Should Your Brand Work With AI Influencers? Read This Before You Decide

Every marketer is feeling the pressure to experiment with AI. It’s showing up in meetings, on LinkedIn, and in every “future of marketing” report. It’s only a matter of time before your CMO asks if you’ve thought about using an AI influencer or announces you should start testing them. After all, they promise endless content, zero scheduling drama, and perfect brand control.

Big brands have already launched or partnered with AI influencers.

Puma introduced Maya, a virtual ambassador who stars in campaigns across Southeast Asia.

Coach partnered with Imma, Japan’s pink-haired digital creator who’s also appeared in IKEA and Shiseido ads.

Fashion houses like Prada, Balmain, and Max Mara have collaborated with AI-generated models such as Shudu, who’s been featured in high-fashion editorials.

Even KFC got in on it with a “virtual Colonel Sanders” who showed up on Instagram feeds alongside real creators.

hese collaborations do rack up engagement and headlines.

But before you say yes for the novelty or no out of instinct, you need to know what you’re really signing up for. You should know if AI-influencers can actually make someone buy, or just make people look.

In this article, we’ll share our perspective, not just as spectators, but as a team that’s seen influencer marketing evolve up close. We’ve worked with hundreds of DTC brands, watched what actually drives results, and learned what doesn’t.

Before we can decide whether AI influencers fit in, we need to go back to the basics: why does influencer marketing even work in the first place?

What drives influencer marketing?

For most of history, advertising spoke at people. It told them what to buy. Influencer marketing flipped that by showing people what others were already using. And that small shift made all the difference.

In the book Wanting, Luke Burgis writes that human desire is mimetic — meaning, we don’t always know what we want until we see someone else wanting it. Desire spreads socially. We copy, often unconsciously, the choices and preferences of people we admire or identify with.

On top of that, we have social proof. When we see someone use a product and enjoy it, it signals that it’s safe and valuable. It reduces uncertainty and makes the decision easier. That’s why influencer content often outperforms ads. It doesn’t feel like persuasion; it feels like proof.

There’s another layer to it: repetition and familiarity. The more often we see a product used or talked about by someone we trust, the more normal and desirable it starts to feel. Over time, that consistency builds confidence that the product is worth trying. And confidence drives conversion.

At its core, influencer marketing works because it’s human. And that’s eOn top of that, we have social proof. When we see someone use a product and enjoy it, it signals that it’s safe and valuable. It reduces uncertainty and makes the decision easier. That’s why influencer content often outperforms ads. It doesn’t feel like persuasion; it feels like proof.

There’s another layer to it: repetition and familiarity. The more often we see a product used or talked about by someone we trust, the more normal and desirable it starts to feel. Over time, that consistency builds confidence that the product is worth trying. And confidence drives conversion.

At its core, influencer marketing works because it’s human. And that’s exactly what AI influencers aren’t.

Why AI influencers don’t work

Influencer marketing is built on trust, proximity, and real experiences. These are things AI can mimic but never truly have.

Proximity matters for influence

We want things because others want them. But not from just anyone. The closer someone feels to us, the stronger the influence. A movie star might impress us, but it’s the YouTuber or creator who feels “like me” that actually makes us buy.

AI-generated influencers remove that proximity. You can’t relate to them, see them use a product, or believe their experience. They’re scalable, but distant.

Influence is about believability

A new mom doesn’t buy a stroller because a post went viral. She buys it after seeing another real mom use it and say, “This actually made my life easier.”

That’s the difference. Human creators offer proof. They’ve tried it, lived it, and staked their credibility on it. With AI, you might still get engagement — but engagement isn’t trust, and trust is what converts.

The novelty wears off

Yes, AI influencers still grab attention. They’re new, interesting, and easy to talk about. But that’s also their ceiling. Once the surprise fades, people start to ask the same questions they ask of everyone else: Do I believe this? Do I care?

And because the answer is usually no, the attention doesn’t last. What’s left are polished visuals that look impressive on a dashboard but don’t drive real results.

The missing accountability

Human creators have something to lose. Their name, their audience, their credibility — all on the line every time they promote something. That’s what makes their influence matter.

AI influencers don’t have that.

They can’t make mistakes or stand by opinions. If a campaign underperforms, it can be deleted, rebranded, or replaced overnight. People notice the lack of accountability, and it quietly kills belief.

You can’t build a community with something that isn’t real

The biggest advantage of real, human influencers is community. Real people turn influencer marketing from a channel into a movement.

You can’t do that with an AI influencer. Sure, you can make it look like they’re attending your product launch, but everyone knows it’s fake. You can’t invite them to a founder dinner, fly them out for a trip, or have them host an organic meetup with other creators or customers.

You might wonder, then, why brands like Puma, Coach, and Prada are experimenting with AI influencers? These aren’t rookie marketers. They have teams of seasoned strategists and massive budgets. So why are they doing it?

Why big brands can afford to play with AI influencers but not everyone can

For big brands, AI influencers are a playground. When you already have decades of credibility, millions in brand equity, and a customer base that trusts you, experimenting with virtual faces doesn’t really hurt. Even if it feels detached or artificial, that aesthetic works for them.

If it works, great, they get PR buzz and “innovation” points. If it flops, it’s a rounding error in their marketing budget.

Brands like LV, Puma, and Coach can take these risks because their audience already knows the products are real, the quality is proven, and the brand is legitimate. An AI ambassador just becomes another creative asset or a way to appeal to younger audiences.

For an emerging DTC brand, every post and partnership has to be meaningful. When you’re still trying to convince people your product works or your brand is real, introducing something artificial confuses that message. Instead of “this brand feels real,” people start thinking “this feels like a marketing trick.”

When you mimic big-brand behavior (chasing hype, experimenting for novelty’s sake, or prioritizing aesthetics over connection!), you also risk skipping the stage that matters most: earning trust. Without that trust, you might get followers, even engagement, but not loyalty. And loyalty is what separates a brand that trends for a week from one that grows for a decade.

What brands should focus on instead?

Instead of chasing AI-generated perfection, build a network of creators who genuinely use and believe in your product.

That’s exactly how brands like Gymshark, Abercrombie, and Pura Vida grew.

Gymshark built a global community around fitness creators who lived the brand’s lifestyle, not just wore the gear.

Pura Vida created a tiered ambassador system that rewards consistency and community participation over one-off posts.

Each of these brands invested in relationships. They built a pipeline of creators who kept talking about them long after a post went live.

Here’s what that looks like for a DTC brand:

• Start with product seeding. Get your product into the hands of 50–100 creators. Look for those who post without being paid.
• Turn posters into ambassadors. Build long-term partnerships with those who posted about your product. Offer them affiliate links, commissions, or early access.
• Create an owned influencer community. A Slack group, Discord, or even a private Instagram chat where creators can share content ideas and connect. That’s how you turn individual voices into a network.
• Reward consistency. Celebrate creators who post regularly or create great content. Simple leaderboards or challenges can keep momentum high.

If AI shouldn't be the influencer, where should it be in your influencer marketing?

What should you use AI for in influencer marketing?

Running influencer programs isn’t easy. Finding good creators, keeping them engaged, tracking posts, measuring results, etc., takes time and people. So when AI tools promise to make it all faster and cheaper, it’s understandable you want to try them.

But AI should take over the repetitive stuff so you can spend your energy on building relationships or helping creators succeed. That’s what creates long-term value.

AI has a place in influencer marketing, but just not as the influencers.

You can use AI in influencer marketing to:

• Find creators faster. Generate lists of potential influencers by analyzing hashtags, bios, and engagement patterns.
• Write first drafts. Create outreach emails, briefs, or campaign messages that you can later personalize.
• Build creator profiles. Ask AI to define what your ideal influencer looks like — their tone, content style, and audience.
• Sort and filter data. Quickly analyze influencer performance reports or social metrics to spot patterns.
• Brainstorm ideas. Use it to come up with content hooks, challenge ideas, or campaign concepts.

The right tools make AI work where it should

You don’t have to hack together your own systems or prompt-engineer your way through AI. The right platform should already have AI built in.

That's why SARAL has SIA (SARAL Influencer Assistant). It is your built-in AI copilot that helps you automate, scale, and improve influencer outreach, communication, and conversions, without the manual work.

If you’re ready to see how AI can make influencer marketing faster without making it feel robotic, book a demo and see SIA in action.