Study Shows Radio Builds Trust Where AI Can’t.

As artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Gemini become everyday companions for American consumers, new research from Audacy reveals that while AI helps people explore options, it’s still trusted media, especially radio, that drives them to act.

Audacy’s nationwide study found that 68% of Americans now use AI tools, and 72% say they use them at least weekly, turning to them not just for curiosity, but for practical tasks like vacation planning, shopping and even selecting financial advisors. But despite this surge in usage, there’s a striking disconnect: only 33% of consumers have made, or even considered, a purchase based on an AI recommendation.

The Trust Gap: Where Radio Comes In

That gap, according to Audacy, is all about trust. While AI introduces new options, it doesn’t necessarily create the confidence consumers need to buy. That’s where traditional media like radio come in.

When asked what would make them more likely to trust a brand recommended by AI, more than 80% of respondents pointed to radio and TV as trust-builders. Streaming video, digital display, podcasts, social media, and outdoor media followed close behind. Audacy sums it up this way: AI introduces. Radio reassures.

“Radio’s emotional resonance and longstanding credibility create brand familiarity that AI alone can’t replicate,” Reggie Shah, Senior Director, Research & Insights, Audacy, says in the report. “It gives consumers a reason to believe, and a reason to act.”

AI-Primed, Media-Validated

The report introduces a new term, AI-Priming, to describe how consumers are now arriving at stores, websites or showrooms already informed by AI. Rather than beginning their purchase journey with in-person browsing, customers are consulting AI tools ahead of time, showing up with a shortlist curated by algorithms.

Audacy says this shift means brands need to transition from persuasion to validation, helping to confirm the information AI has already provided.

The study also reveals high consumer intent to rely on AI across major decision categories:

• 83% for travel planning

• 82% for electronics and furniture

• 76% for home improvement

• 74% for vehicle purchases

• 66% for financial services

• 64% for real estate

Still, without a trusted media presence, AI’s suggestions may not convert into action.

What Brands Should Do Now

Audacy’s report outlines three takeaways for marketers in an AI-powered world:

1. Use media to build trust. AI may surface your brand, but media like radio gives it credibility.

2. Get ahead of AI. Establish brand familiarity before AI introduces you. Trusted media lays that foundation.

3. Optimize for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). Brands must become quotable and structured so AI tools can easily include them in results.

AI is transforming how people make decisions, but radio remains essential to what they decide.

“AI curates the choices,” the report concludes. “Radio makes your brand the right one.”

By aligning their messaging with both AI and trusted media channels, brands can not only show up in consumers’ consideration sets but become the one they choose.