Gallup Finds Limited Trust in AI Financial Guidance
Gallup's August 5 study found that 18% of U.S. adults sought financial guidance from AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini during the prior 12 months. Yet only 27% reported at least some trust in AI financial guidance, according to Gallup, compared with 79% for professional financial advisers. The findings show that consumer use of generative AI for money questions exceeds confidence in its expertise.
Gallup's August 5 Financial Fulfillment study found that 18% of U.S. adults used artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, for financial guidance during the prior 12 months. The survey also found that only 27% had "some" or "a great deal" of trust in AI as a source of financial guidance, while 73% had little or no trust, according to reporting by The Hill.
The U.S. results are based on a self-administered web survey of 5,075 adults aged 21 and older conducted from March 20 through April 6, 2026, Gallup reported. The probability-based sample has a stated margin of sampling error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
AI trails established sources
Investor's Business Daily, citing Gallup, reported that respondents most frequently sought guidance through their own internet research, at 73%. Family members ranked next at 35%, followed by professional financial advisers at 32%. AI ranked sixth, ahead of authors, speakers, or influencers (17%), employers or retirement-plan providers (14%), robo-advisers (3%), and teachers or professors (3%).
Trust figures diverged sharply from use. The Hill reported that 79% of respondents had at least some trust in professional financial advisers, a 52-percentage-point gap relative to AI. It also reported that social media influencers ranked below AI on trust, with 86% of adults expressing little or no trust in influencers' financial guidance.
Gallup characterized the AI finding as approximately one in five guidance-seekers using the technology, while no more than three in 10 adults reported even some confidence in its expertise, according to Investor's Business Daily.
Implications for AI-assisted finance
The survey measures self-reported use and confidence, not the factual accuracy of chatbot-generated financial guidance or outcomes from following it. It therefore does not establish whether AI tools produce better or worse advice than other sources.
For teams building consumer financial AI, the results illustrate a broader adoption pattern: users can employ general-purpose assistants for research and explanation before granting them high-stakes decision authority. In regulated or consequential financial workflows, that pattern commonly increases the importance of source traceability, uncertainty disclosure, human review pathways, and clear separation between education and personalized advice.
Key Points
- 1Gallup found 18% of U.S. adults used AI for financial guidance, but only 27% expressed at least some trust.
- 2Professional advisers retained a substantial trust advantage, with 79% reporting some or great confidence versus 27% for AI.
- 3Consumer finance AI commonly faces higher requirements for verifiable sources, uncertainty communication, and escalation when guidance affects consequential decisions.
Scoring Rationale
The survey provides timely evidence on consumer adoption and trust for generative AI in a high-stakes financial domain. It does not introduce a new model or product, but its results are relevant to teams designing AI-assisted consumer finance experiences and governance controls.
Sources
Primary source and supporting public references used for this report.
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