Paying for a review only makes sense if the review carries real editorial credibility. If a service publishes AI-written reviews, the damage lands on the author too. A fake-sounding editorial quote on Amazon or in a press kit is worse than no quote at all.
That is why authors need to learn how to check the work they receive. This breakdown of IndieReader has an AI problem and I proved it walks through the pattern clearly, including how several reviews were screened and why the trust problem matters.
Before you pay any review outlet, ask what their anti-AI policy is, whether submissions are screened, and what happens if a review fails detection. Those are baseline questions now, not edge-case paranoia.