3 tactics to protect brand trust when AI is threatening it

Stephanie Nivinskus is principal at Ragan’s Center for AI Strategy. 

AI-generated perfection is becoming the enemy of brand trust. YouGov and Meltwater’s Trust in the Age of Generative AI report, drawing on nearly 10,000 consumers across seven markets, found 32% of consumers would trust a brand less if its content is AI-generated.

Polished assets used to suggest professionalism. Now they’re being punished. With 58% of consumers believing they can identify AI-generated content, comms teams have to rethink how they’re generating it … again. 

Here are three steps to take now:

1. Publish more live, unscripted video.

Audiences now doubt pre-recorded video more than any other format. Last week, Veriff released its 2026 Deepfakes Report, which found “deepfake detection is effectively a coin flip for the average person.” Brands can circumvent suspicion by publishing more live, interactive video. Take a tip from Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. In October 2025, Altman led OpenAI DevDay live on stage, taking questions from developers in the room. In January 2026, he sat down with builders across the AI ecosystem for the OpenAI Town Hall on YouTube, fielding live questions about the future of AI. Audiences know these cannot be faked.

Actions:

• Convert one recurring video touchpoint to live this quarter. It does not matter if it is your next all-hands or your next customer-facing announcement. What matters is that you do it.
• Invest in “on-demand” media training for every employee who may be on camera to build their confidence and deliverability skills.

2. Disclose AI use.

According to YouGov and Meltwater, 86% of consumers said AI-generated content should be disclosed. Companies can take it a step further by disclosing the name of the human behind every message, both internal and external.

Actions:

• Add a one-line disclosure to internal announcements that use AI in drafting or analysis. Specify what AI did and who signed off.
• Name a human owner inside the announcement. The accountable person should be visible in the message, not buried in a distribution list.

3. Welcome the imperfections.

Gemologists call the tiny imperfections inside a diamond inclusions. They prove it formed in the earth rather than a lab, and that is what makes them more valuable. Comms teams need their own set of inclusions. Every time you cut a minor spelling error from a transcript or a filler word from a quote, you cut the imperfections that make it believable.

Actions:

• Stop cutting the unscripted moments from leadership videos. Pauses and off-script asides are the proof the audience now needs.
• Leave one specific, verifiable detail in every external draft such as a concrete number, a named person or a dated event. AI defaults to abstraction. Specificity is the cheapest tell that a human wrote the piece.
• Resist the urge to polish a piece so much that it eliminates the voice of the author. If it sounds like every other press release, people will assume AI generated it and move on to the next one.

The bottom line

Brand trust is the ultimate luxury in a market that doubts authenticity at every turn. It’s time to get comfortable with publishing uncomfortably imperfect assets.