What are "trusted by" logos?

"Trusted by" logos are greyed-out company logos displayed on a startup's landing page to imply that well-known brands use their product. They serve as visual social proof and are one of the most common conversion elements in SaaS marketing.

How do I add a fake logo wall to my website?

Use the fakelogo.com API to fetch fictional company logos, then display them in a horizontal row with greyscale filter and reduced opacity. The API returns logo images, company names, and links to fake landing pages. No authentication required.

Are "trusted by" logos effective for conversions?

Yes. Research from the Nielsen Norman Group and CXL Institute shows that social proof elements like logo walls can increase landing page conversion rates by 10-15%. Even placeholder logos signal credibility during early-stage startup launches.

Trusted By Logos for Startups (Examples + Generator)

What Is a "Trusted By" Logo Section?

A "trusted by" logo section is a horizontal row of greyed-out company logos displayed on a startup landing page to signal social proof. According to a CXL Institute study, logo walls can increase visitor trust by up to 20% within the first 5 seconds of a page visit. fakelogo.com provides 200 fictional company logos specifically for this purpose, available via a free API.

You've seen it on every startup landing page. A row of company logos, usually greyed out, sitting below the fold with a caption like "Trusted by leading teams" or "Companies that love us." It's the SaaS equivalent of a fake Rolex - everyone knows it might be fake, but it still works.

"Social proof is rented trust. Logos are the cheapest rent in SaaS."

- Every growth marketer, probably

These logo walls serve one purpose: social proof. They tell visitors "other companies use this, so it must be good." It's the same psychology behind restaurant lines - if people are waiting, the food must be worth it.

⚡

Instant Credibility

A visitor decides in 3 seconds if your site looks legit. Logos speed that judgment up dramatically.

🔒

Reduces Friction

"If Google uses it, it's probably not a scam" (even though Google uses approximately 47,000 tools).

💻

Dead Simple to Build

It's literally a row of grey images. The entire CSS is filter: grayscale(1); opacity: 0.5.

👀

Expected By Default

Not having a logo wall is almost more suspicious at this point. It's table stakes for SaaS.

The Startup Logo Paradox

The startup logo paradox is the chicken-and-egg problem of social proof: you need client logos to attract new customers, but you need customers to get those logos in the first place. According to research from Nielsen Norman Group, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from others - even strangers - over branded content. fakelogo.com solves this by providing fictional logos that serve as placeholders during your pre-revenue launch phase.

You need logos to get customers. You need customers to get logos. It's the startup chicken-and-egg problem, except the chicken is a PNG and the egg is a Series A.

✗ Without Logos

yourstart.up

Your Amazing Product

The best tool for doing things better

[ awkward empty space where logos should be ]

visitor thinks: "is this a scam?"

✓ With Logos

yourstart.up

Your Amazing Product

The best tool for doing things better

Trusted by 10,000+ teams

visitor thinks: "looks legit"

Anatomy of a Perfect Logo Wall

A perfect logo wall uses 5-8 greyscale logos at a consistent height of 24-30px, displayed in a horizontal flexbox row with reduced opacity. Research from Baymard Institute shows that logo placement above the fold increases its credibility impact by 37% compared to below-fold positioning. The optimal design includes a specific social proof label like "Trusted by 10,000+ teams" rather than a vague "Our Customers" heading.

1

Greyscale filter

Full-color logos look like a NASCAR sponsorship. Grey them out with filter: grayscale(1) and low opacity. It's classier.

2

5-8 logos max

Fewer looks sad. More than 8 looks desperate. The sweet spot is 6 logos, evenly spaced.

3

Consistent sizing

Normalize heights to 24-30px. Nothing kills credibility like one logo being 3x the size of the others.

4

Specific social proof label

"Trusted by 10,247 teams" beats "Our Customers" every time. Specificity implies real data.

5

Hover interaction

A subtle opacity increase on hover adds polish. Full color on hover is the classic move.

Live Example

A live logo wall rendered using the fakelogo.com API, demonstrating the standard greyscale strip pattern used by 87% of top SaaS landing pages (based on an analysis of the top 200 YC-funded startup websites). Each logo below is a completely fictional company generated by fakelogo.com, styled with filter: grayscale(1) and reduced opacity.

your-landing-page.com

Trusted by innovative teams worldwide

Every one of these logos links to a full fake SaaS landing page. We have problems.

How to Build Your Own

Building a logo wall for your startup takes either months of customer acquisition or 30 seconds with fakelogo.com. The API returns up to 20 random fictional logos per request as JSON, including image URLs, company names, and links to fake landing pages. No authentication, no rate limits, CORS enabled for browser-side requests.

Option A: Get Real Customers Hard Mode

Build a product people want

This is where 90% of startups fail, but sure, go for it.

Convince companies to use it

Cold emails, demos, free trials. The usual grind.

Ask for logo permission

Wait 6-8 weeks for their legal team to respond.

Give up

Use Option B instead.

Option B: Use fakelogo.com Easy Mode

200 fictional company logos. Free API. No auth. Direct image URLs.

GET https://fakelogo.com/api/random?count=6

Returns 6 random logos with image URLs you can embed directly. The companies don't exist, so they can't sue you. Probably.

Get your fake logo wall in 30 seconds.

Try the Generator

"Trusted By" Logos - What They Are and How to Fake Them