AI-generated fake websites are eroding consumer trust — here’s how
The rise of fraudulent e-commerce sites based on artificial intelligence is a troubling trend for both shoppers and retailers.
Although two-in-three (65%) surveyed consumers, including 79% of millennial and Gen Z respondents, are confident they can identify fake websites, an overwhelming 92% agree that the rise of AI-generated content is making it significantly harder to determine if a website is legitimate, according to a survey of U.S. consumers from web operations platform Pantheon.
In addition, 86% of respondents say they are far more skeptical of online brands today than they were two years ago and more than seven-in-10 (72%) have misidentified a legitimate site as an AI-driven scam simply because it was slow or glitchy.
As a result, almost nine-in-10 (88%) respondents say companies should do more to prove their authenticity online. When a site feels suspicious due to poor performance: 41% of respondents will void entering personal or credit card information, and 39% will completely abandon their purchase.
[READ MORE: Survey: Most shoppers have abandoned a purchase due to website raising doubts]
In the last 12 months, 45% of respondents report encountering AI-generated news or blog sites with misleading info (45%), fake online stores (29%), fake customer service portals or chatbots (22%) and fake local government resource sites (22%).
Other findings
- One-in-five respondents will immediately switch to a competitor when a site feels "off."
- More than half (53%) of respondents state they are unlikely to return to a website after a single suspicious experience, even if it turns out to be 100% legitimate.
- If a bad actor clones an organization's website, more than one in three (34%) respondents will trust the original brand less, and 28% will directly blame them for not preventing it.
- Overall, respondents rank the original brand as the number two entity responsible for protecting them — behind personal vigilance but ahead of Big Tech, AI creators, and government regulators.
"As cybercriminals infiltrate the AI search ecosystem with lookalike sites, trust has become a business-critical priority," said Josh Koenig, co-founder and senior VP of marketing, Pantheon. "Consumers are operating with their guard up. If your website lags, contains broken pages, or serves stale content, people increasingly assume you’re an AI scam instead of just having technical issues. In the AI era, a reliable web platform is mission-critical for brand protection."
Pantheon commissioned an online survey of 1,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older which was fielded by global market research firm Dynata in June 2026.
