Do AI Overviews give Accurate Immigration Advice?

Our writers started noticing (and regularly reporting) AI overviews for providing incorrect immigration information a few months ago.  So, we’re sharing some of what we’re seeing to help you avoid some AI pitfalls on your immigration journey.  

Key Takeaways 

• At the moment, AI overviews give incorrect answers to immigration questions pretty regularly.  

• We searched for five minutes and found multiple examples of incorrect information shared by AI overviews.  

• You should be very careful to check your sources before relying on answers from AI overviews.  

AI Overviews Get Canadian Immigration Wrong 

We asked for some fairly basic immigration information during the week of May 16, 2025, and we found multiple examples of incorrect information being shared. Here are two of them:  

AI Overview Still Providing Points for Job Offers 

We have reported this error multiple times already, but it still regularly shows up!  

AI Overviews are still displaying old information – noting that you could receive additional points for having a valid job offer in Canada. This information previously was correct, prior to 2025. But points were removed earlier this year for a valid job offer due to widespread fraud.  

Here’s what the AI Overview said on May 14, 2025:  

To be clear, this information is outdated and inaccurate. Having a job offer can still help you immigrate to Canada, but it does not come with a CRS boost directly.  

Inaccurate LMIA Information from AI 

I asked if I could apply for an LMIA, as an employer in Kelowna. The AI overview told me that yes, I could.  

This is not accurate.  

From April 3, 2025, only certain applications would be eligible for an LMIA if the employer is based in Kelowna, BC. This is because Kelowna’s unemployment rate is currently over 6%, which means that employers within the region are restricted from applying for certain LMIAs unless the employee is earning more than the provincial wage threshold (20% more than the average wage). This is a high bar to meet.  

In fact, the AI overviews answer confidently states that Kelowna is not subject to these restrictions – which is not true.  

Why does this matter? 

If an employer relied on this answer and submitted an LMIA for review, they would have to pay $1,000 for the application. More than this, they may also wait multiple months for a positive LMIA which isn’t coming. This is a waste of resources for the business and also amplifies uncertainty in Canada’s economy (which is already a problem due to Trump’s tariff uncertainty). 

 It also offers the temporary worker hope that their application may be successful, when it most likely won’t be.  

In other words, AI overviews are increasing uncertainty during an already uncertain time for temporary residents in Canada. This increases stress and anguish during the immigration process.  

Why Do AI Overviews Offer Incorrect Immigration Information?  

We don’t know how the algorithm behind AI overviews works. But, we can guess that what it may do is aggregate information from webpages it trusts and then generates an answer based on what most sources say.  

If that’s the case, this is a problem because recent changes will have fewer webpages and blog posts discussing the new information than the old information. In these cases, what it might do is review all the information and decide that the information with more pages on it is accurate – when that isn’t the case.  

To be clear, we don’t know exactly why it gets it wrong – but this would explain why it keeps getting answers wrong even after we (and presumably others) report them.  

Whatever the reason, AI models make it clear that they make mistakes.

How To Get Immigration Advice You Can Trust 

The key takeaway from us here is to be very careful about information you find online when it comes to your immigration application and pathway planning. Unless it’s an official source, you will want to act with caution.  

If you’re looking at information from a source that isn’t official (yep, that even includes us), look for sources you trust and hunt for information that has been recently updated by a human.  

If you want more certainty, then spending money on a qualified immigration consultant might be money well spent. Immigrating is a huge undertaking, and having a professional on your side can offer more certainty and reduced stress. Remember: always check to see if your immigration professional is authorized before paying them. There are plenty of bad actors out there, and we don’t want you to fall victim to an immigration scam.  

Otherwise, you can check out our trusted immigration consultants.