Why patients trust fake doctor reviews online over real ones, and how that's a health risk

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeHealthLocal HealthNewsLocal News Why patients trust fake doctor reviews online over real ones, and how that's a health risk 'Deceptive reviews,' often generated by AI, can influence decisions about who patients trust with their care, says the author of a new SFU study Author of the article: By Tiffany Crawford Published Sep 08, 2026 Last updated 15 hours ago 3 minute read Join the conversation A new SFU study raises concerns about fake reviews for health clinics. PHOTO BY GORODENKOFF /Getty Images/iStockphoto Article content Health-care patients are more likely to believe fake online reviews for a doctor over a genuine comment, raising concerns about the quality of care they may receive, according to a new study from Simon Fraser University. Article content “Sometimes it’s pretty easy to say, ‘Oh this doctor is great because he has 100 positive reviews.’ But would most clinics even have 100 reviews? That’s a red flag,” said Aishwarya Deep Shukla, associate professor at SFU’s Beedie School of Business and lead author of the study. Article content Article content Article content The analysis, published in Internet Research, looked at 35,000 reviews that spanned medical specialties from family medicine to dentistry and dermatology. Of those, researchers confirmed about 24 per cent were fraudulent by using a system that checks email identification. Article content Sunrise Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. Sign Up By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Article content Researchers also analyzed patients’ responses to determine how trustworthy the reviews were, and what they discovered was that fake reviews had the highest trustworthy score. Article content Shukla said this is because the fake reviews typically provide more detail that make the patient believe the clinic has helped with specific concerns. For example, the reviewer might describe intimate details of a debilitating knee condition that couldn’t be treated anywhere else but at a specific clinic. Article content “So they would generally weave a very believable story that this is a patient who has gone through this, is really an expert, and then they would describe their symptoms. Some of them even list medications, which is not something most…