93%. That’s how many AI-written reviews carried Amazon’s “Verified Purchase” badge in Pangram’s study of AI-generated reviews on Amazon best-sellers, run by an AI-detection company. The badge most shoppers treat as proof that a real person bought the thing was sitting on almost every machine-written review the researchers found.

The study looked at nearly 30,000 reviews across 500 best-sellers. About 3% were AI-generated with high confidence, and 74% of those gave five stars. Three percent sounds small until you remember it’s concentrated in the glowing reviews you read first.

Black Friday is when this matters most. You’re rushing, the “deal” timer is ticking, and a 4.7-star rating feels like permission to click. This guide shows you how to spot fake reviews the way they’re written now: fluent, polite, badge-carrying and convincing. You’ll get the language tells, the listing tricks, a two-minute check you can run on any product, and what the law in your country says.

Why Old Fake-Review Advice No Longer Works

Most advice on how to spot fake reviews was written for a different era. “Look for bad grammar.” “Watch for broken English.” “Be suspicious of short, vague reviews.”

That worked when fake reviews were churned out cheaply by hand. Today, anyone can generate a hundred well-written, varied reviews in minutes. AI doesn’t make spelling mistakes. If anything, perfect grammar is now a weak warning sign rather than reassurance.

Two other trusted tools have also failed:

• The “Verified Purchase” badge. As the Pangram numbers show, it confirms an order happened, not that the review is honest. Sellers can refund buyers, send free products, or use their own accounts.
• Fake review checkers. Many guides still recommend Fakespot. Mozilla shut it down on 1 July 2025, along with the Review Checker built into Firefox. If a guide tells you to use it, the guide is out of date.

So knowing how to spot fake reviews today means reading differently, not just reading for typos.

5 Linguistic Tells That a Product Review Was Written by AI

No single sign proves anything. But when three or four show up together, be cautious.

1. It praises everything and describes nothing. Real reviewers mention a specific moment: “the left earbud kept disconnecting on my commute.” AI reviews talk in categories: “excellent sound quality, comfortable fit, great battery life.” Pangram’s own advice is the same: generic, fluffy language is a red flag, and specific product details are a good sign.
2. It reads like a mini essay. An opening line, three neat paragraphs on features, then a tidy wrap-up starting with “Overall” or “In summary.” People rarely write reviews with that much structure.
3. It has no time in it. Genuine reviews often mention how long they’ve used something: “three weeks in,” “after the first wash,” “updating after two months.” AI reviews describe a product as if it was just unboxed and will never age.
4. It repeats the listing. Watch for reviews that use the exact product name, model number and feature list from the seller’s description. Real buyers say “these headphones,” not the full 14-word product title.
5. The tone never changes across reviews. Read five five-star reviews in a row. If they share the same rhythm, the same balanced “only minor downside” sentence and the same upbeat closing, they likely came from one source.

These are also the signs a product review was written by ChatGPT or a similar tool. If you’re learning how to spot fake reviews written by AI, be fair: some honest people write tidy reviews, and some fake ones are short and scrappy. Treat language tells as one layer, not a verdict.

Photos matter too when you’re figuring out how to spot fake reviews. AI-generated review photos are becoming common. Look for warped text on packaging, odd hands, studio-perfect lighting in a “home” photo, or the same image appearing under different products. If you’re unsure, a reverse image search (Google Lens works well) can show whether the photo exists elsewhere.

Structural Red Flags: Review Hijacking, Date Spikes and “Verified” Loopholes

Knowing how to spot fake reviews isn’t only about the words. Some of the most misleading reviews aren’t fake at all. They’re real reviews attached to the wrong product.

Review hijacking

Amazon lets sellers group variations of one product, like different colours of the same headphones, under one listing so the reviews are shared. Dishonest sellers abuse this by merging unrelated products, or by taking over old, inactive listings and swapping in a new product while keeping the old reviews.

This is why some reviews mention a completely different product. In a 2022 investigation, Which? looked at the top-rated headphones on Amazon UK and found listings carrying reviews for things like glass pitchers, an extension cable and disposable paper bowls. You can read the Which? investigation into headphone listings boosted by unrelated reviews for the details. In the US, the FTC fined supplement maker The Bountiful Company $600,000 in 2023 for merging reviews of different products on Amazon.

How to check: sort reviews by “Most recent,” then scroll back to the oldest. If early reviews describe something else, mention a different size or flavour that isn’t on offer, or praise features this product doesn’t have, the reviews were likely borrowed.

Date spikes

Fake reviews usually arrive in batches. A product with almost no reviews for months, then dozens of five-star ones in a single week, is a warning sign. This is also why fake reviews surge before Black Friday. Sellers want high ratings in place before the biggest shopping week of the year, when shoppers are rushed and listings are crowded.

“Verified” loopholes

Are verified purchase reviews always real? No. The badge confirms that a purchase happened on that account. It doesn’t confirm who paid, whether the money was refunded later, or whether the reviewer was given the product for free in exchange for five stars.

The 2-Minute Pre-Checkout Audit: How to Spot Fake Reviews Before You Buy

Here’s how to spot fake reviews in practice, on a real-world type of purchase. Imagine a pair of wireless earbuds on sale for $39 (or £35), rated 4.6 stars from 2,100 reviews. Before you buy, run these steps:

1. Read the three-star reviews first (30 seconds). They’re the hardest to fake usefully and the most honest about trade-offs. If they all mention the same flaw, believe them.
2. Sort by “Most recent” (20 seconds). Are recent reviews as positive as the overall score? A product can change quietly. A 4.6 average built on old reviews with recent ones complaining is a bad sign.
3. Scroll to the oldest reviews (20 seconds). Check they’re about earbuds, not a phone case or a lamp. If they’re not, it’s a hijacked listing.
4. Check the rating spread (10 seconds). Genuine products usually show a slope of mostly 5s and 4s with some 1s. A “U” shape (lots of fives, lots of ones, very little in the middle) often means boosted ratings plus angry real buyers.
5. Tap two reviewer profiles (30 seconds). Look at their review history. Someone who has only ever written five-star reviews, all within a few days, for unrelated cheap gadgets is not a typical shopper.
6. Search the product name off the site (10 seconds). Add “reddit” or “review” to your search and see whether anyone outside the shop has an opinion.

If two or more steps raise a flag, skip it or buy a better-known alternative. A good Black Friday deal on a bad product is still a bad deal.

Beyond the Product Page: Where to Find Unfiltered Buyer Feedback

The single most useful habit when you’re working out how to spot fake reviews is checking somewhere the seller doesn’t control. Here’s how to verify product quality outside Amazon or any other shop:

• Reddit: search the product or brand name plus “reddit.” Communities like r/BuyItForLife and hobby subreddits are blunt about what breaks.
• YouTube long-term reviews: search “[product] after 6 months” or “long term review.” Unboxing videos tell you very little.
• Independent testers: Which? in the UK, Consumer Reports in the US, and similar bodies in Canada and Europe test products and aren’t paid by sellers.

How do you check whether an online store’s reviews are fake? The same logic applies. Look for the store’s name on Trustpilot, Google reviews and Reddit, and check how long its web address has existed. A shop that appeared last month with hundreds of perfect reviews is a red flag.

Do fake review detectors actually work? Partly. AI text detectors can catch obvious machine writing, but short reviews are hard to judge, and false alarms happen. Use them as a hint, never a final answer. Your own two-minute check is more reliable.

What Consumer Laws Say About Fake and AI-Generated Reviews

Knowing how to spot fake reviews protects you, but the law is on your side too. Fake reviews are now clearly illegal across the US, UK, EU and Canada.

• United States: the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews took effect in October 2024. It bans fake reviews, including AI-generated ones, as well as buying reviews and suppressing negative ones through threats or intimidation. The FTC can seek civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. In December 2025, it sent warning letters to ten companies. The FTC’s announcement of the rule banning fake and AI-generated reviews lists everything it covers. One gap: the final rule dropped its specific ban on review hijacking, though the FTC has still pursued it under general deception law.
• United Kingdom: since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act bans fake reviews, hidden paid-for reviews and misleading review information, including suppressing negative reviews and cherry-picking positive ones. The Competition and Markets Authority can fine businesses up to 10% of global turnover.
• European Union: under EU consumer law, fake reviews are banned, and sellers that show reviews must explain whether and how they check that reviews come from real buyers.
• Canada: the Competition Bureau treats fake reviews as deceptive marketing and has acted against them under the Competition Act.

Can sellers pay to remove bad reviews? Not legally in these markets. Offering money, refunds or gifts only in exchange for positive reviews is banned in the US and UK, and so is pressuring buyers to delete negative ones.

If you spot fake reviews, report them to the platform first. In the US, you can also report to the FTC. In the UK, contact Citizens Advice, which passes complaints to Trading Standards.

Read the Middle, Not the Top

Remember that 93%. The badge you trusted, the star rating you skim, the polished reviews at the top of the page: those are exactly what fakers optimise for.

The fix isn’t paranoia. It’s reading the parts they don’t bother faking: the three-star reviews, the oldest reviews, the reviewer histories and what people say somewhere else. Learn how to spot fake reviews with that two-minute habit, and Black Friday becomes a lot less of a gamble.

FAQ

How can you tell if a review is written by AI?

Look for generic praise without specific details, an essay-like structure ending in “Overall,” no mention of how long the product has been used, and wording copied from the product listing. One sign proves nothing; several together are a strong hint.

What’s the quickest way to learn how to spot fake reviews on Amazon?

Read the three-star reviews, sort by most recent, check the oldest reviews match the product, look at the rating spread, and tap a couple of reviewer profiles. It takes about two minutes.

Why do some reviews mention a completely different product?

That’s usually review hijacking. Sellers merge unrelated products into one listing, or take over an old listing, so reviews written for something else count towards their product’s rating.

Are verified purchase reviews always real?

No. The badge confirms an order was placed, not that the review is honest. One study found 93% of AI-generated Amazon reviews it detected carried the badge.

Do fake review detectors actually work?

Only partly. Fakespot, the best-known tool, shut down in July 2025. AI text detectors can flag obvious cases but struggle with short reviews and sometimes get it wrong, so use them alongside your own checks. Knowing how to spot fake reviews yourself is still the most reliable defence.

Can sellers pay to remove bad reviews?

Not legally in the US, UK, EU or Canada. Buying positive reviews, or pressuring and threatening customers to remove negative ones, breaks consumer law in all four.

How do I check if an online store’s reviews are fake?

Search the store’s name on Trustpilot, Google reviews and Reddit, check how long the website has existed, and be wary of new shops with hundreds of perfect reviews and no negative ones.

You can Check Our more article’s like that in our AI and Technology section.