31.5% of Holiday Shopping Reviews are Likely Fake

The holiday season is just around the corner, with Black Friday and Christmas shopping rapidly approaching. To find the best gifts for friends and family, many shoppers turn to reviews to make sure they are choosing the best presents.

However, with the rise of AI, we wanted to find out just how many of those holiday shopping reviews were authentic and written by humans, or if the rise of AI and the availability of AI technology meant that reviews were becoming increasingly AI-generated. 

After all, AI content in Google Search Results is higher than ever.

So to build on our previous research and analysis of the rise of AI content in Amazon Reviews, which found that there was a 400% increase in AI Amazon reviews following the initial release of ChatGPT in 2022, we undertook a new study.

Our research aims to explore the topic further to quantify the scale of AI-generated fake reviews during the Christmas and Black Friday shopping seasons and find out just how wary consumers should be when referencing reviews to make holiday purchases during these critical retail periods.

Key Takeaways (TL;DR)

• 31.5% of holiday shopping reviews are likely AI-generated.
• During Black Friday 28% of reviews are Likely AI.
• Over the Christmas shopping period, 33% of reviews are Likely AI. 
• 2 in 5 Americans say that inflation will impact holiday shopping and 40% plan to purchase fewer gifts this year.
• To help shoppers make informed purchases, the authenticity of retail reviews is more important than ever.

31.5% of Holiday Shopping Reviews Are Likely AI

To find out just how likely it was that the shopping reviews you’re reading this holiday season are AI-generated, we analyzed 75,000 reviews compiled from major Ecommerce platforms: Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.

Based on our findings, 31.5% of reviews were Likely AI-generated — meaning that they had a 50% or higher likelihood of being generated by artificial intelligence.

Black Friday vs. Christmas Shopping Reviews — The Seasonal Impact

The study also found that there was a notable seasonal increase in AI-generated reviews during the holidays.

• Christmas: Then, over the Christmas shopping period 2,134 reviews or 33% were AI-generated.
• Black Friday: Our research found that 1,531 reviews or 28% during the Black Friday period were AI-generated.

This reflects targeted activity, which could massively impact consumer trust in the integrity of the brands they are purchasing from during these high-traffic retail times.

What Does This Mean for Holiday Shoppers?

These findings pose a number of issues for holiday shopping. Reviews are a key way for customers to get insight into whether a product does what it advertises

If reviews are AI-generated it means that customers may be receiving incorrect information that is informing their purchases. 

CNBC reported in October 2024, that inflation will impact holiday purchase decisions for 2 in 5 Americans. 

Further 40% of those surveyed said they would be buying fewer items this year as a result of the high cost of living.

With the rise in the cost of living over the last few years, customers naturally want to ensure that every dollar they spend is making the most impact — including when it comes to giving gifts during the holidays.

The spike in AI reviews around the holidays poses challenges to consumers who are looking to make informed decisions about their holiday purchases, especially at a time when they are increasingly mindful of budgets.

How Can You Make Informed Purchases With the Rise of AI Reviews?

So, what can you do as a customer heading out to do holiday shopping or comparing gifts online? 

Here are top tips on how to differentiate between real and fake reviews:

• Look for verified reviews. Our study on the rise of AI-generated content in Amazon reviews found that verified reviews are 1.4 times less likely to be AI-generated.
• Watch for key indicators of AI text like “as a large language model.” These are obvious giveaways that can occur in AI text generation.
• Be skeptical of reviews with perfect grammar and repetitive sentences. Jon Gillham, CEO of Originality.ai advised in our Fake AI-Generated Airline Review Study, that consumers should be wary of repetitive sentence length and too-perfect spelling or grammar.
• If you aren’t sure — use the Originality.ai AI Detector. Multiple research studies have found that humans struggle to identify AI content. So, if you’re not sure whether a review is AI-generated or human-written, use an industry-leading detector like Originality.ai.

Final Thoughts

AI is here to stay and is making a notable appearance in customer reviews. In study after study, we have found that AI reviews are continuing to increase across a wide range of industries from Amazon to Airlines, and now to holiday shopping.

During a holiday shopping season when customers are increasingly mindful of budgets, the authenticity of reviews is more important than ever. So, if you are reading a review as a holiday shopper and can’t quite decide if it was generated by AI or written by a human, try the Originality.ai AI Detector.

Methodology

This study analyzed 75,000 product reviews from major e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart to assess the prevalence of AI-generated fake reviews during Black Friday and Christmas shopping seasons.

Reviews, spanning categories like electronics and apparel, were preprocessed to remove duplicates and anomalies, tagged with dates, and enriched with temporal data for holiday-specific analysis. Using the Originality.ai API, each review was assigned AI-likelihood scores, with those scoring 50% or higher classified as AI-generated. This approach provided insights into the scale and timing of AI-driven review manipulation during high-traffic periods.

Dataset available upon request.