Transparency
Affiliate Disclosure
This page explains how affiliate relationships work on DebunkTheAI.com, what they mean for our editorial independence, and exactly what we promise you about the separation between money and ratings.
DebunkTheAI.com participates in affiliate marketing programs. This means that some links on this site are affiliate links — if you click one and make a purchase, we may receive a commission or referral fee from the vendor at no additional cost to you. This is a standard practice in online publishing and is how independent editorial sites like this one can operate without paywalls or advertising. In compliance with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines on endorsements and testimonials and the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) requirements, we are required to clearly disclose this relationship wherever material affiliate links appear.
1. What affiliate marketing is
When you click a link on this site that points to a vendor’s website — for example, a pricing page, a sign-up page, or a product page — that link may contain a tracking parameter. If you subsequently make a purchase or sign up for a paid plan, the vendor’s affiliate system records the referral and pays us a commission, typically a percentage of the sale or a fixed fee per conversion.
This arrangement is disclosed on every page where it is relevant, and it is summarised here in full so there is no ambiguity.
2. Our editorial commitments
These are not aspirational statements. They are the operating rules we follow on every review published on this site:
Every BS Meter score and editorial conclusion is finalised before any affiliate or commercial arrangement with the reviewed vendor is initiated or confirmed. A higher score is never offered, implied, or accepted as a condition of partnership.
If a tool scores poorly on one or more dimensions, that result appears prominently in the article, the score card, and the final verdict — even if we have an active affiliate arrangement with that vendor.
Every article or page that contains affiliate links includes a clear disclosure either at the top of the article or in a visible location near the relevant links. We never hide or obscure that disclosure.
Many tools reviewed on this site have no affiliate program, or we have chosen not to participate in one. A tool’s presence on this site has nothing to do with whether we earn money from it.
3. How this works in a published Teardown
Tool selection is based on reader interest, market relevance, or tip-offs — not on whether a vendor has approached us or whether an affiliate program exists.
Testing uses accounts we purchase or sign up for ourselves, not demo environments or accounts provided by the vendor. This ensures we see what a real paying user sees.
All five dimension scores and the composite score are calculated and documented before any commercial conversation with the vendor takes place.
Only after the review is written and scores locked do we check whether an affiliate programme exists and whether we want to participate. Adding affiliate links is a publishing step, not an editorial one.
Any published article containing affiliate links carries a clear disclosure label. The label is placed prominently — not buried in a footnote.
4. Free access and review copies
Occasionally a vendor may offer free or extended trial access to facilitate a review. When this happens, it will be disclosed within the relevant article. Receipt of free access does not guarantee a review will be published, does not guarantee a positive review, and does not affect the scoring methodology.
We prioritise testing products on plans that are accessible to the general public, because our goal is to reflect the experience of a typical buyer — not a specially provisioned enterprise demo account.
5. Your cost is never affected
Clicking an affiliate link on this site does not change the price you pay for any product or service. The commission we receive, where applicable, is paid by the vendor from their own margin — it is not added to your purchase price.
If you prefer not to use our affiliate links, you are entirely free to visit a vendor’s website directly. Our reviews and scores remain available to you regardless.
6. Third-party affiliate networks
Affiliate tracking is typically managed through third-party platforms such as Impact, ShareASale, PartnerStack, CJ Affiliate, or individual vendor programmes. These platforms may use cookies or tracking technologies to attribute referrals. Our Privacy Policy describes how cookies and tracking technologies are used on this site.
7. How to identify affiliate links
Affiliate links on this site are disclosed in the following ways:
- A disclosure notice near the top or bottom of any article containing affiliate links, stating that the article may contain affiliate links.
- A footer disclosure on every page of the site.
- This dedicated Affiliate Disclosure page, linked from the footer of every page.
If you are unsure whether a specific link is an affiliate link, you are welcome to email us at [email protected] and ask.
8. Questions
If you have any questions about our affiliate relationships, our editorial process, or how a specific article or link was produced, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to good-faith questions promptly.