Generative AI can produce advertising copy, images, video, and synthetic voices. The use of generative AI creates a verification problem when an advertisement contains claims or media whose origin is not apparent from the ad itself. A QR code can provide a separate route from the advertisement to information controlled by the advertiser, but the code itself does not prove that the advertisement or destination is trustworthy.
A QR code stores machine-readable information in a two-dimensional barcode. In advertising, it commonly contains a URL that opens after the code is scanned by a smartphone. The destination can provide company details, product specifications, disclosures, terms, contact information, or evidence supporting claims made in the advertisement.
What a QR Code Can Verify
A QR code can connect a limited advertising format with a webpage containing additional information. This function is relevant to AI-generated advertisements because an image, short video, poster, or social-media creative may not have enough space to display detailed disclosures.
The destination page can contain verifiable information such as:
- the legal or commercial identity of the advertiser;
- product specifications and pricing conditions;
- terms and conditions applying to an advertised offer;
- customer-service and company contact information;
- explanations of whether AI-generated or synthetic media were used;
- citations or supporting material for factual advertising claims;
- privacy information explaining how submitted data are processed.
These elements can be inspected independently after the QR code has been scanned.
Domain Identity Affects What Users See
A QR code normally hides its complete destination URL from a person viewing a printed advertisement. The URL becomes visible when the scanning device processes the code. The domain displayed at that stage provides information about where the link will lead.
An advertiser can use a dedicated website as the destination instead of directing traffic through an unrelated third-party URL. Domain registration services provide addresses that organizations can use for websites and campaign landing pages. For example, a cheap .com domain can be registered and used for a branded landing page.
Domain ownership alone does not authenticate every claim on a webpage. A newly registered domain can also be used for deceptive purposes. The relevant verification signals therefore include the actual domain name, HTTPS connection, company identity, contact details, and consistency between the advertisement and destination page.
QR Codes Can Also Conceal Malicious Links
QR codes create a security limitation because people cannot determine the encoded destination merely by looking at the pattern. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has warned that scammers use QR codes to direct people to fraudulent websites designed to steal information.
The FBI has also warned about malicious QR codes that redirect victims to sites requesting financial or login information. Altered physical QR codes can be placed over legitimate codes, changing the destination without changing the surrounding advertisement.
Security checks therefore remain necessary. Relevant precautions include:
- inspecting the URL displayed by the phone before opening it;
- checking the domain for misspellings or substituted characters;
- avoiding entry of passwords or payment information on suspicious pages;
- checking whether the destination uses the expected company domain;
- avoiding QR scanner applications when a phone’s built-in camera already supports QR scanning.
A QR code is therefore a transport mechanism for information, not an independent security certificate.
AI Disclosure Can Be Added to the Destination
AI-generated advertisements can contain synthetic images or other generated media. A QR-linked landing page can disclose which elements were generated, modified, or produced with AI tools.
Such disclosure can be specific. A page can identify whether AI was used to create an image, generate a voice, modify a background, translate speech, or produce advertising copy. It can also separate AI-generated presentation elements from factual claims about a product.
Regulatory requirements can make these distinctions legally relevant. The European Union’s AI Act contains transparency obligations for certain AI-generated or manipulated content, including requirements concerning machine-readable marking and disclosure for specified forms of synthetic content. The applicable requirements depend on the type of AI system and content involved.
The Landing Page Determines the Information Available
Scanning a code changes the user’s information environment from the advertisement to the destination page. The usefulness of that transition depends on what the destination actually contains.
Research into online attention is also relevant because search interfaces increasingly present generated answers alongside conventional links. Eye-tracking research can measure where users direct visual attention and how interface elements affect viewing behavior. Analyses of how AI Overviews are changing where people look examine this issue in search-result environments.
For QR-based advertising, the destination page similarly determines which information becomes visible after the initial interaction. Placing disclosure information only on a secondary page also means that users who do not scan the code will not see that information.
Trust Requires Verifiable Evidence
A QR code can increase access to evidence, but it cannot establish the accuracy of that evidence. Verification depends on the information available after scanning and whether it can be independently checked.
A QR-linked page can strengthen verification when it supplies:
- identifiable company information;
- precise product and pricing details;
- AI-use disclosures;
- supporting evidence for measurable claims;
- applicable legal terms;
- accessible privacy information;
- stable contact and customer-support channels.
The same QR technology can direct users to inaccurate, fraudulent, or malicious content. The presence of a QR code therefore provides no standalone evidence that an AI-generated advertisement is authentic.
Its measurable function is narrower: it can connect an AI-generated advertisement to additional digital information. When that information identifies the advertiser, documents relevant claims, discloses synthetic content, and provides independently checkable details, the QR code gives users additional material with which to evaluate the advertisement.
