The firm’s new analysis harnesses its proprietary technology ‘AI Frame’ to model how the five leading AI providers respond to Senate candidates’ policy questions, revealing noteworthy trends from data centers to centrist leanings and local news sources.
Washington, D.C., October 26, 2026 – In a new simulation released today by Signal Group, an integrated, independent public affairs firm, the five most-widely-used AI programs in the U.S. provide Senate campaigns with a moderating perspective but actively confirm predisposed biases and advise support for data centers. Most strikingly, not one of the hundreds of AI conversations simulated recommended a data center moratorium to candidates, but in several instances warned against the policy, going as far as to call moratoriums ‘a losing position’.
These are just some of the key takeaways from The Signal Brief: AI and the 2026 Midterm Candidates, in which Signal Group’s simulation created personas for three closely watched Senate races: Democrat James Talarico of Texas, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and Republican Michele Tafoya of Minnesota. Using its proprietary AI Frame platform, Signal’s team was able to simulate how ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and Perplexity respond to campaign personas on issues of housing, energy costs, immigration enforcement, Medicaid cuts, and data centers.
Key findings were also noteworthy in how AI sources its information. In the simulation, AI cited state news outlets at nearly twice the rate of national outlets in AI’s answers–with 26% of answers citing state news outlets compared to 14% for national outlets. This is largely pulled from a candidate’s home state: for example, when simulating the Talarico campaign, the Texas Tribune supplied more than half of state media citations. In stark contrast, social media is just 0.3% of all citations across all simulated conversations, underscoring the continuing importance of local media and its credibility among AI chatbots seeking information.
Furthermore, Signal’s analysis identifies distinctive trends in AI behavior; for example, AI is largely uniform in pulling candidates to the center and backing data centers. But the analysis also finds unique, candidate-specific elements in its answers, such as AI adding and recommending positions for Michele Tafoya’s immigration platform. More data and detailed takeaways can be downloaded here.
“Day by day, AI is influencing how both voters and political campaigns interpret issues, even before winning candidates come to Washington, where advocates and lobbyists attempt to shape the agenda. Our AI Frame simulation provides newfound visibility and some truly eye-catching results,” said Robert Bole, Head of Innovation and Strategy for Signal Group. “For example, we see from this analysis that AI platforms go out of their way to back data centers but repudiate more extreme positions candidates might embrace. And in D.C. and beyond, we see that one can forecast what AI is saying about any issue before any member is sworn in or before a public affairs effort even begins.”
“Now more than ever, AI tools often shape how candidates, business leaders, and principals understand an issue. This reality is why we developed AI Frame,” said Grace Dahl, Vice President of Analytics and Intelligence at Signal Group. “In this instance, we were able to model how AI platforms generate information about issues pertinent to some of the country’s most hotly contested elections, but this is replicable across any issue, whether widely-watched or not.”
The analysis was conducted using AI Frame, Signal’s digital intelligence platform for understanding how LLMs describe organizations and issues. The personas are Signal simulations, and the responses are AI output; the candidates did not participate. AI Frame analyzes AI-generated responses, monitors how those responses change over time, and provides recommendations to inform communications and public affairs strategies. Learn more at Signaldc.com/Signal-Group-AI-Frame
For more information on Signal Group’s modern public affairs offerings, visit Signal at signaldc.com.
About Signal Group
Signal Group offers world-class counsel in modern, data-centric public affairs. We deliver strategies and solutions driven by strategic advocacy, communications, digital and creative programs. Advising clients across the globe, including industry-leading companies, associations, CEOs, governments and non-profits, Signal offers tailored strategies for solving high-stakes challenges. Signal is a unique collection of top practitioners from key fields focused on delivering transformative outcomes for our client partners.