Brands hire AI influencers in three main ways. They book an existing character through an AI influencer agency with a ready roster, commission a custom character from a studio that builds and manages it for them, or partner with an independent AI creator through an influencer platform or directly. The fastest route is an agency roster, where you can choose a character, pick a package and go live within days. On the Proklisi roster, you choose an SI influencer, select a package on their page and your campaign starts within 24 hours of payment.
The short version
- Agency rosters are fastest. Ready characters with audiences, packages and a production team behind them
- Custom studios build your own. A character designed only for your brand, owned for the long term
- Independent AI creators exist too. Quality, consistency and reliability vary widely
- Evaluate before you book. Visual consistency, audience fit, production quality, disclosure and reporting matter most
- Ask about rights. Know where you can reuse the content and what happens after the campaign
Option 1. AI influencer agencies with a roster
An AI influencer agency builds and runs a set of characters, each with its own identity, audience and content style, and offers them to brands. This is the closest equivalent to a traditional talent agency and the quickest way to start.
The advantages are clear. Characters are ready to activate immediately, production quality is consistent because the same team creates every post, and packages make costs predictable. Agencies also handle publishing, captions, engagement and reporting. The trade-off is that roster characters work with several brands, so you share the character rather than owning it, although many agencies offer category exclusivity for a campaign period.
The Proklisi roster includes ten public SI influencers, each with Starter, Growth and Scale packages priced on their own page.
Meet the SI influencers who could front your campaign
Option 2. Custom character studios
If you want a character that represents only your brand, a studio designs one for you. You choose the look, personality, voice and values, and the studio builds the visual consistency, content system and, often, the accounts. The character becomes a permanent brand ambassador that can front social media, product pages, packaging and advertising.
This route takes longer and costs more upfront than booking a roster character, but it builds an asset your brand controls. It suits companies planning a long-term presence, brands with a distinctive identity and businesses in categories where a dedicated face adds trust. Proklisi builds custom SI influencers and quotes each one per project.
Option 3. Independent AI creators and platforms
Some individual creators run their own AI influencer accounts and accept brand deals directly or through influencer marketplaces. This can work for small tests, but quality and reliability vary a great deal. Many independent accounts struggle with visual consistency, the same face rarely looking identical twice, and some do not disclose that their characters are AI. If you go this route, check carefully before you pay.
How to compare your options
| Agency roster | Custom studio | Independent creator | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed to launch | Days, or 24 hours | Weeks | Varies |
| Ownership | Shared character | Yours | Creator's |
| Production quality | Consistent | Consistent | Varies |
| Cost predictability | Packages | Project quote | Negotiated |
| Reporting | Included | Included | Varies |
| Best for | Launches, tests, multi-market reach | Long-term brand ambassadors | Small experiments |
What to look for in an AI influencer
Visual consistency
The single most important quality test. Scroll through a character's account and check that the face, proportions and overall look stay the same across different outfits, places and lighting. Inconsistency breaks the audience's trust immediately, even when people cannot say exactly what changed. Our article on why consistency is the hardest part of AI character design explains why this is so difficult and how it is solved.
Audience fit
Match the character's audience to your customers by age, interests, region and language. A smaller, well matched audience beats a large mismatched one.
Production quality
Look at the quality of the photos and especially the video. Hands, text, reflections and motion are where weak production shows. Ask to see examples of product integration, because showing your product accurately is harder than producing a pretty image.
Personality and voice
Read the captions and replies. Does the character have a recognisable voice and point of view, or do the posts feel generic? Personality is what makes people follow.
Disclosure and ethics
Check that the character is clearly disclosed as AI, and that sponsored posts are labelled. Avoid any provider that presents AI characters as real people. Undisclosed AI influencers expose your brand to platform penalties and reputational damage.
Reporting and rights
Ask what reporting you receive, how results are measured and whether you can reuse the content on your website and ads. Clear answers signal a professional operation.
Questions to ask before you hire
- Can I see the full portfolio, including video?
- Who is the character's audience, and in which countries and languages?
- How many posts, images and videos does each package include?
- Which platforms will the content appear on?
- How do you disclose that the character is AI?
- Can I reuse the content on my own channels?
- What reporting will I get, and when?
- Is category exclusivity available?
- How quickly can the campaign start?
- What happens if something is not delivered as described?
Want an SI influencer working for your brand?
Pick one from our roster and go live within 24 hours, or commission a character built only for you
How to hire an SI influencer from the Proklisi roster
- Browse the roster and open each influencer's profile to see their portfolio, languages and platforms.
- Choose a package on the influencer's page. Starter, Growth and Scale differ in posts, platforms and videos, and prices differ by influencer.
- Check out securely through Stripe. You can add several influencers and combine packages.
- Upload your brand assets and product details to your dashboard.
- Go live within 24 hours, with regular reporting on how the campaign performs.
For a custom character, tell us what you have in mind and we will reply within 24 hours.
When to use an agency and when to build your own
Use a roster when you want results quickly, need to test the channel, are launching a product or want to reach several audiences at once with different characters. Build your own when you want a long-term ambassador, when exclusivity matters, or when your brand identity is distinctive enough that no existing character fits. Many brands do both, using roster campaigns while their custom character is being built.
How brands use the AI influencers they hire
Once hired, AI influencers usually serve one of four purposes.
Product launches. The influencer introduces a new product in the weeks around launch, showing it in everyday situations that match the audience's life, with a link or code that tracks sales.
Always-on presence. The brand appears regularly in the influencer's content month after month, which builds familiarity and keeps the brand in mind between campaigns.
Market entry. A brand entering a new country uses an influencer who speaks the local language and suits the local culture, so its first impression there feels native.
Events and seasonal moments. Holidays, sales events, festivals and launches are covered with timely content that rides the conversation people are already having.
Terms to agree before you start
Whoever you hire, agree these points in writing before the campaign begins.
- Scope. Number of posts, images and videos, platforms and the campaign period.
- Timeline. Start date and how quickly content goes live after you provide assets.
- Approvals. Whether you approve content before publishing, and how revisions work.
- Exclusivity. Whether the character will promote competitors during your campaign.
- Usage rights. Where you can reuse the content, such as your website, emails and ads, and for how long.
- Disclosure. How the character and sponsored posts are labelled.
- Reporting. Which metrics you receive and when.
- Refunds and remedies. What happens if something is not delivered as agreed.
How to tell whether the hire worked
Judge the influencer against the goal you set. For awareness, look at reach and video views among your target audience and growth in your own followers and branded searches. For traffic, look at clicks on tagged links and visits to your landing page. For sales, look at code redemptions and tracked purchases. Compare the cost per result with your other channels, and note which posts and formats performed best. If the results justify it, renew or scale. If not, adjust the character, the message or the offer before trying again.
Red flags when hiring AI influencers
- No disclosure that the character is AI.
- Inconsistent faces across posts.
- No video, or video that looks noticeably worse than the photos.
- Inflated or unexplained audience numbers.
- No reporting, or reports with only vanity metrics.
- Unclear content rights.
- Promises of guaranteed sales. Nobody can guarantee customer behaviour.
Combining several AI influencers
Brands with varied audiences often book more than one character. A beauty brand might pair a luxury-focused influencer for premium products with a lifestyle influencer for everyday ranges. A brand launching in Europe and the Gulf might use one character for each region. Running several influencers at once also gives you a natural experiment, showing which personality, language and style drives the best results for your products.
Where the market is going
The AI influencer market is moving from novelty to a normal part of marketing budgets. Agencies are professionalising, with clearer packages, reporting and disclosure. Brands are increasingly commissioning their own characters, and platforms are formalising labels for AI content. For brands, that means more choice and more accountability, and it rewards providers who take consistency, quality and transparency seriously.
Proklisi builds websites and apps, runs SEO, ASO and social media, and creates SI influencers for brands. Everything here comes from work we do for clients every week. About us or talk to the team