Nearly half of all Americans now use AI chatbots, yet most distrust the technology. This paradox is creating a new commercial landscape where brand visibility inside AI search results has become a trust signal for skeptical consumers. According to recent research, 49% of U.S. adults now use AI chatbots, up from 33% in 2024, but adoption has far outpaced confidence in the technology itself.

Why Is AI Trust Declining Even as Usage Skyrockets?

The disconnect between adoption and belief reveals a fundamental shift in how Americans interact with AI. While 49% of U.S. adults now use AI chatbots, only 16% expect AI to have a net-positive societal impact over the next 20 years. The rest either expect negative outcomes or remain uncertain. This gap is widest among the youngest users: 50% of adults under 30 say AI will be negative for society, compared to just 14% who expect positive effects.

The research, conducted by 5W in partnership with Pew Research, identified what experts call "use without belief." In May 2026, there was a 99-point favorability gap between daily AI users and non-users, the widest behavioral divide in American public opinion. But as adoption spread to 49% of the population, the gap didn't close; it simply shifted shape. The divide is no longer between who uses AI and who doesn't. It's between the 24% of Americans who use AI every day and believe in it, and the roughly 25% who use it weekly but remain skeptical.

"In May, we found a very deep divide between AI users and non-users. Today the divide continues, but the fault line moved. It's no longer about who uses AI. It's about who believes in it. Adoption is now compulsory; it's baked into Google, Office, and every phone in America," said Ronn Torossian, Founder and Chairman at 5W.

Ronn Torossian, Founder and Chairman, 5W

How Are Brands Leveraging AI Search to Build Trust?

The most striking finding is that 60% of U.S. adults now read AI-generated summaries inside search results. This means AI is no longer a destination tool; it's become an invisible layer on top of everyday search. When a skeptical consumer sees a brand name cited inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, or Google AI Overviews, that citation carries borrowed authority. For brands, this represents both a challenge and an opportunity.

Torossian emphasized the commercial implications: "When half the country uses a technology it doesn't trust, the brands the AI engines cite become the trust signal. A skeptical buyer who sees your brand named inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, or Google AI Overviews is a buyer with a reason to say yes. The brands that fill that vacuum and proactively manage it win very big".

Torossian

To compete in this new landscape, brands need to understand what signals AI search engines use to retrieve and cite sources. The 5W Power User Audit measures a brand's citation share across major AI platforms and identifies the retrieval signals required to win in AI-driven discovery.

Steps to Improve Your Brand's Visibility in AI Search Results

• Source Mix Optimization: Ensure your brand appears across diverse, authoritative sources that AI engines recognize and trust, not just your own website or owned channels.
• Structured Data Implementation: Use schema markup and metadata to make your content machine-readable, helping AI systems understand and cite your information more accurately.
• Third-Party Citations: Build relationships with reputable publications and platforms that mention your brand, creating independent verification that AI engines value when ranking sources.

Who Trusts AI Most, and What Does That Tell Us?

Trust in AI is not evenly distributed across demographics. Asian-American adults are the only major demographic group with net-positive views of AI, with 70% using chatbots, roughly double the national rate. This suggests that familiarity and cultural context shape AI adoption patterns in ways that go beyond simple access or education level.

Daily AI users remain higher-income, higher-education, and higher-intent than the broader population. They set buying patterns and influence consumer behavior. But they are now surrounded by 200 million skeptical light users making the same queries with less conviction and more scrutiny. This creates a unique market condition: brands that appear in AI search results gain credibility with both groups, while brands absent from those results become invisible to buyers and unverifiable to skeptics.

The data reveals a critical insight: 63% of Americans say AI is advancing too fast, while only 2% say it's moving too slowly. This widespread concern about pace is driving the skepticism, even among regular users. The technology is spreading faster than trust can follow.

As AI becomes embedded in every major platform from Google to Microsoft Office, adoption will likely continue climbing. But trust will remain the limiting factor. For brands, the window to establish visibility and credibility inside AI search results is now. The skeptical majority is looking for signals of trustworthiness, and brand citations from AI engines provide exactly that signal.