- Billion Dollar Boy Group, global leaders in creator-led brand building, surveyed 6,000 consumers, creators and marketers in the US and UK to understand AI’s growing impact on advertising.
- A majority of marketers (61%) and creators (55%) consider AI a threat to the creator economy. Yet the research suggests concerns are overstated. Just one third of consumers say AI delivers high-quality product recommendations (35%) or improves the customer experience (32%).
- Tech giants are now pivoting to hybrid models: Google is the first to index Instagram content across search results and Google AI Overviews.
London, UK, February 19th, 2026 – New independent research from Billion Dollar Boy Group, global leaders in creator-led brand building, highlights how AI is reshaping the future of product discovery, online shopping, and the role of the creator economy.
AI search and recommendation tools have become embedded into everyday consumer behaviour, with major technology companies including OpenAI, Amazon and Google, integrating AI into online discovery and shopping – from chat-based product search to automated purchasing agents.
This acceleration has fuelled widespread industry confidence in AI’s ability to guide consumer decision-making. Amid this shift, the Group’s survey of 6,000 consumers, creators and senior marketers across the US and UK found rising optimism among marketers and creators:
- More than three-quarters of marketers (79%) and creators (77%) believe AI delivers high-quality product recommendations.
- Four in five marketers and creators (80%) agree that AI has the potential to enhance the overall online shopping journey.
This is raising concern among creators – half (55%) of whom perceive AI as a threat – supported by three in five marketers (61%) who also consider it a threat to the creator economy’s peer-to-peer recommendation model.
The AI Trust Gap: Industry Hype vs Consumer Reality
However, while the industry races ahead, consumers remain far more sceptical.
Despite accelerating AI adoption across search and shopping, trust in AI-led discovery experiences remains limited. Only one third of consumers say AI provides high-quality product recommendations (35%) or meaningfully improves the customer experience (32%).
Key concerns include:
- Algorithmic sameness: Nearly half (49%) worry that AI-generated recommendations could reinforce bias – particularly where commercial incentives and paid placements influence results – reducing exposure to new and diverse products.
- Data privacy: More than three in five (63%) say they are uncomfortable with AI using their browsing and purchase history to deliver personalised recommendations.
This disconnect highlights a growing trust gap between how the industry views AI and how consumers actually experience it.
Creators as the Trust Layer of the New Search Era
While creators are often discussed through the lens of product discovery, their role has never been limited to recommendations alone.
Creators shape culture, influence identity, and build emotional connection and community around brands – providing context and credibility that extend far beyond traditional search behaviour.
This human trust layer is exactly what AI-driven discovery currently lacks.
As trusted tastemakers, curators and cultural translators, creators do not just drive awareness – they influence confidence in purchase decisions. In an AI-mediated discovery world, creator content increasingly becomes part of the proof layer behind recommendations.
AI and Creators: The Hybrid Model Shaping the Future of Shopping
In response to this trust gap, technology platforms are now moving toward hybrid discovery models – combining AI efficiency with creator-led credibility.
AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, now surface creator content directly within search and recommendation experiences from across social media platforms, blogs and online communities such as Reddit – where much of the world’s product conversation now takes place. Google became the first to index Instagram content across Search results and AI overviews, significantly increasing the visibility and potential commercial impact of creator content within AI-driven discovery.
The future of product discovery will not be purely algorithmic. It will be AI-powered and creator-validated. As AI becomes embedded into everyday shopping behaviour, creators are emerging as the credibility infrastructure behind the recommendations consumers actually trust.
Building AI-Visible Trust
To optimise for AI-driven product recommendations, brands should consider:
- Building a consistent proof layer across the open internet, by generating repeated third-party validation through creators, communities, review platforms, and expert voices.
- Prioritising creators who produce structured, searchable content, including reviews, “best for” guidance, and clear pros and cons.
- Prioritising platforms and formats that AI systems can easily interpret and summarise, including YouTube, blogs and creator-led editorial, supported by social proof signals from TikTok, Instagram and community discussion forums.
- Ensuring products are positioned clearly against category leaders across different use cases and price points.
- Building review velocity and refresh cycles, using always-on programs and regular review waves rather than relying solely on launch moments.
- Tracking AI visibility as a new performance signal, monitoring: whether and how products appear in AI-driven discovery tools, which competitors are cited, and which product attributes are being reinforced.
Thomas Walters, Chief Innovation Officer, Billion Dollar Boy, comments: “As consumers embrace AI-assisted discovery, brands won’t win by producing more content – they’ll win by delivering more credible proof. AI-driven product recommendations aren’t replacing creators – they’re increasingly powered by them.
“For years, marketers measured success through share of voice, using tools like EMV to measure how loudly they show up in culture. In an AI-driven shopping world, the real battleground shifts to share of trust. As AI becomes embedded in search and commerce, brands will compete not just for attention, but for recommendation credibility.
“Winning here means treating creator marketing as long-term discovery infrastructure, not short-term campaign spend. Brands that cultivate a thriving ecosystem of trusted, creator-led recommendations will lead – because that’s exactly what both consumers and AI systems will rely on when deciding what to buy.”
The findings form part of Billion Dollar Boy’s latest research report: Muse Two: The Real Impact of AI on the Creator Economy exploring shifting industry opinions on AI and the technology’s expansion into new areas, including: the rise of ‘vibe marketing’, AI personas, ethical blind spots, and the impact of AI on trust in creator marketing. You can download the full report here.
Methodology
Between 20th June to 1st July 2025, Censuswide was commissioned by Billion Dollar Boy to execute a study of 4,000 nationally representative consumers (aged 16+), 1,000 content creators and 1,000 senior marketing decision makers in the UK and US.
Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.
About Billion Dollar Boy Group
Billion Dollar Boy Group (BDB) is a global leader in creator-led brand building, delivering award-winning social-first and creator marketing campaigns.
Since 2014, BDB Group has partnered with some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Heineken, Nike, Unilever, PepsiCo, and L’Oréal, to deliver best-in-class, social-first advertising at scale with creator energy at its core. Powered by its proprietary, AI-powered technology, Companion, and data-driven insights, our end-to-end services span strategy, creative, production, paid media, and execution across content, community, and commerce.
Our client work has been awarded by Cannes Lions, Campaign Awards, The Drum, Webby Awards, and Shorty Awards.
In 2025, Billion Dollar Boy agency was named Social and Creator Agency of the Year by AdWeek and The Drum, and Companion was recognised as the Global Tech Platform of the Year at the Global Influencer Marketing Awards. The agency also became the first and only creator marketing agency to achieve the prestigious IPA Effectiveness Accreditation.
The Group’s rapid global growth also earned Billion Dollar Boy recognition in both the Financial Times’s list of the 1000 fastest-growing companies in Europe and AdWeek’s Fastest Growing for a fifth consecutive year each.