How much do you ride? What type of riding? Type of bike?

Certainly that is a common claim among many folks - those who sell spcial shoes especially!!

Many folks ride many thousands of miles successfully in sneakers. Typically, those who are "serious" bicyclists will likely have mtn bike or road shoes.

Personally I use "bike shoes- road bike shoes" while riding my road bike and sneakers whille doing casual riding on my mtn bike and my utility road bike.

I think it also depends on your feet and their sensitivity to pressure. A biking shoe is supposed to spread the pressure over a larger area.