KPMG has withdrawn a report about agentic AI after several organizations said descriptions of their AI use were false or misleading. Research group GPTZero said many of the report’s citations and case studies appeared to contain AI-generated inaccuracies.
The report, titled Total Experience: Redefining Excellence in the Age of Agentic AI, was published in October 2025. KPMG removed it from its websites and began investigating how the document was produced.
Organizations Challenge AI Case Studies
UBS disputed the report’s claim that the bank used AI agents across investment advice, risk management, and compliance monitoring. The report also said these systems operated through a platform developed with Microsoft, but UBS told the Financial Times that the description was factually incorrect.
Swiss Federal Railways rejected a claim that it used AI agents to plan and book journeys based on customer preferences, live conditions, and carbon impact. Transport for London described the report’s account of its AI use for congestion management and personalized commuter updates as misleading.
The report also claimed that NHS Greater Manchester used AI agents to predict hospital readmissions, triage patients, and automate referrals. The NHS said the description did not match the source cited, which concerned an AI tool designed to help detect lung cancer.
GPTZero Finds Problems With Citations
In its investigation, GPTZero examined 45 citations in the KPMG report and found that only five accurately linked to genuine sources. It said 28 others contained altered titles, incorrect components, or misleading references to real material.
GPTZero described the pattern as “vibe citing,” where references appear credible but do not accurately support the statements attached to them. The group told the Financial Times that the repeated citation errors were consistent with AI hallucinations.
KPMG has not confirmed whether generative AI was used to write the report. A spokesperson said the firm expects employees to follow its responsible AI guidelines, including human review and verification of independent sources.
KPMG Opens Internal Investigation
KPMG said it takes the accuracy and integrity of its published material seriously. The firm removed the report while reviewing the circumstances that led to its publication.
The report had already been cited by industry publications and other news sources before it was withdrawn. GPTZero warned that inaccurate material from established firms can be repeated by researchers, publishers, and AI systems that treat those organizations as credible sources.
The incident follows a similar withdrawal by EY in May. EY removed a report about fraud in loyalty rewards programs after researchers identified fabricated data, inaccurate citations, and references to reports that did not exist.
TechCrunch reported that KPMG’s withdrawal came after UBS, the NHS, Swiss Federal Railways, and Transport for London challenged the report’s descriptions of their operations.
Featured image credits: Guilhem Vellut via Flickr
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