AI in Marketing: How Many US Businesses Use AI, per the Census

As of May 3, 2026, 19.8% of U.S. businesses reported using AI, according to the Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey Source [1]. Across the six months from December 2025 to May 2026, the overall rate stayed between 17% and 20% Source [1].

This page reads one Census story, published May 26, 2026 Source [1]. The survey gives a biweekly view, so newer numbers may exist by the time you read this Source [1]. The figures count AI use in any business function, and they are not a measure of marketing alone.

Autonomah's Enterprise plan is for brands with several campaigns, countries or teams Source [2].

What the survey asks

The survey asks, among other questions, whether the business used AI in the past two weeks and whether it expects to use AI in the next six months Source [1]. The question was first framed around AI use "in producing goods or services." The Census Bureau revised it to ask about use "in any business function," and the second AI supplement began collecting data on November 17, 2025 Source [1]. Because the wording changed, we do not compare these figures with older ones.

What it found

By overall rate, between 20% and 23% of businesses expected to be using AI in the next six months Source [1].

By firm size, 37% of firms with at least 250 employees reported using AI Source [1]. In the collection period ending May 3, 2026, 32% of firms with 100 to 249 employees said they used it Source [1]. Less than 20% of firms with four or fewer employees reported using it Source [1]. Use increased among firms with at least 20 employees between December 2025 and May 2026, and it did not change significantly among firms with fewer than 20 Source [1].

By sector, as of May 3, 2026 the rates were 39.7% in Information and 33.9% in Finance and Insurance, both above the national 19.8% Source [1]. Retail Trade was around 14% Source [1].

Where marketing fits

The second AI supplement measures AI use across 15 business functions, and marketing is one of them Source [1]. The story does not report a marketing-only figure Source [1]. So this page cannot tell you what share of firms use AI in marketing, and a source that claims to has to show its own measurement. The supplement also asks why a business is not using AI Source [1].

A check before you quote an AI adoption number

The four checks below are ours, not the Census Bureau's.

1. Name the survey and the date of the last collection period, as the story does with May 3, 2026 Source [1].
2. Quote the question wording, since "in producing goods or services" and "in any business function" are different questions Source [1].
3. State the size band or sector the figure covers, because the national rate hides a wide spread Source [1].
4. If the number is about marketing, ask which survey measured marketing. This story does not.

For marketing work, Autonomah puts diagnosis, strategy and production in one system Source [2].

How Autonomah does it

Autonomah is an artificial creative and advertising brain that thinks, creates and publishes each brand's advertising Source [2]. Passwords never have to be handed over, and each network is connected from the brand's own account Source [2]. Ask Autonomah about Enterprise.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of businesses use AI?

As of May 3, 2026 the national rate in the Census Bureau's survey was 19.8% Source [1]. It varies by size and sector: 37% of firms with at least 250 employees, and less than 20% of firms with four or fewer Source [1].

How is AI used in marketing?

The Census story does not say. It reports that the second AI supplement measures AI use across 15 business functions, marketing among them, and it gives no marketing-only figure Source [1].

Is AI use among businesses growing?

Overall use hovered between 17% and 20% from December 2025 to May 2026 Source [1]. It increased among firms with at least 20 employees and did not change significantly among firms with fewer than 20 Source [1].