ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity cited risky retail sites in shopping tests
Original title: AI chatbots are recommending fake retail websites, study finds
Across 6,795 answers, Perplexity showed risky sites in 15 percent, ChatGPT in 8 percent and Gemini in 4 percent.
IP protection firm Podqi prompted ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity with shopping questions about 151 brands over two periods in September. All three cited risky sites, defined as impostor or knockoff stores, reregistered old brand domains, or inactive domains someone else could buy. Smaller brands saw risky sites about twice as often as larger ones. The companies said they are improving safeguards and that users should verify sources.
Unconfirmed: Findings come from Podqi’s crafted prompts and tracking tool, not observed shopper conversations.
- Podqi used its own prompts, not real user conversations, and a tool that tracks chatbot answers.
- ChatGPT warned about a surfaced risky site 24 percent of the time, the best of the three.
- Regional-website prompts triggered risky sites more often, including fake sites for brands without them.
- Perplexity once named the wrong page as Stüssy’s official site and called it a starting point for authentic items.
Impact: Shoppers may be sent to impostor or knockoff retail sites
- 1.Verify a chatbot’s shopping source before entering personal or payment details.
- Vendors
- OpenAIGooglePerplexity
- Organizations
- Podqi
- AI models
- ChatGPTGeminiPerplexity
From the original article
3 min read at theverge.com
Shoppers using AI chatbots to research products or find places to buy items could be directed to imposters and other risky websites, a new study found. The study conducted by IP protection firm Podqi and shared exclusively with The Verge prompted ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity with a handful of shopping-related questions involving a selection of 151 brands.
By Mia Sato · theverge.com
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