Information Gain" Patent: Why Google's AI Ignores 90% of Content (And How to Pass).
⚡ Key Takeaways:
The Patent: Google holds a patent for "Information Gain Scores." It penalizes content that overlaps with existing search results.
The Death of "Skyscraper": Writing "The Ultimate Guide" (combining the top 10 results) now results in a 0.0 Gain Score.
The Fix: You must inject "Additive Data" (New stats, new angles, or contrarian takes) to trigger an AI citation.
For the last 10 years, the standard SEO advice was: "The Skyscraper Technique."
Look at the top 10 results.
Combine them into one giant "Ultimate Guide."
Add 500 words.
In 2026, this strategy is Toxic.
Why? Because Google’s AI (Gemini) has already read those top 10 results. It has "ingested" that knowledge.
If you publish a post that simply repeats the consensus, your Information Gain Score is Zero.
To the AI, you are "Redundant Data." And redundant data gets pruned to save computing costs.
The Physics of "Information Gain"
Google’s patent (US20200349169A1) describes a system that scores a document based on how much NEW information it provides relative to the documents the user has already seen.
Document A (Wikipedia): Defines "SEO."
Document B (Your Blog): Defines "SEO" using the same words.
Gain Score: 0.0 (Ignored).
Document C (Infomly): Defines "SEO" but adds a specific case study about a traffic crash in 2025.
Gain Score: High (Cited).
The Lab Insight:
The AI Overview is a "Summarization Engine." It builds a summary from the Consensus. But to make the summary useful, it needs Unique Data Points. It hunts for the "Delta" (the difference) between articles.
We must optimize for the Delta.
The 3 Types of "High-Gain" Content
If you want to rank in the AI Era, you cannot just be "Better." You must be "Different."
Here are the 3 ways to force an Information Gain score.
1. The "Primary Data" Injection
This is the strongest signal.
If you conduct a test (like our "Gemini vs. ChatGPT" showdown in Post #3), you are generating data that exists nowhere else on the internet.
Low Gain: "Gemini is a good tool." (Opinion).
High Gain: "Gemini handled 15 PDFs in 30 seconds, while ChatGPT crashed." (New Data).
The Rule: Every post must contain one number that you generated yourself.
2. The "Contrarian" Angle
AI models are trained on the "Average" of the internet.
If you challenge the average, you stand out as a "Unique Entity."
Consensus: "Backlinks are the #1 ranking factor."
Contrarian: "Backlinks are fading. Navboost is the #1 ranking factor."
By taking a stance against the consensus (backed by logic), you force the AI to cite you as the "Alternative Perspective." This is how you get into the "Perspectives" filter on Google.
3. The "Experience" Filter
AI cannot hallucinate physical reality (yet).
It cannot feel pain, lose money, or attend a conference.
Generic: "Here is how to start a business."
High Gain: "I started a business on Tuesday. Here is the screenshot of my first Stripe rejection."
This is why our "Solo Capitalist" series works. It adds the layer of "Human Experience" that the AI’s training data lacks.
The "Gain" Audit: Do You Deserve to Rank?
Before I hit publish on any post at Infomly, I run the "So What?" Test.
I look at my H2 headers and ask:
"Could Gemini generate this article without reading my site?"
If the answer is Yes: I delete the article. It is "Low Gain."
If the answer is No (because I have unique data/stories): I publish.
Case Study: Search Engine Land vs. Infomly
Search Engine Land reports: "Google releases an update." (Commodity News).
Infomly reports: "I tested the update on 3 sites. Here is the traffic impact." (High Gain).
This is why we will win. We aren't reporting the news; we are creating the data.
Final Verdict: Be the Source, Not the Echo
The internet is drowning in echoes.
AI can generate echoes for free.
The only thing that has value in 2026 is the Source.
The Patent proves it. Google is actively hunting for "Additive Information."
If you aren't adding, you are being subtracted.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How does Google measure Information Gain?
It compares the "semantic vectors" of your content against the top ranking results. If your vector is too similar (high cosine similarity), your Gain score is low. If your vector contains unique entities or relationships, your score rises.
Does "Length" equal "Gain"?
No. Adding 1,000 words of fluff actually lowers your Gain score because it dilutes the unique data density. A 500-word post with 1 unique chart has higher gain than a 3,000-word generic guide.
Can AI help me create High Gain content?
AI can help you find the gap (e.g., "What is missing from these top 3 articles?"), but it cannot fill the gap. You (the human) must provide the unique data or experience to fill it.