Nearly 9 in 10 Americans Have Walked Away From a Business Because They Couldn’t Find Enough Information About It Online

New TrustedFirms.io survey finds US buyers run 3 verification checks on average, trust outside sources 21 to 1 over businesses, and walk away when info is thin.

HARRISBURG, PA, UNITED STATES, October 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A new report from TrustedFirms.io finds that 87.7% of Americans have decided not to hire or buy from a business because they couldn’t find enough information about it online. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73.4%) said they’ve done it more than once.

The Online Trust Report is based on a September 2026 survey of 1,146 US adults. It examines how buyers decide which businesses to trust, which signals carry the most weight, and when verification concerns tip them from browsing to walking away.

The walk-away rate holds steady across demographics. Millennials came in highest at 89.9% and Boomers lowest at 81.7%. Women (88.6%) and men (86.6%) landed within two points of each other. Education level produced no meaningful difference.

When asked whose word they trust more about how good a business is, 94.2% of respondents said they put more weight on what outside sources say than on what the business says about itself. Only 4.5% said they trust the business’s own word more.

That outside-source preference shows up in behavior too. Buyers reported using an average of 3.06 verification methods before spending money with a business they don’t know. Online reviews (83.6%) and Google searches (81.6%) lead the list, followed by a check of the business’s own website (68.0%), news or third-party mentions (39.3%), and social media or LinkedIn (33.4%).

Only 13.0% of respondents said they rely on a single verification method or none at all.

When forced to pick a single most important trust signal, 55.6% of Americans chose positive online reviews. Media coverage came in second at 20.8%, ahead of a professional website (13.0%), a strong social media presence (6.0%), and showing up in AI assistant answers (4.6%).

Taken together, 76.4% of respondents named either reviews or press coverage as their top trust builder, compared with 19.0% who named a channel the business controls directly.

Review quality carries added weight because fake reviews have become a known hazard for online buyers.

97.1% of respondents said they’ve worried that a business they found online might not be real. Only 33 of 1,146 respondents said this has never crossed their mind. Nearly a third (31.8%) said they worry about it often.

The buyers who worry most are also the ones running the deepest checks. Within the “worries often” group, verification behavior climbs across every method, and the use of press coverage as a trust signal rises close to the rate of website-checking.

The report highlights an underlying reality for any business trying to earn new customers online. Buyers cross-reference before they trust, lean on outside sources far more than owned channels, and treat missing information as a warning sign.

That dynamic is amplified by how Americans search. Zero-click search behavior means a growing share of buyers form impressions from Google results pages, AI summaries, and third-party mentions without ever clicking through to a business’s website. For businesses relying on their site to do the heavy lifting, that is a significant blind spot.

About TrustedFirms.io

TrustedFirms.io is a curated directory of marketing agencies, paired with original research and editorial coverage on how buyers evaluate businesses, how professional services firms build credibility, and how visibility and reputation shape purchasing decisions. The directory covers categories including PR agencies, digital PR agencies, SEO agencies, and AEO/GEO agencies, with new categories added as the site expands.

Marc Shorb
TrustedFirms.io
info@trustedfirms.io