Hoverboard AI study of 1,097 U.S. adults finds nearly half use AI for major decisions as trust rises across health, finance and legal research.
SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES, August 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Hoverboard AI today released The 2026 AI Answer Engine Trust & Search Behavior Report, a study examining how U.S. consumers use and trust ChatGPT, Google Gemini and other AI answer engines when making purchasing and major life decisions.
The survey of 1,097 U.S. adults ages 18 to 65 found that 77% of respondents use at least one AI answer engine. Nearly half (49%) use AI answer engines to research expensive purchases or major life decisions, while 43.8% of AI users report using them for shopping and product decisions.
Key findings include:
• ChatGPT leads usage and trust. More than 64% of respondents use ChatGPT, compared with 50% for Google Gemini. Among respondents who trust at least one AI platform, 59.9% named ChatGPT their most trusted for important life decisions, versus 20.3% for Gemini.
• Trust is rising. More than 53% said they trust AI answer engines more than they did one year ago, while fewer than 16% reported lower trust.
• Adoption increases with income. AI answer engine usage reached 92% among respondents in households earning $150,000 or more, compared with 70% among households earning $50,000 to $74,999.
• Consumers are using AI for high-stakes questions. The survey found 56.8% expressed confidence in AI’s accuracy for health-related decisions, 46.3% were likely to rely on AI for financial research and advice, and 46.6% agreed they would trust AI for accurate legal information.
“More than ever before, consumers are now turning to AI answer engines to help them make decisions on what products they buy, what companies they hire, and what services they use,” said Mike Perez, founder of Hoverboard AI. “Brands that optimize their visibility in answer engines like ChatGPT and Google Gemini have a huge advantage over their competitors .”
The study also found that AI answer engine usagee is spread across multiple platforms. Respondents used an average of 2.3 answer engines, underscoring the need for brands to understand their visibility across more than one model.
For marketers and business owners, the findings point to a fragmented search journey in which traditional search, reviews and AI-generated answers all influence consideration. Google Search remains the most widely used research channel for major decisions, but AI answer engines have become part of that process for nearly half of respondents.
Hoverboard AI conducted the survey between April and June 2026. The sample included 1,097 U.S. adults ages 18 to 65. At a 95% confidence level, the approximate margin of error for full-sample figures is plus or minus three percentage points. Results are self-reported and intended to describe directional behavior among surveyed U.S. adults rather than audited platform usage.
The full report, including additional findings and methodology, is available at https://gethoverboard.com/the-2026-ai-trust-search-behavior-report/.
About Hoverboard AI
Hoverboard AI is an AI search analytics and answer engine optimization platform that tracks millions of prompts and answer engine responses. Companies and agencies use Hoverboard AI to track how brands are mentioned, cited and framed across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and other AI models. Learn more at https://gethoverboard.com.
Mike Perez
Hoverboard AI
mike@fluxality.com
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