You can't be sure, so ask what each provider does about each threat. "Bots" covers at least four different problems, and each needs a different check. A provider that names the check and its limits is more believable than one that says every answer is human.
This post separates the threats and says what 50heads does about each. No check is perfect, and we don't claim any answer is guaranteed to be human.
Four threats, not one
| Threat | What it is | Check that addresses it |
|---|---|---|
| Fake or duplicate accounts | One person runs many accounts | Verified phone numbers, ID checks, re-checks |
| Automated environments | Scripts, emulators or modified apps answer | A device and app integrity check |
| Inattentive answering | A real person clicks without reading | Known-answer questions, timing checks |
| AI-assisted written answers | A person pastes text from a model | Limited, and hard to detect reliably |
Putting them in one word hides which problem a check is meant to solve.
Fake or duplicate accounts
If one person can open fifty accounts, one person can write fifty answers.
On 50heads, Tier 1 heads verify one mobile number each. Virtual and VoIP numbers are refused, and a number can belong to one account only. Every month, a Tier 1 head who earned that month confirms the same number again. Tier 2 heads also pass an ID and live-face check, with random face re-checks afterwards. Tiers tell you how strongly the person answering has been verified.
This makes running many accounts harder and more costly. It does not make it impossible.
Automated environments
A script on a server, an emulator or a modified app can answer questions at machine speed.
For every answer, the 50heads app asks Apple or Google for an integrity check. We reject answers from devices or app builds that fail it. The check is designed to tell us whether the device is a genuine physical one, whether it has been tampered with and whether the app is the one we published.
This makes scripted answering much harder. It is not a promise that no automation can get through. That is why the other checks exist.
Inattentive answering
A real person can still click without reading.
Some questions have answers we already know, mixed in at random. Heads who get several wrong are reviewed by a person. Answers that arrive faster than the question could have been read are not paid. Answers that arrive in lockstep with other accounts are held back and reviewed.
AI-assisted written answers
A person can paste a model's text into a free-text box.
We don't claim to detect this. Free-text answers on 50heads come only from Tier 2 heads, who have passed an ID check, and are limited to 200 characters. If your decision depends on free text, read it as the view of one verified person, not as proof that no tool helped.
What a requester can see
Each answer in your results shows its tier and an integrity-check reference. The reference shows the answer passed the device and app check. It never shows who answered. If an answer looks wrong, you can flag it for review, and an upheld flag is refunded.
Questions to ask any provider
- How do you stop one person running several accounts?
- What do you check about the device or app?
- What happens to an answer that fails a check, and do I pay for it?
- How do you handle people who answer carelessly?
- How do you treat AI-written free text?
- What do you publish about mistakes and appeals?
- What do you say you cannot do?
A good answer is specific. A weak answer repeats "real people" or "no bots" without saying how.
Where to read more
The detail of each check, and what we keep, is in how we check each answer comes from a real person and on how we verify. Appeals and decisions are in our transparency note.
Next step
If you want answers from verified phones, see pricing and try the estimator. It charges nothing.