They are not bid-bot upvotes. They are completely unsolicited. They are also organic it seems as they seem to be placed randomly on my posts.
Since the EIP, buying votes has been heavily and publicly frowned upon and is a major reason that the fork happened to begin with, to discourage vote buying.
The reason that I don't get downvoted for it is that every single one of the votes I receive is an owner with stake opting into voting for me. Big and small, and a likely reason they do so is that they see some value n what I do, and trust that I am going to keep doing it.
I have had some of the largest whales on the platform downvote me for weeks at a time, I have had two orcas downvote me consistently for the last 3 months. I am no stranger to getting downvoted, nor to controversy, but the difference likely is that I don't bitch about it, I suck it up and do my thing as I have always done.
Earnings aren't guaranteed on Steem, but with a couple SP, anyone can post.