Marketers are in a pitched battle for consumer trust. Undercutting relationships with customers is skepticism online, where AI-generated content proliferates.
“Trust has always been the cornerstone of marketing,” said our analyst Blake Droesch in a recent EMARKETER webinar. “If consumers don’t trust your brand, you won’t get their business. And on the flip side, trust is often the first step towards building affinity and long-term loyalty. What changed is how difficult it has become to earn that trust.”
GenAI challenges to trust
Consumers are seeing much more AI-generated content in articles, images, and videos online.
- AI-generated content accounts for roughly half (51.7%) of new English-language articles, up from 7.8% in late 2022, when ChatGPT launched, according to Graphite.
As a result, many consumers doubt what they see online, unless it’s backed up by additional sources.
- Nearly half (48.6%) of US consumers check multiple sources when searching online for information, according to a 2026 Raptive study.
- 372.27% say they only trust information once they find multiple sources, per Raptive.
“The stakes are high, and the disruption is likely to be significant,” said Droesch said. “How should marketers respond? And how will they continue to build trust in an environment that feels increasingly untrustworthy?”
Building trust in-person
Experts believe marketers can meet this online skepticism with compelling in-store and in-person experiences.
These experiences prove memorable to consumers, and they also provide an opportunity to grow trust.
- In-store experiences and events were the most memorable experiences for consumers, with 79% saying so in a February 2025 survey from The Harris Poll.
Other than in-person experiences, tactile experiences scored higher than digital impressions.
- Consumers found in-store window displays (72%), physical mail (71%), and packaging (69%) more memorable than online ads (67%) and social media ads (59%), per The Harris Poll.
“[In-store] is where brands can really make a human connection that is not just earned because someone walked into your store, and so they want to connect [with the retailer], but it also removes any doubt,” said our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian in the webinar. “That physical connection, you see it, you feel it, you believe it.”
Creators bridge trust for brands
To boost trust on digital channels, marketers should consider partnering with creators who have developed strong relationships with audiences.
- US creators and influencer marketing spend is set to grow more (up 13.9%) than social media (13.1%) and search (8.7%) in 2027, EMARKETER forecasts.
“Creators and influencer marketing are poised to become even more valuable in the years ahead,” Droesch said. “As AI-generated content floods our feeds, genuinely creative content that fosters real human connections will stand out.”
Building trust with AI
With AI adoption growing rapidly, experts say marketers should be sensitive to consumer skepticism.
“Over the past several years, it’s become a lot harder for brands to form direct relationships with customers online,” Droesch said. “They’re navigating unpredictable social algorithms. They’re selling through marketplaces and other intermediaries. And now they’re facing a future where AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini are likely to mediate even more of the relationship between brands and shoppers.”
He said brands can overcome this and build trust by using AI technology that’s transparent and useful to the consumer.
“Everybody’s comfort level with AI is changing so rapidly,” said Jeremy Goldman, senior director of content briefings. “I do think in this period of relative uncertainty, [it helps] to have more transparency for how you’re using AI. And then, do things that are essentially value-added like personalizing experiences whenever possible, and being transparent about how you’re doing it.”
Watch the full webinar here.
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