A year ago, 82% of consumers said AI-powered search was more helpful than traditional search. By 2026, that number had dropped to 54%, a 28-point decline in sentiment over 12 months.
Consumers aren’t giving up on AI search, though. Seventy percent say they’re using AI tools for search more than they did last year.
How should search marketers adapt their GEO strategies? Where are we going wrong as we bring AI deeper into our workflows?
To find out, Fractl partnered with Search Engine Land to expand our 2025 research, surveying 1,008 U.S. consumers and 150 marketers to compare how consumer trust, marketer adoption, and brand strategy are evolving in the age of AI. (Disclosure: I’m the co-founder of Fractl.)
Here’s what the data means for your 2026 search strategy.
Consumers are using AI more and trusting it less
1. Usage is saturated. The growth story is over.
Seventy percent of consumers report increased use of AI tools for search over the past year. Just 3% say it’s decreased.
Surprisingly, baby boomers now find AI more helpful than Gen Z, 63% to 47%. That challenges the assumption that younger users automatically love AI and older generations are lagging behind. In reality, early adopters are signaling that while usage may be rising, trust still has to be earned.
That matters because the remaining competitive battle isn’t about adoption. It’s about trust, quality, and which brands consumers find credible when AI surfaces answers.
2. The trust erosion is faster than anyone projected.
In 2025, the AI skeptic camp (consumers who found AI less helpful than traditional search) represented just 3% of respondents. In 2026, that segment grew to 17%, nearly six times larger than the year before.
The 54% who still find AI helpful are mostly hedging: 37% say it’s “somewhat more helpful,” compared with 17% who say it’s “much more helpful.” Enthusiasm has declined rapidly as hallucinations have become a more widely recognized challenge.
3. AI content volume is now a brand trust liability
In 2025, 20% of consumers said heavy AI use would reduce their trust in a brand. In 2026, that number rose to 39%.
For search marketers, the implication is significant. Scaling content output with AI is no longer a neutral operational decision.
Consumers are paying attention, and a substantial portion of your audience has an opinion about it. Publishing without disclosure, or publishing at scale without clear quality signals, is now a reputational variable.
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4. Gen Z sets the strictest standards
Fifty-four percent of Gen Z consumers say heavy AI use in a brand’s marketing would decrease their trust,…
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