# U.S. Shoppers Buy After AI Recommendations but Distrust AI Purchasing By Simon Yoon Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/34027 Published: 2026-10-17T13:25:30.000Z Updated: 2026-10-17T13:25:30.000Z Section: Technology > Thirty-seven percent of U.S. respondents had bought after an AI recommendation; desktop journey data placed AI in research or comparison in 76.1% of sessions involving AI. AI recommendations are influencing U.S. buying decisions, but many shoppers remain reluctant to let software make purchases for them, a divide that distinguishes product research from delegated checkout. Thirty-seven percent of U.S. respondents said they had bought at least one item after an AI recommendation during the prior 12 months. Sixteen percent reported one such purchase and 21% reported more than one. Yet 42% said they would not trust AI to make purchases on their behalf. The responses suggest consumers may accept AI as an adviser while drawing a boundary around control of the transaction. Interest in shopping help was higher when AI’s role stopped short of buying. Forty-four percent wanted AI to compare prices and identify better value, and 34% said they would pay more for a product if AI made a persuasive case. Comfort with autonomous buying differed by product: 27% were comfortable letting AI select and purchase clothing or accessories, while 23% felt the same about everyday essentials. Luxury goods ranked lowest for delegated purchases. U.S. desktop browsing data show AI appearing most often before a transaction. It featured during research or comparison in 76.1% of desktop journeys that included AI. The portion of journeys in which AI appeared before a transactional website rose from 4.5% in July 2024 to 11.4% in June 2026. Traditional search also appeared in 89% of those AI-assisted paths. The figures describe desktop journeys and where AI appeared; they do not measure whether those visits led to completed purchases. Access data offer a separate measure. HTTP 403 responses, labeled “Forbidden,” returned to AI bots and agents reached roughly twice their summer 2026 share. That increase does not establish how often shopping agents were blocked or explain why a site denied a request. Starting Sept. 15, Cloudflare’s default settings for newly onboarding domains block bots classified as Agent or Training on pages displaying ads. Customers can change those settings, and the policy’s timing alone does not show it caused the increase in 403 responses. In September, Amazon blocked Meta’s Muse agent from browsing and buying on its site. The decision adds a concrete retailer example to the debate around [personal shopping agents](). ## Links in this article - [personal shopping agents](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/29062)