As nearly three-quarters of newly created webpages contain AI-generated content, audiences and advertisers are increasingly focused on how content is created and how its credibility is demonstrated.
Joe Mandese, editor-in-chief of MediaPost, explored what this shift means for the media industry as a guest speaker at AAM’s recent board meeting. His message was clear: in a world where synthetic media and agent-to-agent media buying are becoming the norm, demonstrating authenticity is more valuable than ever.
Mandese explained that today’s media environment is steadily shifting toward synthetic content, which can offer efficiency but is challenging to establish credibility at scale. He added that AI is fueling an unprecedented expansion of content.
“What we’re seeing is a very high step progression of AI technologies that can make someone an instant publisher.” These tools are also making it easier to create misleading content that looks legitimate. “It’s filling our minds and our marketplace with a lot of bogus information.”
Audiences and advertisers are left searching for credible signals to help distinguish authentic media from low-quality, AI-generated content. Publishers have an opportunity to demonstrate their authenticity in a crowded media environment, particularly as the industry moves toward a agentic media buying. He emphasized that in an ecosystem shaped by automation on both sides of media transactions, the importance of trusted, verifiable signals only increases.
One signal of authenticity publishers can implement is third-party verification.
“Auditing is ground truth. It provides an opportunity to show that what you’re creating is real and can be trusted,” Mandese said.
Independent validation provides accountability and continuity when information is increasingly fluid and sources are often opaque. It serves as a foundational infrastructure that supports transparency across the media ecosystem.
“In a world that’s increasingly inauthentic, auditing is an ace in the hole.”
Drawing on Mandese’s insights, publishers can take steps to demonstrate authenticity and strengthen credibility, including:
For buyers, partnering with media companies that can demonstrate transparency, verified audiences and independently validated practices and data reduces uncertainty and risk and in
creases confidence as AI becomes more embedded across media and advertising.
To close his discussion, Mandese emphasized that authenticity is what defines trusted media and that this responsibility doesn’t change with AI.
“Authenticity in journalism has always meant getting as close to the truth as possible,” he said. “AI can be a powerful tool because it enables humans to do things they couldn’t otherwise do, but it doesn’t replace that responsibility.”