Generative Artificial Intelligence has shifted from an experimental technology to a mainstream business tool, with adoption spreading across consumer use and brand workflows. In the US alone, 133 million people will use generative Artificial Intelligence in 2026, according to EMARKETER. The technology creates new content such as text, images, video, code, and audio from patterns learned during training, and it now powers widely used tools including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Adobe Firefly, Midjourney, and Runway. ChatGPT alone draws more than 900 million weekly users, per The Information as cited by EMARKETER. For marketers, generative Artificial Intelligence now applies across audience segmentation, ad creative, content production, measurement, and search optimization.
Usage is expanding steadily in the US consumer market. EMARKETER estimates 121.1 million people in the US used generative Artificial Intelligence in 2025, representing 35.8% of the population. That figure will grow 9.8% to 133.0 million in 2026, reaching 39.2% of the population, according to an EMARKETER forecast. Marketers are increasing their commitment as the technology becomes more embedded in production and analytics. Some 79% of marketers plan to increase spending on genAI creator content in 2026, up from 70% in 2023, per the Influencer Marketing Factory as cited by EMARKETER. 50% of buy-side marketers are scaling Artificial Intelligence in measurement workflows, with analytics teams leading adoption at 69% of organizations, per the IAB State of Data 2026 report as cited by EMARKETER. Consumer attitudes are improving, with some 68% of consumers viewing generative Artificial Intelligence favorably, up from 62% in 2024, while 75% of marketers hold a positive view, up from 68% the prior year, per Kantar’s Media Reactions 2025 report as cited by EMARKETER.
That momentum is tempered by trust and governance concerns. Some 56% of internet users worry that Artificial Intelligence makes online content less trustworthy, per EY research as cited by EMARKETER. Nearly one-third of consumers view Artificial Intelligence as a negative disruptor in the creator economy, according to Billion Dollar Boy as cited by EMARKETER. Some 60% of US ad industry professionals cite accuracy and transparency concerns as a top barrier to Artificial Intelligence adoption in media campaigns, according to IAB data cited by EMARKETER. 57% of consumers express concern about fake ads created with generative Artificial Intelligence, per Kantar research as cited by EMARKETER. Only 37% of marketers include Artificial Intelligence governance clauses in vendor contracts, per the IAB State of Data 2026 report as cited by EMARKETER.
Generative Artificial Intelligence is also changing how brands are discovered online. Only 8% of ChatGPT citations come from Google’s top 10 search results, and just 8.6% of Gemini citations do, per Ahrefs data as cited by EMARKETER. Perplexity draws more heavily from search, with 28.6% of citations from first-page Google links. Reddit accounts for 40.1% of all generative Artificial Intelligence citations worldwide, followed by Wikipedia at 26.3% and YouTube at 23.5%, per Semrush data as cited by EMARKETER. Artificial Intelligence currently represents 3.3% of total digital discovery time. EMARKETER says marketers should focus on data readiness, Artificial Intelligence literacy, and governance frameworks in 2026. Some 75% of buy-side leaders say marketing measurement currently underperforms expectations, per the IAB State of Data 2026 report as cited by EMARKETER. The IAB projects Artificial Intelligence will unlock $26.3 billion in media investment by improving targeting, measurement, and optimization.
