diff --git a/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts b/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
index 306bbaf25..1e5ba33cb 100644
--- a/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
+++ b/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import { createLogger } from "@/lib/observability/logger";
 import { createDeferredUploadedImage } from "@/lib/storage/image-archive";
 import {
   buildS3PublicUrl,
-  buildStorageObjectKey,
   createS3Client,
   type S3UploadConfig,
   toDbS3UploadConfig,
@@ -65,7 +64,7 @@ const REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_ATTEMPTS = 3;
 const REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000;
 const MAX_REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_BYTES = 40 * 1024 * 1024;
 const REFERENCE_STAGING_CACHE_MS = 60_000;
-const REFERENCE_STAGING_PREFIX = "vip98k-references";
+const REFERENCE_STAGING_KEY_PREFIX = "uploads/vip98k-";
 
 type ReferenceStagingConfig = {
   sourcePublicUrl: string;
@@ -608,7 +607,9 @@ async function uploadReferenceImage(
   buffer: Buffer,
   stagingConfig: ReferenceStagingConfig,
 ) {
-  const key = buildStorageObjectKey("reference.jpg", REFERENCE_STAGING_PREFIX);
+  const key = `${REFERENCE_STAGING_KEY_PREFIX}${Date.now()}-${Math.random()
+    .toString(36)
+    .slice(2, 8)}.jpg`;
   await createS3Client(stagingConfig.storageConfig).send(
     new PutObjectCommand({
       Bucket: stagingConfig.storageConfig.bucket,
@@ -676,7 +677,7 @@ async function ensurePublicMediaUrl(mediaUrl: string, mediaKind: "image" | "vide
       : null;
     if (
       !stagingConfig ||
-      sourceObjectKey?.startsWith(`${REFERENCE_STAGING_PREFIX}/`) ||
+      sourceObjectKey?.startsWith(REFERENCE_STAGING_KEY_PREFIX) ||
       !shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl({
         mediaUrl: normalized,
         sourcePublicUrl: stagingConfig.sourcePublicUrl,