Consumer sentiment toward AI search is reversing. A Q2 2026 survey of 1,008 U.S. consumers and 150 marketers by Fractl and Search Engine Land found that the share of consumers calling AI-powered search more helpful than traditional search dropped from 82% to 54% — a 28-percentage-point fall in a single year. At the same time, AI search adoption has climbed for two straight years, with 70% of respondents saying they use AI tools for search more than a year ago. The two trends together define a trust ceiling that marketers cannot ignore.
How Much Has Trust in AI Search Dropped?
The shift is sharper than a simple headline number suggests. In 2025, 82% of consumers rated AI-powered search as more helpful than traditional search. By Q2 2026, that figure had fallen to 54%, and even within that group, enthusiasm was hedged: 37% said AI was only “somewhat more helpful” and 17% said “much more helpful.” Meanwhile, the share of AI skeptics, defined as consumers who rate AI search as less helpful, grew from 3% to 17%, nearly six times larger in twelve months.
The Brand-Trust Problem Is Accelerating
Falling helpfulness scores are one signal. The brand-trust data is more alarming for marketers. The share of consumers who say heavy brand use of AI would reduce their trust in a favorite brand has roughly doubled: about 40%, up from 20% a year ago.
The generational spread is uneven. Gen Z respondents show the sharpest reaction: 54% say they would cut trust in a brand that leans heavily on AI, compared with 33% of Gen X, 32% of boomers, and 44% of women versus 34% of men. Boomers, counterintuitively, still rate AI search as more helpful at 63%, while Gen Z sits at 47%. The demographic most enthusiastic about adoption is simultaneously the most skeptical of brand AI use.
The pattern the Fractl and Search Engine Land study documents is a widening split: marketer AI adoption is accelerating just as consumer confidence in AI-powered experiences erodes.
Marketer Adoption Is Running the Opposite Direction
On the supply side, AI use in marketing work has jumped from 38% to 53% year-over-year, and 59% of surveyed marketers say AI now touches at least half their work. That momentum makes the trust gap harder to close, not easier.
The disclosure data reinforces the disconnect. Consumers overwhelmingly want AI-generated content labeled: 91% for video, 90% for images, 87% for audio, and 84% for written material. Only 20% of brands say they always disclose AI use. That gap of roughly 64 to 71 percentage points between consumer demand and brand behavior is not a minor compliance detail; it is the structural source of the eroding trust numbers.
GEO Investment Is Outpacing Measurable Results
Generative Engine Optimization and Answer Engine Optimization have become the fastest-growing tactical priorities, with 54% of marketers now treating GEO/AEO as a focus area. The performance data tells a different story: only 12% report any measurable results from those efforts. Traffic pressure is real: 50% of marketers report organic-traffic declines since AI Overviews launched, and 61% attribute the drop directly to AI.
Understanding which sources AI engines actually cite matters more than ever in that environment. Marketers are scrambling to keep up: active monitoring of LLM brand visibility has more than doubled in a year, climbing from 22% to 49%.
What the Paradox Means for Strategy
The core tension is this: usage is up 70% yet helpfulness perception is down 28 points. Consumers are using AI search more because it is convenient, not because they trust it more. That is a fragile foundation for any brand strategy built on AI-generated touchpoints.
| Metric | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumers rating AI search “more helpful” | 82% | 54% | −28 pp |
| AI skeptics (rate as less helpful) | 3% | 17% | ~6× larger |
| Would reduce trust in brand for heavy AI use | 20% | ~40% | ~doubled |
| Marketers using AI in work | 38% | 53% | +15 pp |
Two practical adjustments follow directly from the data. First, disclosure is no longer optional branding hygiene. With 84% to 91% of consumers demanding labeling across content types and only 20% of brands complying, that gap is becoming a trust liability. Second, GEO/AEO investment needs a result gate: with 54% of marketers prioritizing it and only 12% reporting measurable outcomes, the category is consuming budget at a rate far ahead of its demonstrated return. Quality and transparency discipline, the study suggests, now carry as much strategic weight as visibility.