- Only five of the 45 citations accurately reflected real sources
- Some were completely false, others included “garbled” attributions and titles
- GPTZero claims that vibe quotes have consequences, with reports spreading globally
GPTZero investigators have revealed how major government reports, academic papers and other research are plagued by AI hallucinations, so much so that the company is on its second report exploring the trend.
In the latest embarrassing incident, a KPMG report on agent AI was actually found to be filled with AI-generated errors, fake quotes 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 completely false or significantly distorted.
AI report full of AI hallucinations
GPTZero used the term ‘vibe citing’ to refer to fake citations where generative AI appeared to have created fake references that looked plausible. The report also contained odd mix-ups of real references, such as incorrect attributions or rewritten titles.
“A human would not consistently rewrite titles, confuse topics for authors, or repeat information across multiple components,” they added.
Although the researchers argue for and against vibeciting, they ultimately conclude that it should still be considered hallucinations and that “vibes have consequences.”
In this case, they argue that KPMG is so influential that its findings are likely to be cited globally, across news reports, blog posts and other conversations, driving the spread of potential misinformation. They are also concerned about the report being cited in LLMs, spreading the information further.
It follows a similar report from 2025 revealing that an investigation by the US Presidential Commission on Making America Healthy Again (MAHA) also included “distorted or fabricated” footnotes.
“GPTZero claims that vibe quotes are a clear and present danger to researchers, academics, consultants, students, and anyone else who happens to be searching the Internet for information,” the company concludes.
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