RTB House: Consumer trust in Agentic AI grows
Agentic artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in how consumers shop.
A new study from AI-based marketing technology provider RTB House, “Who’s Buying? Consumer Trust in the Age of Agentic AI,” indicates AI has overtaken social media as a trusted shopping advisor. Leading AI tools, such as agentic AI, now beat social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook for trustworthiness among U.S. and international shoppers.
Next-gen AI also outperforms newspapers and major media outlets among surveyed shoppers from the U.S., U.K., France and Japan. However, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT have higher levels of trust among consumers across all surveyed countries than Claude and Grok.
AI affects brand surfacing
The survey also reveals that 42% of U.S. respondents and 33% of non-U.S. respondents say AI tools increase the time it takes them to reach a final purchase decision by surfacing more brands, products and alternatives to consider. This opinion is strongest among U.S. Gen Z respondents (48%) but holds across every generation measured.
Meanwhile, six-in-10 (59%) U.S. respondents and 52% of non-U.S. respondents say AI is good at surfacing brands they didn’t previously know, with U.S. Gen X (61%) and baby boomer (62%) respondents among the most receptive groups.
[READ MORE: Most consumers have used an AI shopping agent]
Millennial purchase delegation trends
More than four-in-10 (42%) U.S. millennial respondents say they are comfortable giving an AI agent a budget of up to $250 to make a purchase on their behalf when a seven-day return window is guaranteed, compared to 27% of non-U.S. millennials respondent.
Without return protection, 34% of U.S. millennials respondents and 20% of non-U.S. millennial respondents remain comfortable delegating the transaction. However, approval before checkout the single most requested safeguard globally.
“For more than a decade, e-commerce growth was driven by buying attention on social feeds and optimizing for instant checkouts,” said Jaysen Gillespie, VP of product marketing & analytics at RTB House. “This research proves that era is coming to an end. Consumers are turning to AI as an analytical powerhouse, using it to evaluate and discover brands, conduct price comparisons, and conduct deeper research before they buy. As AI expands the consideration window, competition is fiercer than ever.
RTB House conducted research in June and July 2026 in partnership with Cint, surveying 1,840 respondents across the U.S. and a combined non-U.S. group spanning the U.K., France and Japan.
