ChatGPT confused a developer with his namesake: the two identities separated in 12 weeks
AI models attributed someone else’s criminal case to the client. The namesake dominated Google, and there were no English-language sources about the client.
IMG 0121:9The situation
IMG 024:3Foreign partners began asking in meetings about a “case” the client had nothing to do with. It turned out they had been asking ChatGPT about their prospective partner.
A namesake with the same patronymic had been involved in a criminal case and held the top positions in English-language Google.
What the audit found
- 3 of 4 AI models attributed someone else’s case to the client
- The namesake took 6 of 10 results in English-language Google
- Not a single English-language source about the client
- No published photograph of the client, so models could not tell the two apart
IMG 033:2
IMG 043:2What we did
IMG 053:4- Week 1
Answer snapshot
40 prompts across 4 models, plus a source map.
- Weeks 2–6
English-language profile
A biography with dates, photographs, the company and its projects.
- Weeks 3–9
Media
Coverage of the client’s projects in international trade media.
- Weeks 4–8
Identity markup
Structured data with distinctive identifiers.
- Weeks 6–12
Tracking
An answer snapshot every 2 weeks.
The result
IMG 0616:9IMG 0716:9If your situation looks similar
These services are usually added next to lock in the result.
What we did not do
- We did not try to “remove” the namesake: he is not our client and that is not our job
- We published no denials that would have linked the client’s name to the case
More cases
IMG 0116:10A UAE bank paused an account opening
The bank’s compliance team asked for an explanation of 2019 publications and a match in a commercial database. There were no English-language search results about the client at all.
IMG 0116:10An investor paused after due diligence
The fund’s analysts found an article about a conflict with a co-founder, reviews from former employees and AI answers that led with the conflict.
IMG 0116:10A board appointment
Search results were almost empty: three mentions in five years and an old interview with inaccurate figures. AI models knew nothing about the candidate.
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