A medical research ghostwriting company that advertised itself as offering "100% human-written" work with no artificial intelligence involvement has been challenged by a 404 Media investigation. According to the report, Research Gold relied on AI-generated customer service, AI-looking team profiles, and automated-style quote emails, even as it told prospective clients that all work was handled by real professionals. Reporter Emanuel Maiberg called the company and reached an assistant identifying itself as "Sarah." When asked directly whether it was a real person, the caller was told, "Yep, I’m a real person," before the conversation moved back to pricing. On the company’s website, the listed founder, Dr. Elena Vasquez, and eight other team members were reported to be untraceable, with profile photos that appeared AI-generated. The investigation also found that some listed methodologists were not fictional but real researchers whose names and LinkedIn photos had allegedly been used without permission. One of them, Jenny Berrio, said she had no relationship with Research Gold and had never agreed to be listed. After Maiberg submitted a fake project inquiry, the company quickly returned a structured response and a $1,900 quote. No named representative responded before publication.