Pantheon Survey Links Website Performance Problems to Scam Concerns

Slow or buggy websites are increasingly being interpreted as possible scams, according to survey findings released by Pantheon on 24 June 2026.

The company said the online survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, commissioned by Pantheon and fielded by Dynata in June 2026, found that 72% of respondents immediately suspect a website is unsecure or fake when it performs poorly. Pantheon published the findings in a newsroom release on its website. The release does not provide the full questionnaire, raw data, weighting details, or margin of error, so the claims should be read as Pantheon-reported survey findings rather than independent performance research.

The findings are relevant for teams managing large Drupal, WordPress, and multi-site web estates because the survey situates site reliability within a broader trust problem involving AI-generated cloned websites. Pantheon said 65% of consumers, including 79% of Millennial and Gen Z respondents, are confident they can identify fake websites. The company also said nearly three in four respondents misidentified a legitimate site as an AI-driven scam because it was slow or glitchy.

Pantheon reported that respondents also cited missing “Contact Us” pages, outdated or unprofessional design, and stale content as reasons they had mistaken legitimate websites for scams. The survey release said 88% of consumers believe companies should do more to prove their authenticity online. According to Pantheon, 92% of respondents said AI-generated content makes it harder to determine whether a website is legitimate, while 86% said they are more sceptical of online brands than they were two years ago.

The company also reported that 41% of respondents avoid entering personal or credit card information when a site feels suspicious, and 39% abandon a purchase. Another 20% said they immediately switch to a competitor when a site feels “off.” Pantheon said 53% of respondents are unlikely to return to a website after one suspicious experience, even if the site later proves legitimate.

Josh Koenig, co-founder and senior vice president of marketing at Pantheon, said in the release that consumers increasingly treat broken pages, lag, and stale content as signs of fraud rather than ordinary technical problems. Pantheon also said respondents had encountered AI-generated news or blog sites with misleading information, fake online stores, fake customer service portals or chatbots, and fake local government resource sites in the previous 12 months.