the clean data source they need.
Thanks for reading and your thoughts. I hope this is helpful.❤️
I hate AI with a passion I reserve normally for politicians of a certain stripe. And will never use it for any kind of writing help, ever.
But this idea makes a LOT of sense - and I'll be getting your workbook, spending the time, and getting that presence set up properly for the idiot AI (I call it 'AS) to find.
Win for the humans. Thanks!
Another Alicia! Just fantastic to meet you. I love your energy. You can hate AI AND strategically use it to your advantage. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive. 😉
Thanks for grabbing the workbook. I already know you're going to crush it.💥
I've been watching AI search results since the beginning. I remember one time early it, it confused me with a best selling author. It listed off a bunch of books (some didn't exist) and accredited them to me. Another time it confused me with Janet from World Anvil because I'd done an interview with her. These days it generally gets me right. But those early bizarre results taught me the value of being clear for the AIs!
Hey Lisa!
Yes, those early hallucinations are WILD. Perfect examples of how AI mixes up association with identity when it lacks a clear context.
I'm still seeing hallucinations around themes and titles even now. I think those foundational posts make a massive difference, though.
The more authoritative anchors we give AI, the less it has to "guess" by stitching together fragments.
Thanks for having me on Writers in the Storm!🥰
Good advice. I have been exploring the AI Librarian and have found a lot of great information. We just have to keep ahead of the game to keep up with advances. As an indie, what I find more terrifying is the way that we have to broadcast our work and keep up to date on every new advance in promotion. I don't find AI to be all that intimidating.
Yes! Exactly 💜 Thanks for your comments.
I am not a published book author like many of you but am striving to become one.
Alicia, this article is KEY! Thank you.
>How many articles has Jennifer Lynn Tooker aka Jennifer L Tooker, aka JL Tooker published?
>>JL Tooker (Author): Identified as the author of the science fiction novel Starwoven: Hear My Call (released September 2025) and the forthcoming World Beyond the Song. She also writes for the "Wander Words by JL Tooker" Substack, focusing on stories about connection, science, and psychology.
The response was quite accurate, although lacking any finding of my academic publications. Nonetheless, I think this exercise proved to me the importance of SEO or GEO and establishing a consistent presence.
Thank you for this simple but incredibly informative exercise.
Perfect 🤩 I’m glad AI was able to get a lot of your information correct.
Probably for your academic credentials, create an official discovery bibliography so they will start showing up.
loved this. writers feed AI. we should feed it the good stuff.
Agreed 👍🏾! Thanks for your thoughts.
"And it too[k] about 72-hours until the hallucinations were gone."
This is interesting. I know the AI is not live but did wonder how often it updates itself.
I write fiction as a hobby, software engineering pays the bills. I actually worked in AI in the mid 90's and I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it. If using AI to gather information, ALWAYS check its output against non-AI sources (this practice almost makes AI redundant).
The thing that scares me the most is:
1. We don't know what it's been trained with.
2. The creators most likely don't know exactly what's it been trained with
3. AI's are all potentially training on other AI output, essentially cannibalizing themselves.
4. Supervision of training data is questionable at best.
Your comments are 💯. Thank you for posting. I appreciate the perspective. Since authors can’t control AI training data, controlling our own authoritative sources as much as we can is the most practical path forward. ❤️
Hi Alicia, I followed your instructions and found my one lonely book. Thanks!
Yay! 🎉 sounds perfect 🤩
Ok, but it seems natural to list your books, descriptions, and links to them on Amazon (at least) on your blog, or as a guest post on someone else's blog--or both. Doesn't every author do this somewhere on the net?
Honestly, most authors don’t have this foundational piece in place, which is why AI struggles to answer basic questions about their work accurately.