How we collect the data
Where every entry in Who Pays Influencers comes from, what each label means, and what we leave out.
Who does the work
The Who Pays Influencers research team collects and checks every entry by hand from public pages. Corrections go to team@odim.co or through the listing form.
Sponsorships
Each entry links one person to one brand and carries the page that says so. There are three labels:
- Brand-confirmed. The brand’s own site, roster page or press release names the person.
- Reported. A news or trade publication reports the deal, dated 2024 or later.
- Creator says so. The creator says in a public post that they are in the brand’s ambassador, affiliate or campus programme. This is their own account; the brand has not confirmed it. These posts are shown with what the creator says about the programme.
- Sponsored post. A sponsorship tracker recorded at least one paid post by the creator for the brand. This shows one post, not a standing deal.
Brand pages with too little on record stay published but are kept out of search results until more is added.
Long rosters are sampled at about 12 people per brand. A listing does not prove an active paid contract.
Programmes and pay
Programme names, application status, requirements and terms are recorded only when the brand’s own page states them. When a brand publishes nothing, the page says so. We do not estimate pay.
PR packages
Each PR package entry is a public post in which a creator shows a package from the brand. The route (contacted the brand by email or message, applied through a form, contacted by the brand, or through a platform or agency) is recorded only when the creator says it. Most posts do not say, and the pages count those as not stated. Gifts shown only by a hashtag such as #gifted or #pr are included. The posts are public feed posts, mostly on Lemon8; Instagram stories cannot be counted, so creators who share PR only in stories, often bigger ones, are under-counted. Follower counts are on the platform the creator posted on. Products are counted only when the post shows or names them. The steps on each brand’s PR package page are built from these posts and from the brand’s own pages, and each step shows how many posts it rests on.
Accuracy checks
In October 2026 we re-checked 86 PR package posts against the original post. 70 matched in full and 13 in part, usually because the post did not tie the route to this brand, or showed the gift only by a hashtag. 1 did not hold up and 2 could not be read. 39 of 39 follower counts matched. We also re-checked all 26 stated commission rates against the programme page: 25 matched and 1 was removed. We re-checked all 138 programmes marked as open: 99 were confirmed open, 18 were closed or had no way to apply and were relabelled, and 21 pages could not be read. Every row that did not match was corrected or removed.
Pay statistics
Figures on the statistics pages come from published surveys, platform terms and job sites. Each figure links to its source, with the publisher, date and sample where the source gives them.
What we leave out
- Anyone who is or may be under 18, and posts that involve children
- Teams, clubs and organisations
- Deals reported as ended, and people who have died
- Email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses of individuals
How often it is checked
Every page shows the date it was last checked. Current check: 6 October 2026.