A recent survey by WordPress VIP highlights consumer distrust of AI-generated content, with 60% of U.S. consumers finding AI in brand messaging unappealing.
A new report from WordPress VIP, a subsidiary of Automattic that provides an enterprise version of the WordPress publishing platform, reveals that gaining consumer trust is more challenging than being cited by AI. As brands strive to appear in AI search results, consumer skepticism has grown regarding the reliability of AI-generated information.
The report indicates that 60% of U.S. consumers find brands that incorporate 'AI' in their messaging to be off-putting. Additionally, 86% of respondents expressed a lack of full trust in AI, preferring to seek out original sources. A significant 42% stated that they regard AI-generated responses without clear attribution as less trustworthy than airline fees, confusing privacy policies, and medical bills.
Furthermore, nearly 75% of those surveyed felt that the internet has become 'less human' compared to a decade ago.
These findings suggest a shifting digital environment where brands are trying to adapt to a post-Google Search world and traditional SEO practices while also needing to maintain a human touch to avoid alienating their audience. As companies pour resources into enhancing their visibility on AI search engines, consumers increasingly prioritize transparency and proper attribution.
"People used to build websites for other people," stated Brian Alvey, CTO of WordPress VIP, in a statement accompanying the report. "Now you have to build websites for AI agents acting on behalf of those people. If your site’s content isn’t legible to AI, you are invisible to a growing share of how people search. You don’t exist. And if your content doesn’t feel human and trustworthy for the tiny percentage of people who actually click past the AI answer engines, they won’t come back a second time."
The survey, conducted in April, included 2,000 participants, comprising 800 enterprise decision-makers and Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) alongside 1,200 U.S. adults.
Despite the general consumer apprehension towards AI, the report also highlighted an increase in AI referrals to websites. Specifically, 60% of enterprise respondents noted a rise in traffic from AI search engines and answer platforms over the past year. Furthermore, 74% of enterprise decision-makers identified AI discoverability and attribution as a primary or significant concern.
WordPress VIP interprets these results as indicative of a future in which brands must balance AI visibility with human trust. The report found that 33% of consumers indicated that their top trust signal is clicking through to view the original source, while 80% believe that web information should remain openly accessible, rather than being controlled by a few large organizations.
This last point aligns with Automattic’s ongoing commitment to fostering an open web ecosystem, as demonstrated by its support for the open-source WordPress project and investments in open web protocols like ActivityPub.
