It would be technically easy for any agency to write a handful of five-star testimonials themselves and publish them under a stock photo and a made-up name. We don't do that, and it's worth explaining why, since it's a decision that costs us some short-term polish.
Fabricated trust is worse than no trust
A testimonial that isn't real doesn't just risk getting caught — it sets an expectation with a prospective client that isn't grounded in anything true. If we're asking a business to trust us with their website or their marketing budget, that trust should be built on things that actually happened.
What we do instead
Where we have genuine client feedback, we use it, attributed honestly. Where we don't have that for a specific type of project, we say so directly rather than filling the gap with something invented. Our portfolio links to actual, live client projects you can visit yourself, which is a harder thing to fake convincingly than a quote.
The same principle applies to stats and claims
This isn't limited to testimonials — we apply the same standard to claimed certifications, partnership badges, and performance statistics across our site. If we can't stand behind a specific number or claim, we don't publish it, even if a competitor's site is full of exactly that kind of thing.
Why this matters more as AI-generated content gets easier
As it becomes easier than ever to generate convincing-sounding fake reviews and testimonials at scale, we think the businesses that are visibly honest about what they can and can't show you will matter more, not less, to anyone paying attention.