11.5% 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, just how many of those holiday shopping reviews are authentic and human-written — and how many are Likely AI? How wary should consumers be when referencing reviews to make holiday purchases during these critical retail periods?

After all, Likely AI content is already present in Google Search Results, as well as reviews for shopping platforms like Shein, Flipkart, and Alibaba.

So, we analyzed just how much of an impact Likely AI reviews had on last year’s 2024 Black Friday and Christmas shopping season from November 25th to December 31st, 2024.

‍These are our findings.

Key Takeaways (TL;DR)

• 11.5% (rounded from 11.48%) of holiday shopping reviews, Nov. 25^th - Dec 31^st 2024, were Likely AI.
• This study includes reviews from popular platforms Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy, across critical categories for holiday shoppers, like electronics, toys, and apparel.
• In November 2025, Reuters reported that in the US, sales growth for holiday purchases is expected to be ‘muted.’ With some forecasts predicting that lower consumer spending/sales growth this 2025 holiday season will be reminiscent of the pandemic.
• To help shoppers make informed purchases, the authenticity of retail reviews is more important than ever.

‍Note: This study was updated in November 2025. The first publication of this study in 2024 found that 31.5% of the shopping reviews analyzed were Likely AI.

11.5% of Holiday Shopping Reviews in 2024 Were Likely AI

To find out the full impact of AI on holiday shopping reviews in last year’s shopping season, we analyzed 897 reviews.

These reviews were compiled from major e-commerce platforms: Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, and created between November 25, 2024 (inclusive) and December 31, 2024 (inclusive).

To further analyze the impact on critical products for holiday shoppers, we studied the following product categories:

‍

Based on our findings, 103/897 reviews or 11.5% of reviews were Likely AI (rounded from 11.48%).

The Likely AI reviews had a 50% or higher likelihood of being generated by artificial intelligence.

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 informs their purchases. 

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 gift giving during the holidays.

2025 Holiday Shopping Forecasts

In November 2025, Reuters reported that forecasts around this year’s US holiday shopping season are expected to be ‘muted.’

‍The article referenced several holiday shopping forecasts, including:

‍

The presence of Likely 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 for holiday shopping or comparing gifts online? 

Here are some top tips on how to differentiate between real and fake Likely AI 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 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 Likely AI 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 to herbal remedies books on Amazon, and now holiday shopping.

During the 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 likely generated by AI or written by a human, try the Originality.ai AI Detector.

Updated 2025 Methodology
Key Updates:

Reviews were collected for the 2024 holiday period. All reviews collected met the following criteria:

• Of 50 words or greater.
• Created between November 25, 2024 (inclusive) and December 31, 2024 (inclusive).
• English only.
• The search queries used were: electronics, toys, apparel, computers, headphones, cellphone, speakers, smartwatch, laptops, tablets, gaming consoles, televisions, vr, dolls, action figures, lego, board games, puzzles, outerwear, accessories.
• The companies searched were Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy.

The reviews were scanned with the Originality.ai AI Detector. The total was 897 valid reviews, of which 103 were Likely AI. Thus, of the reviews collected, 11.48% were Likely AI.

RAPIDAPI APIs Used: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart