Qwoted, a US-based journalist response platform, has banned hundreds of PR agencies, executives, and purported 'experts' for reasons including non-existence, AI-generated content, or pitching outside their stated expertise. Qwoted CEO Dan Simon describes the surge in fake, AI-generated content as complicated to weed out, noting that artificial intelligence has "just poured petrol on the disinformation fire." Simon outlines a complex landscape where "real agencies representing fake experts with fake expertise" exist alongside various other permutations of fabricated credentials and content.
Many of these fake experts serve as a dubious SEO tactic, aiming to generate links from reputable news brands to improve Google search visibility. Qwoted flagged one such profile, James Allen of Billpin, a finance expert widely featured in publications like CBS News and Business Insider. Allen's account was banned for repeatedly submitting AI-generated content, detected by the site's AI tool Pangram, and for failing verification. Despite his apparent success, Allen proved difficult to verify; his LinkedIn profile has since disappeared, and he has not responded to inquiries, while America’s Financial Educators Council previously questioned his qualifications.
Shelby Bridges, Qwoted's head of user experience, notes the rise of “misrepresentation,” where real company owners delegate account management to assistants who then use ChatGPT to spam content without regard for topic relevance. Bridges, who joined Qwoted in 2022, observed that the volume of spammy content significantly increased after ChatGPT's public release in November of that year, transforming content moderation into a "game of cat and mouse."
Examples of this proliferation include Grace Carter of UKWritings.com, whose published work online spans topics from advertising technology to pet sitting and writing UX proposals. In May 2025, she even offered a first-person account of living with germaphobia for Stylist magazine, despite likely not existing. Similarly, Dan Brown of London-based Handy Cleaners displayed expertise across human resources, car cleaning, and dishwasher use, with his car-cleaning tips registering 100% AI-generated on Pangram and his profile picture rated 9/10 artificially generated by Identifai. Neither Carter nor Brown, or their respective companies, have responded to requests for verification. Bridges states that AI-generated content is often "just words" and that "ChatGPT is an echo chamber."
Qwoted employs both human vetting and technology to identify violations, flagging accounts for activities such as excessive daily pitching. The platform handles upwards of 15 violations daily, banning 50 clients per day. Simon notes that some reporters surprisingly expressed tolerance for real experts using AI for commentary. Despite this, Qwoted's internal policy favors "more human content, less slop," acknowledging they are "playing whack-a-mole." Simon attributes the current "unhealthy spaces" of public social channels and reporter inboxes to platforms like Alphabet, Musk, and Meta, which he argues lack the incentive to ensure their safety. Qwoted trialed an AI detection tool for users but limited its external use after discovering "bad actors" were leveraging it to refine their AI content until it achieved a 'human' score.
This article was derived faithfully from pressgazette.co.uk reporting.
