AI-generated summaries at the top of search results are quietly reshaping how residents get their information. Instead of clicking through to articles—or even city websites—many stop at the AI overview. That behavior shift is collapsing referral traffic for publishers and raising new challenges for local governments that depend on clarity, accuracy, and trust.

In this episode, we focus on the implications for cities and towns:

• Why declining clicks to local media outlets matter for civic accountability.

• How AI overviews could misrepresent policies, notices, or emergency information.

• What residents’ demand for speed and simplicity means for government communication.

• Strategies local governments can adopt—like machine-readable data, direct channels, and trust-building—to stay visible and credible in an AI-first search world.

• Why the real issue isn’t just AI, but changing resident expectations shaped by years of frustration with cluttered news sites.

The zero-click future is already here. Local governments must decide whether they will be left out of the conversation—or become the trusted answer residents find first.

Show Notes:

• ⁠AI in Government Newsletter

• ⁠Learn more about Micah's work

OpenAI’s GPT-5 is here—and it changes more than you think. While the leap from GPT-4 to GPT-5 may look incremental, the impacts on government workflows, prompting strategies, and governance are anything but small. This episode unpacks what GPT-5 actually brings: router-style architecture, verbosity and reasoning controls, free-form function calling, improved memory, reduced hallucinations, and more proactive “it just does stuff” behavior.

We also examine why these changes matter for local government. From disrupted automations to the need for explicit prompting strategies, GPT-5 requires a shift in mindset: treat it as infrastructure, not novelty. Learn practical ways to manage governance, set boundaries, and unlock higher-quality outputs by using verbosity settings, reasoning levels, rubrics, and the “router mindset.”

If you work in or with government, this episode gives you the briefing you need to understand both the risks and opportunities of GPT-5.

Show Notes:

• SGR Wednesday Webinar: Unlocking the Power of GPT-5

• AI in Government LinkedIn Newsletter: Prompting GPT-5 in Local Government: Length, Voice, and the Router Mindset

  Learn more about Micah's work

AI is transforming public governance—streamlining operations, reshaping service delivery, and opening new possibilities for accountability and oversight. But alongside these opportunities come profound risks: bias, privacy breaches, transparency gaps, and declining public trust. In this episode, we unpack the dual role of government as both regulator and user of AI, drawing on global examples from Finland to Brazil. We explore what an “AI-ready culture” looks like, why efficiency alone isn’t enough, and how policies like the EU AI Act are setting the stage for trustworthy adoption. The central question: how can governments harness AI without eroding the human judgment and civic trust that keep democratic systems alive?

Read the LinkedIN Newsletter AI for Government: Link