AI Chatbots Can Send Shoppers to Fake Stores, Study Finds

INTERNATIONAL BUREAU —ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Perplexity all surfaced potentially risky websites when asked where to buy products online, according to a study by intellectual property protection firm Podqi . About 9% of the 6,795 answers included a risky site, ranging from fake storefronts and suspected counterfeit sellers to inactive or re-registered brand domains.

How the Chatbots Compared Perplexity surfaced risky sites in 15% of its answers, followed by ChatGPT at 8% and Gemini at 4%. Podqi counted a site whether the chatbot recommended it, mentioned it without comment, or warned shoppers against using it. ChatGPT gave warnings most often, flagging the risk in 24% of its answers that included a risky site.

Across all three services, 57% of answers that surfaced a risky site recommended it as a place to buy. Another 34% mentioned it without comment, and 9% warned shoppers away. Podqi reviewed 4,437 domains and classified 718 as risky, including 351 fake sites and 367 inactive ones. Regional Store Questions Carried the Highest Risk Questions about international shipping and regional storefronts surfaced risky sites in 16% of answers, the highest rate among the five questions tested.

The chatbots sometimes listed fake regional sites for brands that had none. In one test, Perplexity identified the wrong website as Stüssy’s official store and recommended it as a source of authentic products. Questions about larger brands surfaced risky sites about half as often as questions about smaller ones.

Podqi wrote the prompts and used data from AI search tracking company Gauge to collect answers from the logged-out versions of the three services. The tests ran in two rounds in September and covered 151 brands, including Lululemon, Birkenstock, Stüssy, Le Creuset and Madhappy, a Podqi client.

The figures reflect answers to those test prompts. What the Companies Said Google spokesperson Jessica Levis Boord told The Verge that Gemini can make mistakes and that Google displays source links so users can check its answers. OpenAI spokesperson Taya Christianson said the company is improving its safeguards to reduce the chances of deceptive websites appearing in shopping results.

Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer pointed to the company’s performance on other research benchmarks and said the service does not claim perfect accuracy. The findings come ahead of the holiday shopping season, when people looking for lower prices or in-stock items may turn to unfamiliar retailers.

Podqi co-founder and CEO Trevor West advised shoppers to verify a website before entering personal information or payment details. For regional stores, Podqi recommends starting from the brand’s main website. The post AI Chatbots Can Send Shoppers to Fake Stores, Study Finds appeared first on ProPakistani .