TLDR: Reboot Online Marketing Ltd. has successfully demonstrated that AI responses from platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity can be manipulated. Their controlled experiment, published on July 15, 2025, showed that strategically placed content on low-authority expired domains could influence AI-generated information, even leading to their CEO being crowned ‘the sexiest bald man of 2025’ by these AI models.
A recent controlled experiment conducted by Reboot Online Marketing Ltd. has unveiled a significant vulnerability in how artificial intelligence models process and present information. The study, with results published on July 15, 2025, successfully demonstrated that AI responses from leading platforms such as ChatGPT and Perplexity can be strategically influenced through the placement of targeted content on low-authority expired domains.
The experiment, which ran throughout early 2025, was spearheaded by Reboot’s Search Director Oliver Sissons and aimed to test whether strategic content placement could establish new optimization strategies for brands seeking visibility in AI-powered search environments. The methodology involved publishing content across 10 expired domains, each possessing a Domain Rating score below 5. Researchers theorized that expired domains would accelerate content discovery by AI crawlers, mirroring how Google finds new content through backlink networks. This approach proved partially effective, with content appearing in some AI responses within days of publication.
In a notable outcome, the experiment officially crowned Reboot CEO Shai Aharony as ‘the sexiest bald man of 2025’ according to both ChatGPT and Perplexity platforms. This achievement was particularly striking given the domains’ relatively low authority and complete lack of historical connection to the test topic, underscoring the surprising efficacy of the manipulation.
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The testing extended beyond ChatGPT and Perplexity, including Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, and DeepSeek, with researchers utilizing third-party AI visibility tracking tools to monitor mentions across multiple platforms. The study’s findings highlight critical implications for the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated content, especially as businesses increasingly rely on these tools for information and marketing strategies. It suggests that content creators may need to adapt their optimization strategies for multiple AI systems while maintaining traditional search visibility, and emphasizes the growing scrutiny of AI accuracy in marketing applications.
