We banned AI influencers. Here's why you should too.

Your favorite creator might not be human. 🤯

The person you follow for gear picks, trip ideas, or a little inspiration might not exist at all…

We don't want that to be the future of creator marketing, so we've drawn a line. Popfly has banned AI-generated influencers from our network of 20,000+ creators. 

Our community is for real people. When you partner with a creator on Popfly, you’re partnering with a human being. 

We know we can’t change the world alone, that’s why we launched a petition asking brands, creators, and industry leaders to commit to keeping real people behind their content.

Why we banned AI creators

When AI-generated creators started trying to join Popfly, we took a hard stance. We banned them, and actively blocked them from joining campaigns with brands like GoPro, Outdoorsy, and Hydro Flask.

" The policy at Popfly is simple: reward authenticity and originality, and never let AI replace human creativity." - Taylor Hoekstra, Founder and CEO of Popfly

Creator content only works because a real person made it

When a creator talks about the boots they wore on a 20-mile day or the campsite they found at the end of a long drive, their audience trusts them because they were actually there.

AI can't go into the backcountry. It can't test gear in the rain, walk a sandy beach, or stumble into a hidden coffee shop after hours on the road. It can only imitate people who did.

Audiences notice, and trust erodes fast. One survey found that 73% of consumers are less likely to trust an ad they suspect was made with AI (The Harris Poll). For creators, that trust is their livelihood. For brands, it's the whole reason creator marketing works.

Mass-produced AI content is digital litter

Too-perfect photos of places no one has been. Apps, websites, and even flyers that all look eerily the same. Digital clones of your favorite creators.

It clutters feeds, drowns out real stories, and makes every brand look the same.

Litter is something we think about a lot. Popfly has adopted stretches of highway to help protect the places our creators explore. Keeping feeds clean of AI filler is the same idea, just online.

The petition: three commitments

Banning AI creators on Popfly is a start, but one platform can't fix this alone. That's why we're asking brands, creators, and industry leaders to commit to three things:

1. Keep real people behind creative work.
2. Invest in tools that support human creatives instead of replacing them.
3. Always be upfront when something is AI-generated.

None of this is anti-technology. We build software for creators every day. It's about using tools to help people make better work, not to replace the people making it.

Creators, add your name so brands can see how many real people are standing behind this. 

Brands, sign to show your audience, and the creators you work with, that there's a real person behind every campaign you run.

Sign the petition

What this means on Popfly

For creators: AI accounts aren't just clutter. They compete for the same campaigns you do, and they make it tempting for brands to swap a real creator for something cheaper. Some go further and clone a real creator's face, voice, or entire account. On Popfly, we don’t allow AI creators, so the work you put in on the trail, on the road, and behind the camera isn't undercut by something that's never left a server.

Verification confirms there's a real person behind every profile on Popfly. Not on Popfly yet? Join the community. 

For brands: Every creator you find on Popfly is a real person who genuinely wants to work with your brand. When you brief a campaign, the content comes from someone who actually uses your product in the places your customers go, and your audience can trust it because it's real. Real people, real places, real stories. That's what creator marketing was built on, and it's what we're going to keep protecting.

Hit up our team to see the platform and explore our network of real creators. 💚