# Fake reviews and misleading claims: what the ACCC says, and why it matters for AI search

URL: https://aura8.ai/blog/fake-reviews-and-misleading-claims/
Updated: 3 November 2026

> The ACCC says businesses should not write or commission reviews of their own business, and that editing out negative reviews can mislead. It took action against Electrodry over false reviews, and the Federal Court found it breached the Australian Consumer Law. Claims written by AI are still your claims.

## Why do reviews come up in AI search?
 Reviews and testimonials are part of how a business is judged, by people and by anything that summarises the web about it. That is also why the ACCC treats fake or misleading ones as a breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
## What does the ACCC say?
 Its guidance says businesses should not write or commission reviews about their own business or a competitor's. It says editing or leaving out negative reviews can mislead as much as posting fake ones, and that commercial relationships, such as paying for a review, should be disclosed.
 Fake reviewsThe ACCC has taken action over reviews written by the business itself or under invented customer identities.
## Has anyone been caught?
 Yes. The ACCC took action against Electrodry over false reviews and testimonials posted on Google, True Local and Yelp, and the Federal Court found it had contravened the Australian Consumer Law. The conduct was in 2012, but the principle has not changed.
## What does this mean for AI visibility work?
 Our reading. Nobody can promise that an AI assistant will name you, and anyone offering to manufacture the signals that make it more likely, with invented reviews, planted mentions or fake profiles, is asking you to take a legal risk for a result they cannot guarantee. The same goes for claims on your own pages: say only what is true and can be checked, whether a person or an AI tool wrote it.
## What can you do instead?
- Ask real customers for honest reviews, and reply to all of them.
- Publish only claims you can back up. Keep the evidence.
- Disclose any relationship that could influence a review.
- Check an agency's promises. Be wary of any guarantee about rankings or AI citations.
## What does this article not tell you?
- We read the ACCC's guidance and action through its media releases and a search summary, not the full court judgment.
- It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every rule that could apply to your claims.
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## Sources
- ACCC releases guidance about online product reviews · ACCC, undated media release. Read through a search summary on 30 October 2026.
- ACCC takes action against Electrodry alleging fake testimonials or reviews · ACCC, undated media release. Read through a search summary on 30 October 2026.
 We keep what a source says separate from our reading of it. If a source is from another country or a different date, we say so. We are not giving advice, and nothing here is a promise of rankings, citations or sales.
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## Questions

### Can I write my own Google reviews?
The ACCC says businesses should not write or commission reviews about their own business.

### Can an agency guarantee AI citations?
No. Nobody controls what an AI assistant names. Treat any guarantee as a warning sign. Aura8 never promises rankings, citations or sales.