Foundational pillar / check ai-performance-claims
AI performance claims hygiene
Screens AI-agency pages for guaranteed rankings or citations and absolute accuracy claims that need substantiation.
By Shimon Carroll, Founder, SEO for AI Agents · Last updated
What this check measures
Phrases such as "guaranteed #1", "guaranteed rankings", "rank #1 on ChatGPT", "100% accuracy", "99% accurate", or "beats GPT-4", quoted as evidence.
Why it matters
The FTC treats unsubstantiated AI performance claims as deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act and brought several cases in 2024 under Operation AI Comply. No one controls what search engines or AI assistants show, so ranking guarantees cannot be substantiated.
How we score it
A review prompt, not a legal verdict. Runs only on AI agency audits. When the cue is missing the finding is medium severity at medium confidence, which lowers the foundational pillar by about 2.4 points. A pass is informational and never scores. Each finding names who should review it, quotes what we saw on the page, and cites the primary source. Where the page shows a US address we name the inferred state; otherwise the wording is state-agnostic.
Confidence-flag rules
MEDIUM: the check reads the visible page text, links, and JSON-LD directly, so what it quotes is exact, but wording can carry the same meaning in phrasing we do not recognise, and one page does not show the whole site.
Common mistakes
- Accuracy numbers with no dataset, method, or date.
- Guaranteeing placement in AI answers or search rankings.
- Comparisons to named models without a reproducible evaluation.
How to fix it
Back every performance number with a linked, reproducible evaluation (dataset, method, date), and replace ranking or citation guarantees with what you actually measure.
Primary sources
- FTC, Crackdown on Deceptive AI Claims and Schemes (Operation AI Comply)
Federal Trade Commission
- 15 U.S.C. 45, Unfair methods of competition; unfair or deceptive acts or practices
Legal Information Institute (U.S. Code)
Changelog
- · New. This rule used to live only in the vertical configuration and never ran. It is now a registered review check with a cited primary source, framed as a prompt to review with a professional rather than a pass or fail legal verdict.