62 percent of consumers trust AI to help them discover businesses and brands. This surprisingly-high figure comes from a new piece of research from Yext. Known as The Rise of AI Search Archetypes, it looks at how consumers are adopting AI and how they trust it to discover, evaluate, and choose brands.
What else did the study uncover? From surveying 2,237 recent conversational-AI users across the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany, it found that AI is performing well but still has some areas to improve, such as sensitive information. Here are some highlights we’ve extracted for Localogy Insider readers.
- 62 percent of consumers trust AI to guide their brand decisions, putting it on par with traditional search during key decision moments.
- 43 percent use AI search tools like ChatGPT or Gemini daily or more, reflecting the growing integration of AI into routine online behavior.
- 75 percent report using new search tools more today than they did a year ago.
- 29 percent turn to AI first when they need fast, factual responses, trailing traditional search at 53 percent, but far ahead of social media (9 percent).
- 57 percent still prefer traditional search engines when researching personal, medical, or financial topics.
- 10 percent of users trust the first result. 48 percent cross-check answers across platforms, highlighting the need for consistent brand information everywhere.
- Out of the popular AI platforms, 68 percent of consumers have used ChatGPT to research local products or services. However, only 19 percent trust AI search tools versus traditional search engine results (45 percent) when it comes to local search.
High Stakes
One thing that jumps out from these results is that AI is trusted in some places more than others. For example, “high stakes” information, such as medical or financial topics, isn’t trusted as much as casual information. This is a finding that’s consistent with our recent research on SMBs’ AI sentiments.
In any case, the timing is right for this research, as AI faces these trust issues. That gets to the “surprisingly-high” part noted above. Despite the sentiment we get from social media, news, and the broader culture, trust in AI is actually reaching favorable levels. This could be due to greater acclimation.
In other words, the edge is taken off AI’s scary-new-thing vibes as people use it and experience its benefits. And that’s precisely what’s happening as AI colonizes the most prevalent outposts in our culture – namely, Google search. With AI Summaries and AI Mode, AI has been thrust front and center.
“AI search is no longer a novelty,” Yext VP of Data Innovation Mark Kabana tells Localogy Insider. “It has become a primary interface for how consumers make decisions. People now rely on it daily, not just for quick facts, but for choices about where to eat, what to buy, and who to trust. That level of usage signals real maturity, not just early adoption.”
Trust is Conditional
But it’s much more than just showing up, says Kabana. AI has to prove itself to gain repeat usage and the trust signals above. In fact, while the likes of Google and OpenAI are enjoying the fruits of this trust-building, Apple is experiencing the other side of the double-edged sword as it fumbles its AI efforts.
“Trust remains conditional,” continued Kabana. “Many users still verify what AI tells them, which shows that confidence is earned, not assumed. Showing up is not the same as being chosen.”
So besides getting AI right at this key moment of trust building, what are the other lessons from Yext’s study? One clear takeaway is that AI is here to stay and will continue to gain trust and prevalence as a front door to consumers’ connected experiences. So the lesson is that brands need to be there too.
“To even get into the conversation, your brand’s data must be clear, consistent, and trustworthy across every surface,” said Kabana. “And the clock is ticking. Brands that ignore this risk are being filtered out, or worse, misrepresented by AI using information that doesn’t reflect reality.”
Check out the full report, including deeper dives on demographic segments.
