Reddit has a large, active community of AI roleplay enthusiasts, thanks to several subreddits dedicated to the hobby. People come together to discuss their experiences, help others enhance theirs, and share their creations.
With growing interest in AI roleplay, these communities have become hotspots for people looking to make a quick buck.
Cashing In On The Trend Through Active Communities
Subreddits meant for people to share genuine reviews or seek alternatives to platforms like Character AI and JanitorAI are now overrun by sketchy AI roleplay platform ads disguised as genuine posts. These sketchy ads usually promote questionable sites or apps with expensive subscriptions that lack essential features or a decent user experience.
Sketchy AI roleplay platform ads are easy to spot if you’ve spent considerable time in this space. But to those new to the hobby, these posts seem legitimate because they read like they were written by real users sharing real experiences. In most cases, it’s the platform owners operating the accounts behind these deceptive posts. You’ll also rarely find users of predatory platforms using their referral links to earn freebies or monetary compensation.
Outside of Reddit, several “review” websites provide information about AI roleplay and companionship platforms. These review sites use AI-generated content, claim to test platforms for “weeks” while their reviews get basic details wrong, and rank platforms based on affiliate commission rates rather than genuine ratings. The presence of such sites is one of the reasons behind RPWithAI’s existence. Operators of these review sites also participate in disingenuous posting on Reddit.
How To Spot Sketchy AI Roleplay Platform Ads On Reddit
Across active subreddits dedicated to AI roleplay, you’ll see recurring patterns in promotional content that are disguised as genuine or organic posts. You can also spot these patterns on “review” websites outside of Reddit.
The Expert Who Spends “4 Weeks” (Or Months)
“I tested x for 4 weeks, here’s my opinion,” or “My review after using y for 4 months” are the easiest deceptive posts to spot. Maybe it’s the LLMs that generate these sketchy AI roleplay platform ads on Reddit that are obsessed with the number 4. Or the humans behind it that find this specific number convincing.
Whatever the reason may be, users behind these posts claim to have tested a platform (and, in some cases, multiple platforms) for a duration that always starts with the number 4 (or contains the number 4 somewhere).
- These posts often use buzzwords like great memory, amazing models, best chat experience, my top pick, etc.
- If the user claims to have tested multiple platforms, only one of them gets a fleshed-out review with all the buzzwords. The competitor details are often wrong or underplayed.
- The user pretends to be neutral, presenting the post as a genuine comparison/review.
When you take a closer look at the user accounts behind such posts, you often find they are new to Reddit (ranging from 2 weeks to 6 months). They hide their activity history so that you cannot see their posting patterns across other subreddits. In some cases, the accounts are over 2 years old, with their only content being the disingenuous posts.
They Who “Read” A “Review” On X/Y/Z
“I compared sites on X and found Y to be the best,” or “when I was looking for alternatives, I read the review on Y.” Users behind these posts or comments claim to have read reviews on external sites and use them as evidence to promote specific platforms. In reality, these external sites don’t genuinely review platforms. It’s good old affiliate marketing at its best (or worst).
- These posts or comments often use the same buzzwords like memory, models, experience, and pricing. They include a link or name the “review” site, which they claim they use to compare platforms before finding the “best,” which is usually the one offering the highest commission rates.
- The user pretends to use these review sites, but in reality, the site’s operator uses multiple accounts to astroturf.
- Almost all of the user’s comments link to or mention the same external review site.
Similar to the 4 weeks/months expert, when you take a closer look at the user accounts behind such posts and comments, you often find they are new to Reddit and hide their activity history.
Incentive To Astroturf
AI roleplay, and to a larger extent, AI companionship, is a rapidly growing market. There’s a constant inflow of people new to these interests, and predatory platforms and sites target individuals who don’t know better. For those who want to make a quick buck, this is the best time.
There’s no long-term goal. The incentive is to make as much money as you can and exit. Platforms that rely on astroturfing also rebrand once their initial gig is up, continuing their exploitative tactics under a new name.
You’ll also find the majority of sketchy AI roleplay platform ads or astroturfing by review sites on subreddits dedicated to finding “Character AI alternatives.” These subreddits attract users from Character AI who are either new to the hobby or uninformed about LLMs. The perfect audience for predatory sites.
Don’t Waste Your Hard-Earned Money
You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars a year to enjoy AI roleplay. There are plenty of online and local AI roleplay platforms that don’t have ridiculous subscription prices and offer plenty of features to enhance your experience.
You can also run LLMs locally if you have the hardware or use affordable providers like DeepSeek. There’s no need to pay a sketchy site for “unlimited messages” or “advanced long-term memory.” Learn the basics of AI roleplay, and you can enjoy the hobby for free or less than $3 a month.
Sketchy AI Roleplay Platform Ads On Reddit
AI roleplay is a growing market, with new users trickling in every day. Several bad actors want to cash in when the time is right and exit after making a quick buck. Sketchy AI roleplay platform ads on Reddit target new or uninformed users and draw them to subpar sites or apps with expensive subscriptions.
These sketchy ads are disguised as genuine posts, either from so-called experts who claim to have tested platforms for weeks or months, or from users referencing external review sites to find the best platform. In reality, it’s either platform owners exploiting uninformed users or “review” site operators, incentivized by affiliate payouts, who astroturf active subreddits. In rare cases, it’s users trying to share their affiliate link to fund their hobby.
Notice their patterns and avoid falling for sketchy AI roleplay platform ads on Reddit. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to enjoy this hobby. You can have a great AI roleplay experience for free or less than $3 a month by choosing the right platform and LLM provider.
