What percentage of marketers use AI?

Most do. HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing report finds 80% of marketers use AI for content creation, CMI finds 88% of B2B marketers work at organizations using AI content tools, and Ahrefs finds 93% of content marketers use AI to help create content. Depth of use is lower: The CMO Survey puts AI at 24.2% of marketing activities in 2026.

How much of the marketing budget goes to AI?

Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey finds CMOs allocate 15.3% of marketing budgets to AI initiatives on average, rising to 21.3% at more AI-ready organizations. Total marketing budgets average 7.8% of company revenue in the same survey.

Does AI in marketing deliver ROI?

Most marketers who invest say yes, mostly in time and cost. HubSpot finds 75% of leaders whose organizations invested in AI report a positive ROI, and Gartner's 2025 survey found GenAI ROI came mainly from time efficiency (49%) and cost efficiency (40%). Quality gains are rarer: only 17% of B2B marketers in CMI's research name quality as an AI contribution.

How is AI changing content production?

It mainly increases speed and volume. Ahrefs finds 85% of AI users produce content faster and 69% of respondents publish a larger share of AI content than a year ago, while Adobe reports 76% of organizations see gains in content volume and speed. Fully AI-written content remains rare: HubSpot finds only 4% of marketers use AI to write entire pieces.

How many advertisers use generative AI for ads?

IAB's 2025 video report found 86% of buyers use or plan to use generative AI to build video ad creative, and buyers expect it to reach 40% of all ads by 2026. In IAB's 2026 study with Sonata Insights, 83% of ad executives say their company has deployed AI in the creative process.

Do marketers disclose AI-generated content?

Mostly not. CMI finds 52% of B2B marketers have no AI disclosure policy, and Ahrefs finds only 22% of marketers using AI tell website visitors about it. In advertising, IAB finds 89% of advertisers using generative AI disclose at least sometimes, but fewer than half always do.

Machine readout · Business & work

AI in Marketing Statistics 2026

This page collects 52 figures on how marketing teams use AI: adoption, content production and volume, budgets and the share going to AI, return on investment, advertising creative, AI search and agents, and trust and disclosure. Marketer surveys come from HubSpot, Salesforce, the Content Marketing Institute, Ahrefs, Semrush and Adobe; marketing leader surveys from Gartner and The CMO Survey; advertising research from IAB; cross-industry surveys from McKinsey; and official business statistics from Eurostat and the U.S. Census Bureau. Most figures describe 2025 and 2026 and are global unless noted.

Figures: 52
Publishers: 15
Updated: Nov 13, 2026

Quotable findings

By the DBotMaker research desk

Finding 012026
80%
In HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing report, 80% of marketers said they use AI for content creation and 75% use it for media production.
Source: HubSpot
Finding 022026
24.2%
U.S. marketing leaders in The CMO Survey report that AI is used in 24.2% of marketing activities in 2026, up from 13.1% in 2024.
Source: The CMO Survey
Finding 032026
7.8%
Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey of 401 marketing leaders in North America, the UK and Europe puts marketing budgets at 7.8% of company revenue, up from 7.7% in 2025.
Source: Gartner
Finding 042026
15.3%
CMOs in Gartner's 2026 survey allocate 15.3% of marketing budgets to AI initiatives on average, and 21.3% at more AI-ready organizations.
Source: Gartner
Finding 052025
75%
75% of marketing leaders in HubSpot's 2025 survey whose organizations invested in AI say the investment yielded a positive ROI.
Source: HubSpot
Finding 062025
86%
86% of U.S. digital video ad buyers in IAB's 2025 Video Ad Spend and Strategy report use or plan to use generative AI to build video ad creative.
Source: IAB
Finding 072025
88%
88% of marketers in Salesforce's tenth State of Marketing survey have begun optimizing for AI-generated answers such as ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews, and 85% say AI is reshaping their SEO strategy.
Source: Salesforce
Finding 082026
52%
52% of B2B marketers in CMI's 2026 survey say their organization has no policy on disclosing AI use.
Source: Content Marketing Institute
On file52figures in 7 channels, each with the exact source sentence.Browse all CSV

THE BOT'S SHORT ANSWER

AI is now standard in marketing work: HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing report finds 80% of marketers use AI for content creation, and Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey finds CMOs put 15.3% of marketing budgets into AI while total marketing budgets sit at 7.8% of company revenue. Results lag adoption: the CMO Survey measures AI in 24.2% of marketing activities in 2026, and only 17% of B2B marketers in CMI's research name content quality as a gain from AI.

52 FIGURES · 15 PUBLISHERS · NOVEMBER 13, 2026

Reading the numbers

Almost every marketer surveyed now uses AI somewhere in their work. HubSpot finds 80% of marketers use AI for content creation, CMI finds 88% of B2B marketers work in organizations that use AI content tools, and 93% of the content marketers in Ahrefs' 2026 survey use AI to create or help create content. Depth is a different matter. The CMO Survey, which asks what share of marketing activities use AI, puts the figure at 24.2% in 2026, up from 13.1% in 2024, and companies expect it to reach 55.9% within three years. Official statistics show the wider economy is further behind: the U.S. Census Bureau measured AI use at 19.8% of all firms in May 2026, and Eurostat finds marketing or sales is the most common purpose among EU enterprises that do use AI.

Content volume is where AI has changed marketing the most. Ahrefs finds 85% of AI users produce content faster and 69% of respondents publish a larger share of AI content than a year earlier, while Adobe reports 76% of organizations see gains in the volume and speed of content production. The pressure runs in one direction: 65% of B2B marketers in CMI's research faced more pressure to produce content faster, and 78% of marketers in Salesforce's survey need more personalized content than they can make. Fully automated writing remains rare. Semrush finds 64% of SEO teams use a human-led, AI-assisted workflow, and HubSpot finds only 4% of marketers use AI to write entire pieces.

Budgets are flat but AI's share inside them is rising. Gartner puts 2026 marketing budgets at 7.8% of company revenue, up from 7.7% in 2025, with 15.3% of those budgets going to AI initiatives and 21.3% at the more AI-ready organizations. The CMO Survey reports marketing budgets at 9.0% of revenue, its lowest share in several years. Most marketing leaders expect to keep spending: 65% in HubSpot's survey planned to increase AI investment in 2025, and 60% of McKinsey's cross-industry respondents expect their organizations to raise AI investment over the next year.

Returns are reported mostly as time and output rather than quality or profit. Gartner's 2025 survey found GenAI investments delivered ROI mainly through time efficiency (49%) and cost efficiency (40%). HubSpot finds 75% of leaders who invested in AI report a positive ROI, and Adobe finds 65% of organizations see improvement in marketing-driven revenue growth. Quality is the weak point: only 17% of B2B marketers in CMI's research name quality as an AI contribution, and only 19% of SEO teams in Semrush's study say AI improves content quality. Trust is the other open question, with 52% of B2B marketers reporting no AI disclosure policy while 75% worry AI is making audiences more skeptical.

Facts the bot knows

CH 01How many marketers use AI

9 figures

#00180%
In HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing report, 80% of marketers said they use AI for content creation and 75% use it for media production.
HubSpot, The 2026 State of Marketing Report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
80% of marketers use AI for content creation, and 75% use it for media production.
#00261%
61% of marketers in HubSpot's 2026 report believe AI is causing the biggest disruption to marketing in 20 years.
HubSpot, The 2026 State of Marketing Report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
61% of marketers believe that marketing is experiencing its biggest disruption in 20 years due to AI.
#00388%
In the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs survey of 1,132 B2B marketers, fielded June to August 2026, 88% said their organization uses AI content creation tools and 60% expanded that use over the year.
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2027 (Nov 2026)
Exact wording at the source
This finding comes from the same survey where 88% use AI content tools and 60% expanded that use this year.
#00493%
93% of the 301 marketers in Ahrefs' 2026 survey use AI to create or help create content, up from 87% in its 2025 survey.
Ahrefs, 69% of Marketers Are Publishing More AI Content Than Last Year (New Research Report) (Sep 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Out of 301 responses, 280 (93%) reported using AI to create or help create content, up from 87% in last year's survey.
#00524.2%
U.S. marketing leaders in The CMO Survey report that AI is used in 24.2% of marketing activities in 2026, up from 13.1% in 2024.
The CMO Survey, The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report 2026 (Mar 2026)
Exact wording at the source
AI use in marketing has nearly doubled in two years, rising from 13.1% of marketing activities in 2024 to 24.2% in 2026.
#00622.4%
Generative AI's share of marketing activities in The CMO Survey rose from 7.0% in 2024 to 22.4% in 2026.
The CMO Survey, The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report 2026 (Mar 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Generative AI has expanded even faster, growing 220%, from 7.0% to 22.4% over the same period.
#00755.9%
Companies in The CMO Survey expect AI to account for 55.9% of marketing activities within three years of the 2026 survey.
The CMO Survey, The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report 2026 (Mar 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Companies project AI will account for 55.9% of marketing activities within three years.
#00834.70%
Among EU enterprises that used AI in 2025, 34.70% used it for marketing or sales, the most common purpose Eurostat measured.
Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
In 2025, 34.70% of enterprises using AI technologies used these software or systems for marketing or sales and 31.05% for the organisation of business administration processes or management.
#00919.8%
Across all U.S. businesses, the Census Bureau measured AI use in business functions at 19.8% in the period ending May 3, 2026, with the Information sector at 39.7%.
U.S. Census Bureau, Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
As of May 3, 2026, the AI use rates in the Information (39.7%) and Finance and Insurance (33.9%) sectors were both higher than the national rate (19.8%) but neither reported significant shifts since December.

Chart

Share of marketing activities using AI, 2024 and 2026

Marketing leaders at mostly U.S. companies, survey fielded January 2026

202413.1%
202624.2%

Source: The CMO Survey, The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report 2026

CH 02Content production and volume

7 figures

#01085%
85% of marketers using AI in Ahrefs' 2026 survey say they produce content faster since adopting it, including 47.9% who say they are much quicker.
Ahrefs, 69% of Marketers Are Publishing More AI Content Than Last Year (New Research Report) (Sep 2026)
Exact wording at the source
85% of marketers using AI say they're producing content faster since adopting it: 47.9% say they're much quicker and 37.1% say they're slightly quicker.
#01169%
69% of respondents in Ahrefs' 2026 survey publish a larger share of AI content than they did a year earlier.
Ahrefs, 69% of Marketers Are Publishing More AI Content Than Last Year (New Research Report) (Sep 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Across all respondents, 69% say they're publishing a larger share of AI content than a year ago.
#01276%
In Adobe's 2026 AI and Digital Trends research with Oxford Economics, 76% of organizations report generative AI improvements in the volume and speed of content ideation and production.
Adobe, 2026 Adobe AI and Digital Trends report: four key takeaways (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Generative AI experimentation pays off: 76% of organisations report improvements driven by generative AI in volume and speed of content ideation and production.
#01365%
65% of B2B marketers in CMI's 2026 survey faced more pressure to produce content faster over the previous 12 months.
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2027 (Nov 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Consider this: 65% of B2B marketers say they faced increased pressure to produce content faster in the last 12 months.
#01478%
78% of the nearly 4,500 marketers in Salesforce's tenth State of Marketing survey need more personalized content than they can produce, and 75% are turning to AI to close the gap.
Salesforce, 75% of Marketers Have Adopted AI Yet Still Use It To Send One-Way, Generic Campaigns (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
78% of marketers say they need more personalized content than they're able to produce and nearly as many (75%) are turning to AI to help close the gap.
#01564%
64% of SEO and content professionals in Semrush's 2026 survey use a human-led, AI-assisted workflow, the most common production model.
Semrush, Does AI content rank well in search? [Survey + Data study] (Apr 2026)
Exact wording at the source
64% of SEOs use a human-led AI-assisted workflow, making it the most common content production model today.
#0164%
Only 4% of marketers in HubSpot's 2025 survey of more than 1,000 marketing and advertising professionals use AI to write entire pieces of content.
HubSpot, The HubSpot Blog's AI Trends for Marketers Report (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Only 4% of marketers are using AI to write entire pieces of content for them.

Chart

Content marketers using AI for selected tasks, 2026

Ahrefs survey of 301 marketers, 2026; shares of AI users

Data analysis60%
Keyword clustering45%
Image creation43%

Source: Ahrefs, 69% of Marketers Are Publishing More AI Content Than Last Year (New Research Report)

CH 03Marketing budgets and the share going to AI

8 figures

#0177.8%
Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey of 401 marketing leaders in North America, the UK and Europe puts marketing budgets at 7.8% of company revenue, up from 7.7% in 2025.
Gartner, Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey Finds CMOs Allocate 15.3% of Marketing Budgets to AI but Only 30% Are Ready to Scale AI Capabilities (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Marketing budgets remain effectively flat, rising only slightly to 7.8% of company revenue in 2026 from 7.7% in 2025.
#01815.3%
CMOs in Gartner's 2026 survey allocate 15.3% of marketing budgets to AI initiatives on average, and 21.3% at more AI-ready organizations.
Gartner, Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey Finds CMOs Allocate 15.3% of Marketing Budgets to AI but Only 30% Are Ready to Scale AI Capabilities (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
These more AI-ready marketing organizations allocate 21.3% of their marketing budgets to AI initiatives, compared with the survey average of 15.3%.
#0198.9%
The more AI-ready marketing organizations in Gartner's 2026 survey report average marketing budgets of 8.9% of company revenue.
Gartner, Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey Finds CMOs Allocate 15.3% of Marketing Budgets to AI but Only 30% Are Ready to Scale AI Capabilities (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
They also report average marketing budgets of 8.9% of company revenue, above the 2026 average of 7.8%.
#02056%
56% of CMOs in Gartner's 2026 survey say their marketing organization lacks the budget to deliver its 2026 strategy.
Gartner, Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey Finds CMOs Allocate 15.3% of Marketing Budgets to AI but Only 30% Are Ready to Scale AI Capabilities (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
The survey found that 56% of CMOs say their marketing organization lacks the budget required to deliver their 2026 strategy, while 54% report insufficient resources.
#0211%
In Gartner's 2025 CMO Spend Survey of 402 marketing leaders, just 1% said GenAI investments were not a current priority.
Gartner, Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey Reveals Marketing Budgets Have Flatlined at 7.7% of Overall Company Revenue (May 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Just 1% of CMOs said GenAI investments are not currently a priority.
#0229.0%
The CMO Survey, fielded in January 2026, reports marketing budgets at 9.0% of company revenues and marketing spending growth of 1.7% over the prior 12 months.
The CMO Survey, The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report 2026 (Mar 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Marketing budgets have fallen to their lowest share of company revenues and budgets in several years — 9.0% of revenues and 9.6% of overall budgets — and overall marketing spending grew just 1.7% over the prior 12 months, the smallest rate increase since 2021.
#02365%
65% of marketing leaders in HubSpot's 2025 survey said their team planned to increase investment in AI and automation tools during 2025.
HubSpot, The HubSpot Blog's AI Trends for Marketers Report (2025)
Exact wording at the source
65% of marketing leaders say their team plans to increase their investment in AI and automation tools over the course of 2025.
#02460 percent
Across all business functions, 60% of respondents to McKinsey's 2026 global survey of 1,719 participants expect their organizations to increase AI investment over the next year.
McKinsey & Company, The state of AI in 2026: On the road to ROI (Aug 2026)
Exact wording at the source
And looking ahead, 60 percent of respondents expect their organizations to increase their AI investments over the next year.

Chart

Share of marketing budget allocated to AI initiatives, 2026

401 CMOs and marketing leaders in North America, the UK and Europe, January to March 2026

More AI-ready organizations21.3%
Survey average15.3%

Source: Gartner, Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey Finds CMOs Allocate 15.3% of Marketing Budgets to AI but Only 30% Are Ready to Scale AI Capabilities

CH 04Return on AI in marketing

8 figures

#02549%
CMOs in Gartner's 2025 survey said GenAI investments delivered ROI through improved time efficiency (49%), cost efficiency (40%) and capacity to produce more content (27%).
Gartner, Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey Reveals Marketing Budgets Have Flatlined at 7.7% of Overall Company Revenue (May 2025)
Exact wording at the source
GenAI investments are delivering ROI through improved time efficiency (49%), improved cost efficiency (40%) and improving capacity to produce more content and/or handle more business (27%).
#02675%
75% of marketing leaders in HubSpot's 2025 survey whose organizations invested in AI say the investment yielded a positive ROI.
HubSpot, The HubSpot Blog's AI Trends for Marketers Report (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Meanwhile, 75% of leaders whose organizations have invested in AI say that the investment has yielded a positive ROI.
#0274%
In the same HubSpot survey, 4% of leaders said their AI investment returned a negative ROI and about 20% reported neither a positive nor a negative return.
HubSpot, The HubSpot Blog's AI Trends for Marketers Report (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Only 4% say the investment returned a negative ROI and roughly 20% report neither a positive nor a negative ROI.
#02865%
65% of organizations in Adobe's 2026 research report generative AI driven improvement in marketing-driven revenue growth, and 69% in employee productivity.
Adobe, 2026 Adobe AI and Digital Trends report: four key takeaways (2026)
Exact wording at the source
The AI and Digital Trends research reveals that organisations report “moderate” to “significant” improvements driven by generative AI not just in content ideation and production (76%), but in employee productivity and efficiency (69%) —and even marketing-driven revenue growth (65%).
#02931%
Fewer than half of brands in Adobe's 2026 research have an ROI framework for generative AI, and only 31% have one for agentic AI.
Adobe, 2026 Adobe AI and Digital Trends report: four key takeaways (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Fewer than half of the brands surveyed have implemented a measurement framework for determining ROI on generative AI investments and even fewer (31%) have a measurement or ROI framework for agentic AI.
#03037 percent
37% of respondents to McKinsey's 2026 global survey report that AI has contributed positively to their organization's EBIT, about the same as in 2025.
McKinsey & Company, The state of AI in 2026: On the road to ROI (Aug 2026)
Exact wording at the source
About four in ten respondents (37 percent) report that AI has contributed positively to their organizations’ EBIT, essentially unchanged from 2025—despite growth in the share of organizations scaling AI technologies.
#03117%
Only 17% of B2B marketers in CMI's 2026 survey name content quality among AI's contributions, near the bottom of the list.
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2027 (Nov 2026)
Exact wording at the source
With AI, quality is clearly the one left out, ranking near the bottom of its contributions at 17%.
#03219%
70% of SEO teams in Semrush's 2026 survey name speed as the top benefit of AI, but only 19% say it improves content quality.
Semrush, Does AI content rank well in search? [Survey + Data study] (Apr 2026)
Exact wording at the source
70% of SEO teams cite speed as the top benefit of using AI, but only 19% say it improves content quality.

Chart

Where CMOs see ROI from GenAI investments, 2025

402 CMOs and marketing leaders in North America, the UK and Europe, February to March 2025

Time efficiency49%
Cost efficiency40%
Capacity to produce more content27%

Source: Gartner, Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey Reveals Marketing Budgets Have Flatlined at 7.7% of Overall Company Revenue

CH 05AI in advertising and ad creative

6 figures

#03386%
86% of U.S. digital video ad buyers in IAB's 2025 Video Ad Spend and Strategy report use or plan to use generative AI to build video ad creative.
IAB, Nearly 90% of Advertisers will Use Gen AI to Build Video Ads, According to IAB's 2025 Video Ad Spend & Strategy Full Report (Jul 2025)
Exact wording at the source
GenAI is now essential for video ad creation, with 86% of buyers using/planning to use it to build video ad creative.
#03440%
Video ad buyers in IAB's 2025 report project that generative AI creative will reach 40% of all ads by 2026.
IAB, Nearly 90% of Advertisers will Use Gen AI to Build Video Ads, According to IAB's 2025 Video Ad Spend & Strategy Full Report (Jul 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Buyers project GenAI creative will reach 40% of all ads by 2026, with small and mid-tier brands adopting it faster than the largest brands.
#03583%
83% of ad executives in IAB and Sonata Insights' 2026 study say their company has deployed AI in the creative process, up from 60% in 2024.
IAB, The AI Ad Gap Widens (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
83% of ad executives now say their company has deployed AI in the creative process, up from 60% in the 2024 study.
#03664%
Cost efficiency is the top benefit of AI in ad creation in IAB's 2026 study, cited by 64% of ad executives.
IAB, The AI Ad Gap Widens (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Cost efficiency has emerged as the top benefit in 2026, cited by 64% of respondents, up from being ranked fifth in 2024.
#03782%
82% of ad executives in IAB's 2026 study believe Gen Z and Millennial consumers feel positive about AI-generated ads, but only 45% of those consumers do.
IAB, The AI Ad Gap Widens (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
82% of ad executives believe Gen Z/Millennial consumers feel very or somewhat positive about AI-generated ads, nearly double the 45% of consumers who actually feel that way.
#03871%
71% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers in IAB's 2026 study believe they have seen an ad made with AI, up from 54% in 2024.
IAB, The AI Ad Gap Widens (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
71% of Gen Z/Millennial consumers believe they have seen an ad created using AI, up from 54% in 2024.

Chart

Ad formats where advertisers use AI, 2026

IAB and Sonata Insights survey of 100 advertising executives, published January 2026

Social media85%
Display73%
TV56%
Audio42%

Source: IAB, The AI Ad Gap Widens

CH 06AI search and marketing agents

7 figures

#03988%
88% of marketers in Salesforce's tenth State of Marketing survey have begun optimizing for AI-generated answers such as ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews, and 85% say AI is reshaping their SEO strategy.
Salesforce, 75% of Marketers Have Adopted AI Yet Still Use It To Send One-Way, Generic Campaigns (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
The majority (85%) of marketers say AI is reshaping their SEO strategy, and 88% have already begun optimizing for AI-generated responses for places like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overview.
#0402.2 times
High-performing marketers in Salesforce's survey are 2.2 times more likely than underperformers to have optimized for AI search.
Salesforce, 75% of Marketers Have Adopted AI Yet Still Use It To Send One-Way, Generic Campaigns (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
High-performing marketers — those who get the highest returns on their marketing spend — are 2.2 times more likely than underperformers to have optimized for AI search.
#04141.5%
41.5% of companies in The CMO Survey's 2026 edition already use generative engine optimization to get content into AI-generated search results.
The CMO Survey, The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report 2026 (Mar 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Generative Engine Optimization, getting content to appear in AI-generated search results, is already being used by 41.5% of companies, a notable finding for a capability that did not exist in prior surveys.
#04279%
Among B2B marketers in CMI's 2026 survey whose website traffic fell over the past year, 79% blame AI-powered search.
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2027 (Nov 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Among those watching their traffic drop, a massive 79% point the finger at AI-powered search .
#04359%
59% of B2B marketers in CMI's 2026 survey use or experiment with AI agents, up from 28% a year earlier; 13% call agents a core part of their marketing strategy.
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2027 (Nov 2026)
Exact wording at the source
That percentage more than doubled to 59% this year: 13% say agents are a core part of their marketing strategy and 46% experiment with AI agents.
#04425%
Adobe's 2026 consumer data shows 25% of customers now use AI platforms such as ChatGPT as their top research tool, ahead of brand sites, reviews or traditional media.
Adobe, 2026 Adobe AI and Digital Trends report: four key takeaways (2026)
Exact wording at the source
This consumer data also indicates that 25% of customers now use AI platforms like ChatGPT as their top research tool, making them more popular than brand sites, reviews or traditional media.
#04530%
70% of CMOs in Gartner's 2026 survey call becoming an AI leader a critical goal, but only 30% report mature AI readiness capabilities.
Gartner, Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey Finds CMOs Allocate 15.3% of Marketing Budgets to AI but Only 30% Are Ready to Scale AI Capabilities (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
While 70% of CMOs say becoming an AI leader is a critical goal for 2026, only 30% report mature or fully developed AI readiness capabilities.

CH 07Trust, disclosure and barriers

7 figures

#046Three in four
Three in four B2B marketers (75%) in CMI's 2026 survey are concerned that AI is making audiences more skeptical of online content.
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2027 (Nov 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Seventy-five percent of B2B marketers are concerned that AI is making audiences more skeptical of online content.
#04752%
52% of B2B marketers in CMI's 2026 survey say their organization has no policy on disclosing AI use.
Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2027 (Nov 2026)
Exact wording at the source
And yet 52% say their organization has no policy on disclosing AI use.
#04822%
Only 22% of marketers using AI in Ahrefs' 2026 survey tell website visitors that AI helped create their content, up from 16% in 2025.
Ahrefs, 69% of Marketers Are Publishing More AI Content Than Last Year (New Research Report) (Sep 2026)
Exact wording at the source
22% openly disclose it, up from 16% in our 2025 survey.
#0492.7%
Just 2.7% of marketers in Ahrefs' 2026 survey trust AI-generated content with no human review, while 66% trust it only after a human checks it.
Ahrefs, 69% of Marketers Are Publishing More AI Content Than Last Year (New Research Report) (Sep 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Only 2.7% of marketers trust AI-generated content without any human review Two-thirds (66%) of marketers trust AI-generated content only if a human reviews it first.
#05089%
89% of advertisers in IAB's 2026 study who have used generative AI to create ads disclose it at least sometimes, but fewer than half always do.
IAB, The AI Ad Gap Widens (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Although 89% of advertisers who have used generative AI to create ads at least sometimes disclose, less than half always do, essentially unchanged from 2024.
#05142%
42% of marketers in HubSpot's 2025 survey say data privacy concerns stopped their team from adopting new AI tools in the past year, the most cited barrier.
HubSpot, The HubSpot Blog's AI Trends for Marketers Report (2025)
Exact wording at the source
The majority of marketers in our survey (42%) say data privacy concerns have prevented their team from adopting new AI tools in the past year.
#05270.89%
Among EU enterprises that considered AI but did not use it in 2025, 70.89% cited lack of relevant expertise as a reason, the most common one.
Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
In 2025, among EU enterprises who had ever considered using AI technologies, the most common reason for not using AI technologies was the lack of relevant expertise (70.89%), followed by lack of clarity about the legal consequences (52.52%), and concerns regarding violation of data protection and privacy (48.83%).

Asked and answered

Questions readers ask

QWhat percentage of marketers use AI?: AMost do. HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing report finds 80% of marketers use AI for content creation, CMI finds 88% of B2B marketers work at organizations using AI content tools, and Ahrefs finds 93% of content marketers use AI to help create content. Depth of use is lower: The CMO Survey puts AI at 24.2% of marketing activities in 2026.
QHow much of the marketing budget goes to AI?: AGartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey finds CMOs allocate 15.3% of marketing budgets to AI initiatives on average, rising to 21.3% at more AI-ready organizations. Total marketing budgets average 7.8% of company revenue in the same survey.
QDoes AI in marketing deliver ROI?: AMost marketers who invest say yes, mostly in time and cost. HubSpot finds 75% of leaders whose organizations invested in AI report a positive ROI, and Gartner's 2025 survey found GenAI ROI came mainly from time efficiency (49%) and cost efficiency (40%). Quality gains are rarer: only 17% of B2B marketers in CMI's research name quality as an AI contribution.
QHow is AI changing content production?: AIt mainly increases speed and volume. Ahrefs finds 85% of AI users produce content faster and 69% of respondents publish a larger share of AI content than a year ago, while Adobe reports 76% of organizations see gains in content volume and speed. Fully AI-written content remains rare: HubSpot finds only 4% of marketers use AI to write entire pieces.
QHow many advertisers use generative AI for ads?: AIAB's 2025 video report found 86% of buyers use or plan to use generative AI to build video ad creative, and buyers expect it to reach 40% of all ads by 2026. In IAB's 2026 study with Sonata Insights, 83% of ad executives say their company has deployed AI in the creative process.
QDo marketers disclose AI-generated content?: AMostly not. CMI finds 52% of B2B marketers have no AI disclosure policy, and Ahrefs finds only 22% of marketers using AI tell website visitors about it. In advertising, IAB finds 89% of advertisers using generative AI disclose at least sometimes, but fewer than half always do.

Where these numbers come from

We used primary sources only: official statistics (U.S. Census Bureau, Eurostat), research firms and associations reporting their own surveys (Gartner, McKinsey & Company, The CMO Survey, Content Marketing Institute, IAB) and software companies reporting their own surveys (HubSpot, Salesforce, Adobe, Ahrefs, Semrush). Every quote was checked against the live source page. Samples differ widely: Gartner surveyed 401 marketing leaders in 2026 and 402 in 2025, mostly at companies with more than $1 billion in revenue; The CMO Survey covers marketing leaders at mostly U.S. companies; Salesforce surveyed nearly 4,500 marketers; CMI and MarketingProfs surveyed 1,132 B2B marketers; Ahrefs surveyed 301 marketers and Semrush 224 SEO and content professionals; IAB's 2026 study covers 100 ad executives and more than 500 consumers; Adobe and Oxford Economics surveyed 3,000 executives and practitioners. Vendor surveys skew toward companies that already buy marketing software, and ROI, speed and quality measures are self-reported. Gartner and The CMO Survey measure marketing budgets differently, so their budget figures should not be compared directly. Projections are labeled with the year they describe. We store the sentence each number appears in, and a script loads the publisher's page again to make sure that sentence is still there. Our methodology has the details.

Input log

Sources

01Adobe. 2026 Adobe AI and Digital Trends report: four key takeaways (2026).
02Ahrefs. 69% of Marketers Are Publishing More AI Content Than Last Year (New Research Report) (Sep 2026).
03Content Marketing Institute. B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2027 (Nov 2026).
04Eurostat. Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Dec 2025).
05Gartner. Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey Finds CMOs Allocate 15.3% of Marketing Budgets to AI but Only 30% Are Ready to Scale AI Capabilities (May 2026).
06Gartner. Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey Reveals Marketing Budgets Have Flatlined at 7.7% of Overall Company Revenue (May 2025).
07HubSpot. The 2026 State of Marketing Report (2026).
08HubSpot. The HubSpot Blog's AI Trends for Marketers Report (2025).
09IAB. Nearly 90% of Advertisers will Use Gen AI to Build Video Ads, According to IAB's 2025 Video Ad Spend & Strategy Full Report (Jul 2025).
10IAB. The AI Ad Gap Widens (Jan 2026).
11McKinsey & Company. The state of AI in 2026: On the road to ROI (Aug 2026).
12Salesforce. 75% of Marketers Have Adopted AI Yet Still Use It To Send One-Way, Generic Campaigns (Feb 2026).
13Semrush. Does AI content rank well in search? [Survey + Data study] (Apr 2026).
14The CMO Survey. The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report 2026 (Mar 2026).
15U.S. Census Bureau. Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026).

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DBotMaker. (2026, November 13). AI in Marketing Statistics 2026. https://dbotmaker.io/ai-in-marketing-statistics

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