Statistics
Do consumers trust AI-generated replies to local business reviews?
No published percentage in the sources reviewed measures whether consumers trust AI-generated owner replies to local business reviews. BrightLocal measured trust in AI business recommendations and AI-generated review summaries. Google's help pages describe who may reply, how replies are reviewed, and what good replies should contain. Those are adjacent facts, not a reply-trust statistic.1234
What do consumers trust AI to do?
BrightLocal's 2026 research gives two measurable proxies for the question, but neither proxy is about an owner's reply. One measures recommendations. The other measures summaries of reviews written by real people.12
| What the survey measured | Finding | Population and period | What it supports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trusted AI platforms to provide local-business recommendations | 40% trusted, compared with 32% who did not trust them | 1,002 US adults in BrightLocal's representative panel; 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey, published February 11, 2026 | Reported trust in AI recommendations among all respondents1 |
| Trusted AI recommendations as much as traditional reviews | 42% | 1,002 US adults in the same 2026 survey; published February 11, 2026 | A stated comparison between AI recommendations and traditional reviews1 |
| Trusted AI tools' recommendations | 63% trusted, while 10% expressed distrust | 455 respondents who had used AI for local-business recommendations in the last 12 months; 2026 AI-trust survey, published March 10, 2026 | Reported trust within the active-AI-user subgroup2 |
| Trusted AI platforms to accurately summarize reviews from real people | 50% of all respondents; 71% among active AI users | 1,002 US adults overall and the 455-person active-AI-user subgroup; 2026 AI-trust survey, published March 10, 2026 | Reported trust in review summaries, not in owner replies2 |
The distinction matters. A recommendation is an AI system's suggestion about a business. A review summary is a condensed account of customer reviews. An owner reply is a public message posted under an individual review. The sources do not treat those as one construct.123
Do people verify AI recommendations and review summaries?
BrightLocal's findings show that reported trust often sits alongside checking behaviour. Among active AI users, 97% sometimes double-checked an AI recommendation against real reviews, and 42% always checked reviews on native review sites.2
| Reported behaviour | Finding | Denominator and period | What the finding describes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy to rely only on an AI-generated review summary | 23% | BrightLocal's representative panel of 1,002 US adults; 2026 survey, published February 11, 2026 | Reliance on the summary when making a decision1 |
| Checked review profiles for more information after seeing a summary | 59% | The same 1,002-person panel and 2026 survey | A reported follow-up action1 |
| Skipped AI-generated review summaries | 18% | The same 1,002-person panel and 2026 survey | A reported decision to skip the summary1 |
| Checked whether a review was legitimate or checked the recommendation's source | 88% | 455 active AI users; last 12 months before BrightLocal's March 10, 2026 survey | Any of the two reported checking behaviours2 |
| Checked review legitimacy | 51% | 455 active AI users; same period | One checking behaviour within the active-AI-user subgroup2 |
| Checked the source of an AI recommendation | 37% | 455 active AI users; same period | A second checking behaviour within the subgroup2 |
| Sometimes double-checked AI recommendations against real reviews | 97% | 455 active AI users; same period | Reported verification against original reviews2 |
| Always checked reviews on native review sites | 42% | 455 active AI users; same period | Reported use of the original review surface2 |
These percentages do not measure whether a consumer trusted an AI-written reply after reading it. They show that recommendations and summaries can be used as an initial step while people still inspect original reviews or sources.2
How widely are people using AI for local-business recommendations?
BrightLocal reported that 45% of consumers used AI to find local-business recommendations in its 2026 survey, compared with 6% in its 2025 comparison. The survey page describes AI as the third most popular source of business recommendations. This is reported use, not a trust score and not a measure of AI-generated owner replies.1
| Reported AI use | Finding | Population and period | What the finding describes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Used AI to find local-business recommendations | 45%, compared with 6% in BrightLocal's 2025 comparison | 1,002 US adults in the representative panel; 2026 survey, published February 11, 2026 | Reported use across the two annual survey comparisons1 |
| Used ChatGPT for business recommendations | 31% | 1,002 US adults in BrightLocal's representative panel; last 12 months before the March 10, 2026 survey | Reported use of ChatGPT for recommendations2 |
| Used Google's AI Mode for business recommendations | 23% | The same 1,002-person panel and last-12-month period | Reported use of Google AI Mode for recommendations2 |
| Asked AI for a business recommendation | 64% of adults aged 30 to 44, compared with 24% of adults over 60 | Age groups in BrightLocal's representative panel; past year, 2026 survey | Reported use by age group2 |
The rise in reported use makes the trust question more important, but it does not fill the evidence gap. A person can use AI to find a business without trusting an AI-written reply from that business.12
What do consumers say about business review replies?
BrightLocal's 2026 review survey measured expectations and reactions to business replies. It did not identify whether the replies were written by a person, generated by AI, or produced with AI assistance.1
| Review-reply finding | Figure | Population and period | What the finding describes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Likely to use a business that responds to all its reviews | 80% | 1,002 US adults in BrightLocal's representative panel; 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey, published February 11, 2026 | Reported likelihood associated with complete reply coverage1 |
| Unlikely to use a business that never replies | 42% | The same 1,002-person panel and survey | Reported reaction to no replies1 |
| Expected a reply on the same day | 19% | The same 1,002-person panel and survey | Reported timing expectation1 |
| Wanted a reply by the following day | 32% | The same 1,002-person panel and survey | Reported timing expectation1 |
| Expected a reply within a week | 81% | The same 1,002-person panel and survey | Reported timing expectation1 |
| Unlikely to choose a business when replies were generic or templated | 50% | The same 1,002-person panel and survey | Reported reaction to reply style, without identifying the author or production method1 |
The last figure is the closest published evidence to the quality concern behind the question. It still cannot be rewritten as “50% distrust AI-generated replies,” because the survey did not measure AI authorship or consumer trust in it.1
What does Google say about replying to reviews?
Google's current help guidance supplies platform rules and reply-writing guidance. It does not publish a consumer-trust percentage for AI-generated replies.34
Before a business can reply, it must verify the business. After verification, the reply flow is Business Profile → Read reviews → Reply, followed by entering the reply and selecting Reply. Google says review availability varies by country or region and business category, and a review that appears to violate its content policies can be flagged.3
Google says replies are reviewed for content-policy compliance. Review usually takes up to 10 minutes, but can take up to 30 days. An approved reply appears publicly under the customer's review as the business's reply. The replier's personal name is not shown, and the customer is notified and may change the review after reading the reply.3
Google's reply guidance says public replies should be professional, polite, clear, helpful, short, simple, conversational and non-promotional. It says not to use a reply to offer deals or promotions. For negative reviews, Google says to protect the reviewer's privacy, avoid personal attacks, be honest about mistakes and limitations, apologize when appropriate, address the specific feedback, and respond in a timely manner.4
Google also says reviews and other user contributions must reflect a genuine experience. Offering free or discounted goods or services in exchange for posting, changing or removing a review is prohibited.4
What can a local business conclude about AI-written replies?
The evidence supports three bounded conclusions:
- Consumers in BrightLocal's 2026 panels reported meaningful trust in AI recommendations and AI-generated review summaries.12
- Active AI users also reported checking original reviews, source information and review legitimacy.2
- No cited source measures trust in an AI-generated owner reply. The 80%, 42%, 19%, 32%, 81% and 50% reply findings describe response expectations or reactions, not AI authorship.1
If a reply is drafted with AI assistance, the source-supported test is the same public standard Google gives for any reply: it should be accurate, relevant to the review, concise, non-promotional, privacy-protective and personalized. The sources do not establish that adding AI makes a reply more trusted or less trusted.4
For the platform's broader review rules and management questions, see the Google reviews guide. For other dated research, see the research index.
What do these statistics not tell you?
- They do not give a direct percentage for consumer trust in AI-generated owner replies.
- The BrightLocal surveys record what respondents reported. They do not observe every recommendation, review read, reply read or business choice.
- The all-respondent findings use a representative panel of 1,002 US adults. Active-AI-user findings use the 455 respondents who had used AI for local-business recommendations in the previous 12 months.12
- Percentages from the 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey and the 2026 AI-trust survey come from different survey pages and publication dates. They should not be combined into one trust index.12
- The reply findings do not identify whether a reply was written by a person, generated by AI or produced with AI assistance.1
- Google's help pages state current mechanics and guidance, but they do not measure how consumers feel about AI authorship.34
Sources
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BrightLocal, "LCRS 2026: Study Shows Reviews Matter More Than Ever," published February 11, 2026; representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers via SurveyMonkey; read October 1, 2026. Read BrightLocal's 2026 survey
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BrightLocal, "Half of consumers are asking AI for business recommendations," published March 10, 2026; representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers, including 455 respondents who had used an AI tool for local-business recommendations in the last 12 months; read October 1, 2026. Read BrightLocal's AI-trust survey
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Google Business Profile Help, "Manage customer reviews"; no publication or update date displayed; read October 1, 2026. Read Google's review-management guidance
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Google Business Profile Help, "Tips to get more reviews"; no publication or update date displayed; read October 1, 2026. Read Google's reply guidance
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Common questions
- Is 42% a trust score for AI-generated review replies?
- No. BrightLocal's 42% figure measures consumers who trusted AI recommendations as much as traditional reviews for local-business recommendations. It does not measure reactions to a business's reply under a review.
- Does the 71% figure mean that 71% of consumers trust AI-written replies?
- No. The 71% figure is the share of active AI users who trusted AI platforms to accurately summarize online reviews from real people. A review summary and an owner's reply are different types of text.
- Do consumers reject generic replies?
- BrightLocal reported that 50% of surveyed consumers were unlikely to choose a business when its replies were generic or templated. The finding does not say whether those replies were written by AI, so it cannot be used as a measure of trust in AI-generated replies.
- What must a business do before replying to a Google review?
- Google says the business must be verified. After verification, the business can open its Business Profile, select Read reviews, choose Reply beside the review, enter a response and select Reply.