Elise Marchetti
Editor-in-Chief, AI Companion Testing
Lisbon, Portugal · she/her · Covering this beat since 2022
Has been testing AI companion apps in long, unglamorous stretches since 2022, and sets the scoring rubric every review on this site runs through.
2022
Testing since
40+
Apps scored
600+
Hours logged
About
Elise Marchetti runs the editorial side of My Intimate AI. She started testing companion chatbots in 2022, back when the category was mostly two apps and a subreddit, and she has kept the same habit since: set up a character, talk to it every day for three weeks, and write down the exact message where it stopped feeling like a person. The first night is easy to fake. The twentieth is not.
Her background is in consumer software reviewing, which is where the rubric came from. Every app that gets covered here is scored on seven axes — opening quality, memory retention, persona drift, refusal behaviour, pacing under a slow-burn prompt, tone control, and what happens when you contradict it. The same five scripted scenarios go into every app, so two reviews written eight months apart are still comparable.
She is also the person who decides when an app does not get covered at all. If a service cannot state who processes its messages, or its cancellation flow is a support ticket instead of a button, that goes in the review body rather than getting quietly dropped. She has logged more than 600 hours of companion chat across 40-plus services, and she still keeps the transcripts.
Areas of focus
- Conversation quality and persona consistency
- Long-term memory testing across multi-week sessions
- Romance pacing and slow-burn roleplay
- Review methodology and scoring rubrics
- Character creation systems
Background
- Testing AI companions since 2022
- 600+ logged hours of companion chat
- 40+ services scored on the same seven-axis rubric
- Sets the editorial standard for every review on this site
Articles by Elise Marchetti
Start here
Best AI Girlfriend Sites in 2026: Tested and Ranked
The best AI girlfriend sites ranked, with what they really cost, how to test memory before paying, and the privacy checks that matter.
Characters
Talk to Character AI in 2026: Best Adult Alternatives and What Changed
The best Character AI alternatives for adults, then what the filter and age check do now, why characters forget, lorebooks, and a dated 2024–2026 timeline.
Apps & devices
Best Virtual Girlfriend Apps in 2026 for iPhone and Android
The best virtual girlfriend apps for iPhone and Android, why the App Store versions are filtered, and how to install the full one privately.
Characters
Best Hot Girl Chat Sites in 2026: AI Girlfriends Ranked
Ranked hot girl chat sites, why AI selfies change face, and a ten-minute test to run before you pay.
Romance
Best Romantic AI Chat Apps for Real Connection
Romantic AI chat apps ranked on memory, pacing and warmth, with the five signs of real connection and how to set up a slow burn.
Characters
Best Apps to Fully Control Your AI Girlfriend
The best apps to control your AI girlfriend, ranked, with the five layers of control, a character-card template and live steering tricks.
Fact-checked by Elise Marchetti
Elsewhere on the site
The whole cluster hangs off the best AI girlfriend site guide, which is the piece this team points people at first.
The companion chat this team runs is the site the blog belongs to.