WordPress VIP Survey Finds 60% Of U.S. Consumers Turn Off By “AI” In Brand Messaging

A WordPress VIP Future of the Web survey found that 60% of consumers in the U.S. say that brands that use “AI” in their messaging are a turnoff, while 86% don’t fully trust AI and still want to explore original sources.

“At the end of each year, BDM highlights transformations shaping the digital sector”

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TechCrunch reported that the survey also found 42% of consumers said that AI-generated answers without clear attribution are trusted less than airline fees, confusing privacy policies, and medical bills.

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In the same WordPress VIP research, Brian Alvey, CTO of WordPress VIP, argued that consumers react negatively when products are explicitly marketed as AI-powered, saying, “I actually saw people I know who have a product, where they have a pricing page, and the top two levels of the product have a lot of AI in it. They sold less.”

Alvey added that removing the word “AI” while keeping the features can change outcomes, explaining, “If they just took the word AI out and even left the feature in, it was no longer a turnoff, and they actually sold more of the middle and higher-level packages.”

WordPress VIP’s research described a broader shift in how people evaluate AI-driven content, with the internet feeling “less human” to nearly three in four respondents.

TechCrunch said the report found that “People used to build websites for other people,” and that brands now must build for “AI agents acting on behalf of those people.”

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In the PR Newswire write-up of the same WordPress VIP findings, Alvey warned that “If your site's content isn't legible to AI, you are invisible to a growing share of how people search.”

PR Newswire also framed the trust problem as one of verification, stating that “86% don't fully trust AI and still explore original sources,” while emphasizing that consumers want clear sources and human online experiences.

A Gartner study cited by next.ink surveyed 1,539 respondents in October 2025 and found that 61% frequently wonder whether the information they rely on is reliable and 68% often wonder whether the content and information they see is authentic.

“Half of US consumers prefer to avoid brands that use generative AI in their messaging, advertising, and consumer-facing content”

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next.ink reported that Emily Weiss, Senior Principal Analyst in Gartner’s Marketing division, said marketers should offer GenAI “as an option rather than mandatory use,” and “clearly signal AI-based experiences so that users understand when and how it is used.”

In the same Gartner framing, Weiss said “Consumers are questioning what is real and strive to verify more of what they see,” and she argued that “When AI is transparent, useful, and under the customer’s control, it can strengthen the experience rather than erode trust.”

Separately, BDM’s 2026 trends guide highlighted that SMSFactor reported 98% of professional SMS messages are read by recipients and 90% are read within three minutes, while also describing RCS as a conversational evolution with multimedia and interactive action buttons.