- Only five of the 45 citations accurately reflected real sources
- Some were totally fake, others included "garbled" attributions and titles
- GPTZero argues vibe citations have consequences, with reports disseminated globally
GPTZero investigators have revealed how major government reports, academic papers and other research are becoming plagued with AI hallucinations, so much so that the company is on its second report exploring the trend.
In the latest embarassing incident, a KPMG report on agentic AI was in fact found to be filled with AI-generated errors, false citations and misleading case studies.
"Of the 45 citations in the report, only five accurately point to real sources," the team wrote, adding that many others were either totally false or significantly distorted.
AI report filled with AI hallucinations
GPTZero used the term 'vibe citing' to refer to false citations, where generative AI appeared to have created false references that looked plausible. The report also included odd mixes of real references, like wrong attributions or paraphrased titles.
"A human would not consistently paraphrase titles, mistake topics for authors or repeat information across multiple components," they added.
Though the researchers make arguments for and against vibe citing, they ultimately conclude that it should still be considered hallucination and that "vibes have consequences."
In this case, they argue that KPMG has so much influence that its findings are likely to be cited globally, across news reports, blog posts and other conversations, driving the dissemination of potential misinformation. They also worry that the report is being cited in LLMs, spreading the information even further.
It follows a similar 2025 report revealing that a study from the US Presidential Commission to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) also included "garbled or fabricated" footnotes.
"GPTZero contends that vibe citations are a clear and present danger to researchers, academics, consultants, students, and anybody else who happens to search the internet for information," the company concludes.
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