Consumers are skeptical by nature, but their collective cynicism has hit particularly high levels in 2026. This has caused a major trust recession that businesses can’t ignore.

According to Edelman , seven out of 10 people are either hesitant or unwilling to trust a person who’s different from them. In other words, they’re losing their desire to be open to the unfamiliar. That’s not an advantage if you’re a company that’s trying to attract new customers or you’re heading up a startup just breaking into an industry.

I’m not entirely surprised by this widespread erosion of trust, especially with the high-profile cases of AI deep fakes. (Is it any wonder that findings from Pew suggest that half of all consumers have concerns about AI?) When people have to show skepticism of every image or video they see, they naturally begin to build protective walls. However, their reluctance makes it far harder to turn them from leads to customers.

Mind you, I’m saying ‘harder’ and not ‘impossible’. You can still win over consumers. You just have to update the way you’re engaging with your customer base based on the following characteristics of trusted businesses.

1. Businesses Should Live Up To Promises

One of the fastest ways to lose a customer’s trust is by breaking a promise. It’s imperative to take a step back and review all your organizational promises, including those that are unspoken. (Those are the ones that reveal your corporate conscience .) This will make certain that you’re not overlooking any promise-delivery gaps. Then, always ensure that you’re going to at least meet (if not exceed) all the promises you set for your business or brand by carefully selecting partners and vendors.

Hosting a major conference is essentially a public-facing promise. You are communicating to attendees that you will deliver something worth their time and that adds value to their career or lives.

In order to pull that off, you have to partner with others that also fulfill their promises. Look for partners that offer logistical flexibility, have a track record of pulling off large projects, and can show a history of high customer satisfaction ratings.

For example, SmartSource , an event technology company, operates with a nationwide network of warehouses and 24/7 support. They can facilitate next-day equipment delivery that most localized vendors simply can’t match.

Alternatively, maybe you’re launching a branded app. Hyping it to your customers is fine, but your app needs to support that hype. To ensure your app remains bug-free, set out to work with app developers such as GojiLabs who spend time defining projects upfront so their products exceed standards and maintain a high user experience. Their unique combination of technical and creativity skills allows you to give your customers an enjoyable, stable product they’ll be likely to keep using.

2. Business Should Act Quickly on Mistakes

Will your organization ever blunder? Most likely, yes. People aren’t perfect, and your business is made up of many people working toward common goals but who will err occasionally. However, the public can be surprisingly forgiving if you own your missteps and take action to minimize any negative impact through genuine human connection and understanding.

Tesla did this in real time when its software showed a major problem in 2019. As drivers flocked to complain on social media, Elon Musk responded right away, telling them that the issue had been fixed. What could have been a major ‘oops’ moment for the brand turned out to be more of a blip on the radar, all because the company worked toward a solution immediately.

Another way to head off mistrust caused by mistakes is to give your customer service team members the authority to help unsatisfied customers. Ritz-Carlton has a $2,000 Rule, meaning any employee can spend up to $2,000 to help a customer who reports a bad experience. By trusting their people to make smart choices, the hotel has become one of the world’s most trustworthy places to stay.

3. Businesses Must Protect Customers’ Information

You’re probably tired of hearing about data breaches. Every few weeks, another company seems to get hacked. It’s frustrating, as well as scary. Plus, it makes people less likely to trade their personal information for coupons, discounts, and other exclusive offers.

This year, make cybersecurity a topic of conversation. And definitely add it to your corporate discussions about how your workers are using AI products to become more efficient. After all, many people don’t understand that using open source AI tools can be risky because the information becomes publicly accessible, at least theoretically. (That’s a main reason that Samsung stopped their employees from using ChatGPT a few years ago.)

As you create an internal AI use policy, have conversations about how you’re going to share your policy with your customers. The more aware customers are about how you’re treating their data, the better your likelihood of constructing a trust connection.

The trust recession is alive, but it doesn’t have to take a bite out of your business. By taking steps now, you can win over even the most hesitant of consumers.