diff --git a/src/remove_ai_watermarks/cli.py b/src/remove_ai_watermarks/cli.py
index 4e85c31..4bcbf41 100644
--- a/src/remove_ai_watermarks/cli.py
+++ b/src/remove_ai_watermarks/cli.py
@@ -626,6 +626,14 @@ def cmd_identify(ctx: click.Context, source: Path, no_visible: bool, as_json: bo
     console.print(f"\n  Verdict: {verdict}  [dim](confidence: {report.confidence})[/]")
     console.print(f"  Platform: {report.platform or '[dim]undetermined[/]'}")
 
+    if report.is_ai_generated is None:
+        console.print(
+            "  [dim]No locally-readable AI signal found. This is not the same as 'clean': "
+            "metadata is often stripped by re-encoding, screenshots, or upload, and SynthID-class "
+            "pixel watermarks (Gemini / Nano Banana / gpt-image) have no local detector. "
+            "See caveats below.[/]"
+        )
+
     if report.integrity_clashes:
         console.print("\n  [bold red]⚠ Integrity clash[/] [dim](provenance signals contradict each other)[/]")
         for clash in report.integrity_clashes:
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index ecea89e..b47428c 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -375,6 +375,14 @@ class TestIdentifyCommand:
         assert result.exit_code == 0
         assert "unknown" in result.output
 
+    def test_identify_unknown_explains_why(self, runner, tmp_clean_png):
+        # An unknown verdict must explain itself inline (issue #22: users read a bare
+        # "unknown" as the tool being broken) rather than only in the caveats section.
+        result = runner.invoke(main, ["identify", str(tmp_clean_png), "--no-visible"])
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+        assert "No locally-readable AI signal found" in result.output
+        assert "not the same as 'clean'" in result.output
+
     def test_identify_ai_png_reports_platform(self, runner, tmp_png_with_ai_metadata):
         result = runner.invoke(main, ["identify", str(tmp_png_with_ai_metadata), "--no-visible"])
         assert result.exit_code == 0