It’s hard to know what’s real these days. For marketers, that goes beyond outlandish headlines or AI slop. Outsized reactions to brand campaigns and rebrands in online spaces have dominated headlines this year, prompting brand hand-wringing and business course-changing—but those reactions aren’t always entirely real. This summer, Cracker Barrel rolled out a rebrand that quickly appeared like it was being disastrously received by the public, but narrative intelligence platform PeakMetrics found that the backlash to the rebrand was disproportionately driven by bots, meaning that the company’s eventual decision to backtrack could have been informed, at least in part, by artificial activity. Cracker Barrel did not respond to a request for comment. PeakMetrics has also tracked bot attacks targeting American Eagle, McDonald’s, Boeing, and the PGA this year, finding that automated accounts often amplify organic criticism in an apparent effort to shape public opinion and, in some cases, shift geopolitical narratives about certain brands. Molly Dwyer, director of insights at PeakMetrics, told us that generative AI has made it easier than ever to create and operate bot networks, making it likely that inauthentic activity will grow across social channels as certain bad actors seek to cause chaos, push specific narratives, or simply monetize engagement. “More of the content that we’re seeing is not necessarily created by bots, but is being amplified by bots,” she said. “That’s messing with our sense of reality and what matters.” As real consumer insights become muddled online, brands are looking to agencies and intelligence platforms to help filter out bot posts and parse what real consumers have to say. But with bot activity showing no signs of slowing down, social listening alone is no longer enough for brands to understand how consumers are responding. Continue reading here.—KH, KM | 
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