Trust in online content is eroding at an unprecedented pace. As AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated and widespread, consumers are increasingly questioning what — and who — they can believe.
Consider the data:
- 69% of consumers say they’re more skeptical of online content due to AI-generated fraud than they were last year.
- 58% of people globally worry about their ability to tell what’s true from what’s false online — rising to 73% in the U.S.
- 82% of consumers have encountered fake reviews at least once in the past year.
These numbers point to a clear conclusion: Skepticism is no longer the exception — it’s the norm. As trust declines across consumer channels, B2B businesses should pay close attention because B2B buyers are consumers first. They bring the same expectations, concerns, and behaviors into their professional decision-making. With this in mind, the need for trusted, credible content from reputable sources has never been greater.
AI, misinformation, and the responsibility of review marketplaces
The age of AI has fundamentally changed how information is created, distributed, and consumed. While AI unlocks enormous value, it also lowers the barrier to misinformation at scale. For consumers and businesses alike, this creates a pressing question: Where can I find information I can trust?
Review marketplaces like G2 play a critical role in answering that question.
It’s no longer enough to simply moderate user-generated reviews. Achieving true trust and safety requires a more comprehensive approach — one that ensures transparency, accuracy, authenticity, and integrity across the entire marketplace, including the companies and products being reviewed.
Trust has always been foundational to our mission at G2, and we remain committed to delivering authentic, verified insights that software buyers and companies can rely on to make confident decisions.
That commitment is why G2 recently joined the Coalition for Trusted Reviews, alongside industry leaders such as Better Business Bureau, Glassdoor, Expedia Group, TripAdvisor, Trustpilot, Booking.com, and Amazon. By contributing our tech-focused expertise, we’re helping advance best practices that protect consumers and elevate trust across digital marketplaces.
The G2 trust framework: built for transparency at scale
Trust doesn’t happen by accident. It’s designed, enforced, and continuously strengthened. We embrace this continuous approach at G2, grounded in a clear trust framework that centers on three core principles:
- Authenticity: Reviewer and vendor-provided information on G2 must come from real people and real companies with genuine, first-hand experiences.
- Accuracy: Product, vendor, and review information must be truthful and verifiable.
- Integrity: Manipulation, including the use of fake reviews, misinformation, or deceptive activity, is strictly prohibited.
We already employ rigorous moderation practices to ensure reviews on G2.com reflect honest, real-world experiences. Our approach to Review Validity outlines how reviews are collected, moderated, and published to maintain credibility, including:
- Verifying every user on G2: We verify the identity of every user on G2 to ensure reviews come from real people.
- Data-driven assessment: We leverage over 43 data points to assess authenticity.
- Strict moderation: We vet every review with a consistent and strict guideline.
But in today’s environment, review moderation alone isn’t enough.
Going beyond reviews: ensuring marketplace integrity
As the world’s largest software marketplace with over 3 million verified reviews, G2 serves millions of buyers each month. These buyers don’t just rely on reviews; they depend on accurate vendor profiles, truthful product information, and transparent business practices to guide high-stakes purchasing decisions.
That’s why our commitment to trust and safety extends to vendors and listings across the platform. Vendors participating in G2 must adhere to clear community guidelines and avoid behaviors that undermine trust, including:
- Fraudulent or manipulative review activity: A vendor engages in or facilitates the creation, solicitation, or submission of fake, incentivized, or otherwise inauthentic reviews that don’t reflect a genuine service or buying experience with a business, in a deliberate attempt to manipulate consumer perception or behavior.
- Fake product or vendor profile creation: A vendor or product is not a real, legally registered business entity, or has falsified company identity, product authenticity, or operational information. This includes presenting fake companies, fake products, or materially misleading corporate or product details.
- Manipulation, abuse, or platform interference: A vendor engages in competitor review manipulation, technical abuse of the G2 platform, deceptive product behavior, or undisclosed conflicts of interest.
These standards help ensure that G2 remains a safe, reliable, and unbiased environment for all participants in our marketplace — including buyers, reviewers, and vendors.
The future of review marketplaces
G2 continuously invests in review validation, fraud detection, and AI-driven safety systems to stay ahead of emerging risks. As AI reshapes how software is built, sold, and evaluated, our focus remains clear:
- Ensuring trust at scale
- Strengthening data quality
- Identifying emerging threats
- Upholding a transparent, unbiased marketplace
In an era of growing skepticism, trust is the ultimate differentiator. Our marketplace is built on the integrity of vendors, the accuracy of product information, and the authenticity of user experiences — and that’s what makes G2 a source of truth in the age of AI.
As AI search platforms like ChatGPT increasingly rely on G2’s content to answer questions about B2B software, we recognize our responsibility to ensure that information is credible, authentic, and trustworthy.
Learn more about how G2 enforces trust, integrity, and transparency across our marketplace by reviewing our community guidelines.
by Kelsey Norris
by Sara Rossio