Are AI Results Influenced by Affiliate Disclosure?
Disclosure: I am not an AI expert. I didn’t even create one of those little dolls of myself. I dabble. I use it to proofread and summarize documents. I’m learning…
Just for fun, I wanted to see if ChatGPT could:
- Provide sources for a question that my site already answers.
- List my sites as sources.
Initial Findings:
I asked, "What’s the best Riesling of the Month wine club?" and received a list of companies, some with links and others without. ChatGPT then noted that my site, WineClubGroup.com, is a "trusted source for comparing and reviewing wine clubs," but didn’t include it in its initial results.
The Surprising Turn:
ChatGPT unexpectedly brought up affiliate disclosure, stating that my site is trustworthy because it openly discloses affiliate links. It even cited my Disclosure Page and content references!
I inquired how it knew about the links, and ChatGPT explained it detected them through my site’s affiliate disclosures—both on specific pages and within posts—even though it didn’t mention my sitewide disclosure at the top of each page.
Expanding the Experiment:
Curious, I tested another site: HelpingMomsConnect.com. ChatGPT again detected affiliate links and my disclosure on that site, referencing only my "About" page and in-post disclosures, missing my sitewide disclosure (which is an image). It linked to the Performance Marketing Association for FTC Disclosure guidelines.
Emerging Questions:
This raises several questions:
- AI and Disclosures: Should affiliates ensure AI detects their disclosures in some capacity?
- Trust and Transparency: Does AI prioritize sites with clear affiliate disclosures?
- Ethical Implications: Would ChatGPT penalize sites that don’t disclose links?
- Consistency Across AI: Do other AI systems handle affiliate disclosure in the same way?
- Encouraging Ethics: Is this a tactic to encourage more ethical affiliate marketing practices?
Results and Takeaways:
I’m still exploring these fascinating questions. I’d love for you to test ChatGPT yourself and share your findings!