The resilience gap: Why corporate reputation in the age of AI demands more than just trust

In the current landscape of corporate reputation, the old playbooks are failing. After two decades of falling trust in institutions, government, and companies, AI has accelerated this trend and traditional measurement metrics like “trust” aren’t measuring the full impact.

Bully Pulpit International’s second annual Reputation Resilience Index reveals a sobering reality. The onset of artificial intelligence is posing two threats to corporate reputation. As AI increases the prevalence of misinformation, consumers are more mistrustful than ever, making positive brand stories harder to drive. Furthermore, every employer is suspected of using technology to replace workers and disempower consumers.

The result is a crisis of belief. In an age of general distrust—in the companies we support, in our government, in the content we see online—AI is raising the stakes. People don’t know what is real or what is a hallucination, what is a lie or what is the truth. Consumers are grappling with a “verification gap,” where 81% agree that AI makes it too easy to spread false rumors about companies, and only 15% feel capable of detecting AI-generated content. In this environment, AI poses significant risks to all brands.

The second challenge is a question of corporate motives. In the United States—as well as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany—the most dangerous narratives are those centered on the idea that corporations are using AI as an excuse to cut their workforces and increase corporate profits. This suspicion is not just a tech-sector problem; it is a general corporate challenge. Data from 2026 shows that 65% of U.S. adults believe companies use AI as an excuse to cut workforces and increase corporate profits.

At a time of rapid technological development and a nadir of belief in the organizations tasked with leading and regulating that development, these attacks strike an emotional chord, with consumers expressing concern that brands are using technology to replace or exploit workers. For example, across the 102 U.S. brands included in our survey, 44% of consumers feel worse about supporting a brand after hearing criticism that it used AI as an excuse to cut jobs and boost profits. This is a 5 percentage point jump from last year’s report.
The trend means  brands are more vulnerable—and traditional reputational research isn’t able to identify the risk. Our analysis shows that brands relying solely on historical “trust” and favorability are being caught off guard, as these metrics only tell part of the story. Resilience represents a deeper, more nuanced understanding of how brands can effectively withstand misinformation and stand up to narrative attacks.

So, what differentiates the resilient from the vulnerable? Hint: It’s not talking about how brands use AI. The answer lies in a shift from reactive communication to a proactive strategy driven by people-first principles. Even discussions around AI are less about the technology itself and more about how AI is changing our relationship to human value. Instead of telling a tech story, brands need to redouble their efforts to show how the principles of the company are aligned with those who rely on it.

Our research identifies that for brands to build resilience, executive leadership must demonstrate a tangible commitment to the future that is about more than just the bottom line. Leaders can do that by:

1. Focusing on the brand’s long-term principles over short-term profits. Brands must think about their stakeholders beyond their shareholders. What are companies doing for their customers, employees, and communities?
2. Using tech to empower. Resilience is built by demonstrating that new technology is being used to make workers more confident in their future, rather than simply automating jobs away. That means a greater focus on worker transition or workforce development programs to prepare for the next generation of employees.
3. Leading from authenticity. When decision-makers are transparent about the challenges facing their industries, they can be more readily believed when offering solutions. While this may be difficult for employees to hear, candidness from the C-suite gives companies credibility when adapting their business models to navigate customers’ shifting needs.
4. Representing national values. Lastly, in a time of global disruption, brands must show how they share a lasting commitment to their country. Rather than using terms like “American made” as a hollow marketing slogan, companies should make investments in communities, reimagine corporate governance, and examine policies that support economic prosperity and security beyond the C-suite.

The takeaway for leadership is clear: Protecting your reputation in the age of AI requires more than defending the status quo. It requires demonstrating, through concrete action and policy, that your company serves a purpose larger than profit. Resilience is not a passive state; it is driven by people-first values. Brands that fail to define these values today leave themselves wide open to being shaped by another’s narrative tomorrow.

(A note on methodology: The Bully Pulpit International second annual Reputation Resilience Index is a regression and MaxDiff analysis of 15 narratives and 16 attributes as they are associated with 102 brands in the U.S. among a sample of 8,205 national gen pop respondents.)