March 20, 2026 – Seven in ten Americans believe Google’s AI search results are biased toward advertisers and large brands. More than 80 percent believe the AI is filtering what they’re allowed to see. And three-quarters think AI-generated answers are likely to spread misinformation at scale.
Yet 73 percent still prefer Google over ChatGPT for everyday searches.
That’s the central finding from the SearchTides AI Usage & Trust in Search Survey, conducted in March 2026 with 1,001 U.S. respondents (margin of error ±3.1%).
Distrust is widespread. Behavior hasn’t moved.
What the data shows
Users aren’t vaguely uneasy about AI search — they have specific grievances. When asked whether Google’s AI favors advertisers and big brands, only 10 percent said “no, they’re neutral.” The other 90 percent picked some version of yes. More than half (55%) said AI will replace traditional search within two years. Among those, 23 percent said it’ll happen in less than a year.
On misinformation: 36 percent called it “very likely” that AI search spreads false information at scale. Another 47 percent said “somewhat likely.” Eighty-two percent said Google should be legally required to show the sources behind its AI answers.
On content theft: 69 percent believe Google’s AI is taking content from websites without fair attribution.
Why Google still wins
Despite all of it, the preference data is clear. Google holds a 73-27 lead over ChatGPT for common searches. The gap isn’t closing and it reflects something structural. Users may distrust the AI layer, but they still trust Google’s coverage, speed, and integration with maps, local results, and commerce. For most tasks, “good enough and fast” beats “trustworthy but unfamiliar.”
Asked whether they’d pay for a search engine that showed only human-written results with no AI summaries, 58 percent said no or “I don’t care.” Eighteen percent said yes. The rest said maybe, depending on price.
That result tells you something: the distrust is real, but it hasn’t created a market for alternatives yet.
What this means for brands and publishers
The survey was conducted by SearchTides to understand how users actually relate to AI-mediated search — not how they say they feel in the abstract, but what they believe is happening and what they do about it.
“Users have moved from evaluating sources to accepting answers. That’s a fundamental change in how trust works online. The question for any brand or publisher isn’t ‘do I rank’ and it’s ‘does the AI know who I am and why I matter.’”
SearchTides
The full dataset, methodology, and crosstabs are available at searchtides.com/ai-search-statistics/.
Methodology
The SearchTides AI Usage & Trust in Search Survey collected 1,001 responses from U.S. adults in March 2026. The margin of error is ±3.1% at 95% confidence. The survey covered AI search adoption, perceived bias, content attribution, misinformation risk, platform preference, and willingness to pay for AI-free alternatives.
About SearchTides
SearchTides is an AI visibility agency. While most SEO firms are still chasing rankings, SearchTides works on the problem that’s actually replaced rankings: getting selected, cited, and recommended by AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity.
Founded in 2013, the company helps brands control how machines understand them. That means aligning identity, language, and authority signals so a brand becomes the answer an AI reaches for, rather than one it skips over.
The goal isn’t clicks. It’s decisions.
Learn more at searchtides.com.
Web: searchtides.com/ai-search-statistics/
Media Contact
Company Name: SearchTides
Contact Person: Derek Iwasiuk
Email: Send Email
Country: United States
Website: https://searchtides.com
Press Release Distributed by ABNewswire.com
To view the original version on ABNewswire visit: Most Americans Think Google’s AI Is Biased. They’re Using It Anyway.
