Here's a slightly worrying fact.
It took me less than a minute to create a convincing fake video of Brad Pitt promoting StreetCred, using a website I found on the first page of Google. No specialist skills. No editing background. Just a few clicks.
And while I'm sure Brad would rave about StreetCred if he knew about it… the point still stands.
That's the reality we're living in.
AI has reached a point where it can convincingly fake voices, images and videos. Deepfakes aren't niche anymore, they're everyday. And social platforms like TikTok and Snapchat aren't exactly designed to slow things down in the name of authenticity.
Content spreads fast.
Truth comes later.
If at all.
You've probably seen this play out already. Remember the viral audio clip of Keir Starmer allegedly swearing at staffers? It was shared widely, believed instantly, and later revealed to be fake.
As AI becomes more mainstream, this problem is only going to intensify. Trust online is no longer assumed. It's questioned.
We're Buying From Businesses We Can't See
What makes this even more interesting is when this is happening. More and more of the world's biggest businesses are effectively invisible:
- ● Uber owns no cars
- ● Facebook creates no content
- ● Amazon carries no stock
- ● Airbnb owns no property
- ● Just Eat doesn't produce a single meal
Even in travel, 83% of ABTA-protected holidays are now booked online.
Customers are making big decisions without ever stepping into a shop, shaking a hand, or speaking to a person.
So how do they decide who to trust?
They Ask Other People
When we can't trust what we see, we trust what others say.
That's why reviews have quietly become one of the most powerful forces in modern business. They're the closest thing to word of mouth in a digital world, and they carry serious weight.
Even for businesses that do have a physical presence, our behaviour has changed. We still search online. We still check online. We still read what strangers think before picking up the phone or walking through the door.
In a world full of AI-generated content, reviews feel real. Human. Grounded.
Which is why, whether we like it or not, reviews are no longer a "nice to have". They're part of how trust is built, or quietly lost, online.
But Here's the Catch
If reviews are now one of the main ways customers decide who to trust, they also come with a new kind of pressure, especially for small business owners.
Reviews don't live in one place. Customers leave them wherever they feel like. Some get noticed instantly. Others sit unseen for weeks. And the ones you really want to reply to often appear when you're busy running the business.
Most businesses don't struggle because they don't care about reviews.
They struggle because staying on top of them has quietly become a job in itself.