Checkatrade Warns AI Searches Put Homeowners At Risk Of Rogue Trades

The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs), limited-information AI Overviews, and generative AI is putting UK consumers at growing risk of rogue trades, warns Jambu Palaniappan, CEO of AI-powered home improvement platform Checkatrade.

FAST FACTS

• AI-powered tools
  Checkatrade is building AI-powered tools to protect consumers and help trade businesses grow, but warns AI searches bypass consumer protections by drawing data from non-compliant platforms, exposing UK homes to rogue trades
  
  
• CMA guidelines
  Many trader recommendation platforms continue to flout new regulatory guidelines from the CMA
  
  
• Trading Standards
  Checkatrade leads industry response with new safeguards and initiatives, including partnership with Trading Standards

Amid new guidelines from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) aimed at cleaning up the trader recommendation space, AI tools are bypassing these protections and directing consumers to unvetted, non-compliant offerings.

Recent data shows that across different tasks, AI now consistently attracts between 10-15% of users as their first-choice search tool. For example, 15% say they would use it to create a shopping list, 13% for price comparisons, and 11% for finding recommendations for a tradesperson.

However, these tools appear to fall outside the CMA’s scope. This ‘blind spot’ is enabling AI to inadvertently surface information from non-compliant recommendation platforms, exposing homeowners to substandard or even dangerous workmanship from rogue trades.

“The rise of AI as a search gateway adds a new level of complexity for consumers seeking a quality tradesperson” said Palaniappan. “The guidelines for trader recommendation platforms are designed to protect consumers, but we know that many are still not compliant. Enforcement can save people from being exposed to harm. Worryingly, we’re now seeing AI tools serve links to platforms that ignore the guidelines, and that’s putting both homeowners and honest UK tradespeople in jeopardy.”

While the CMA guidelines require platforms to verify reviews, disclose commercial relationships and vet the tradespeople they list, AI pathways appear to be generating recommendations based on unverified online content rather than compliance. As a result, tradesperson suggestions from platforms that flout the CMA guidance can appear alongside compliant services, with no distinction between the two to allow consumers to make an informed decision about the source - or trustworthiness - of the results. 

Checkatrade has proactively blocked nearly 850 rogue trades from joining its platform in the last year - almost 400 of them since the guidelines came into force this April - a sign of how widespread the ‘cowboy’ problem is in the UK. These figures highlight the need for enforcement across the industry, as well as the importance of regulating new technologies that are increasingly influencing how consumers find tradespeople.

Checkatrade continues to set the standard with new initiatives and proactive compliance that exceeds the requirements, including:

A new collaboration with Trading Standards - a Primary Authority partnership to enhance Checkatrade’s processes, crack down on rogue trades, and champion new best practice.

The launch of a new free service - Checkatrade Profiles - allowing users to view feedback on a wider range of tradespeople, even those not registered with Checkatrade, backed by trusted, community-driven reviews. This will also give visibility not just of those Checkatrade have approved, but also those they have removed for poor workmanship, missed payments, or no longer meeting strict vetting standards - and clearly mark them as such.

The Checkatrade Roofing Hub - a free resource to help people understand what they need to know for a successful roofing project on their home. The innovation follows data that shows roofing is the highest-risk category for poor outcomes, a fact that also drove Checkatrade to launch AI-powered drone roof surveys, helping people detect issues before they escalate.

Using AI to detect fake reviews, with machine learning models assessing multiple behavioural factors at a reviewer, review and trade level to determine the propensity to be fake and spot unusual patterns. These models are enhanced both through machine learning, and feedback from the manual checks by specialists.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Checkatrade, helping the business in its mission to go above and beyond the CMA guidance,” said Amanda Poole, Head of Service at Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards. “This is an excellent example of how local government and business can work together to raise compliance standards and build consumer trust.”

Palaniappan concludes with a rallying call for government, tech providers and the wider home improvement sector: “Every year, tradespeople complete over 50 million jobs in UK homes - trust in this process is non-negotiable. Checkatrade is setting new benchmarks for quality and accountability - while making the most of AI the right way - and we look forward to tough enforcement. Otherwise rogue operators will continue to slip through the net - and consumers and small businesses will be the ones paying the price.”

Source : Checkatrade (https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/news/AI-search-risk/)

Image : Checkatrade

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