Navigating the Counterfeit Web: Trust in the Digital Age.

A Manchester woman choosing a care home finds templated, glowing reviews across sites and is told by an inspector to visit in person, illustrating how AI-generated content is hollowing out everyday trust signals.

Cited reports describe an inflection point: industry estimates that up to 90% of online content will be AI-generated by end of 2026, Yelp filtering nearly 500,000 suspected AI reviews and closing 1.3 million accounts, and research showing AI-disclosure labels can prompt disengagement rather than scrutiny.

We explore why detection fails (high false negatives and false positives, with asymmetrical costs favouring generators) and critique probabilistic labeling. It surveys provenance via C2PA and why metadata often gets stripped, contrasts EU/UK/US regulatory approaches, and argues for shifting from labeling to provenance and liability, plus verified-purchase reviews and stronger institutions like inspectorates to restore accountable trust.