The umbe matte s because the mo ey is al eady followi g it. 80% of espo de ts a e i c easi g o sta ti g a budget fo AI sea ch visibility ext yea , a d 29% a e movi g dolla s out of paid media to fu d it. Fo a y compa y whose custome s still a ive th ough sea ch, the su vey is a ea ly ead o whe e competito s a e spe di g ext – a d how quickly they i te d to get the e.
The eallocatio is showi g up i the job itself. 91% of espo de ts say thei ole cha ged i the past 12 mo ths, a d two thi ds took o ew a tificial i tellige ce espo sibilities i side thei existi g emit athe tha waiti g fo a eo ga izatio to c eate them.
ACCESS Newswi e pa ticipated i HubSpot UNBOUND 2026 as a spo so , a d the fi di gs we e collected du i g “Getti g Cited: How PR a d Ma keti g Ea Visibility,” a sessio led by Cha lie Te e zio, SVP of P oduct at ACCESS Newswi e, o Septembe 16th i Bosto .
HubSpot UNBOUND 2026 d ew o e of the most se io ma keti g a d commu icatio s audie ces of the yea , a d the compositio of the oom is pa t of what gives the data its weight: 83% of espo de ts we e b a d-side ma kete s, a d 63% wo k at compa ies of 51 to 1,000 employees – p actitio e s with di ect espo sibility fo the budgets a d cha els they we e asked about. The co fe e ce itself set the age da they a swe ed agai st, with AI domi ati g hallway co ve satio fo 80% of espo de ts, split betwee AI sea ch a d a swe e gi e optimizatio (49%) a d AI age ts (31%).
A task that did ot exist th ee yea s ago is ow outi e. 69% of ma kete s say they egula ly check whethe AI a swe s cite thei compa y. O ly 6% have eve looked.
That habit was fo med by the same fo ces filli g the co fe e ce age da, a d the oom eflected it back: atte dees a ived al eady compa i g otes o how thei ow b a ds su face i AI a swe s.
Ma kete s a e ot waiti g fo the catego y to matu e befo e fu di g it. 80% a e i c easi g o sta ti g a budget fo AI sea ch visibility ext yea . 29% a e movi g mo ey out of paid media a d i to ea ed a d co te t, a d 31% of all espo de ts a e aisi g that spe d while cutti g o shifti g paid i the same twelve mo ths.
The shift is g adual athe tha ab upt. 43% saw o ga ic t affic ease by 10% to 25% this yea , a d o espo de t epo ted a steepe decli e, givi g teams oom to build the ew cha el while the existi g o e still pe fo ms.
Co victio has u ahead of i st ume tatio , a d ma kete s k ow it. 43% ca measu e thei b a d’s visibility i AI a swe s usi g tools today. A othe 46% do it ma ually, p ompt by p ompt – a clea sig al of dema d fo the catego y that is ow fo mi g a ou d it.
That is why 43% ame p ovi g etu o i vestme t as thei p io ity co ce fo the comi g yea , the most commo a swe i the su vey. The appetite is established; the evide ce laye is what teams a e buildi g ext.
“Eleve pe ce t. That is how ma y ma kete s thi k Google sea ch will still be the f o t doo i two yea s,” said Cha lie Te e zio, SVP of P oduct at ACCESS Newswi e. “You ca a gue with the timeli e, but you ca ot a gue with whe e these teams a e putti g ext yea ‘s budget. They have made the call al eady.”
“The oppo tu ity ove the ext two yea s belo gs to teams that t eat a citatio i a AI a swe the way they always t eated a f o t-page placeme t: somethi g you ea , a d somethi g you ca p ove you ea ed,” Te e zio added. “C edit to HubSpot fo co ve i g the audie ce that could a swe this ho estly. These we e p actitio e s desc ibi g thei ow budgets a d thei ow jobs, ot fo ecaste s.”
Ma kete s we e asked, i thei ow wo ds, what is cha gi g. Th ee espo ses:
| “We eed to optimize la di g pages fo age ts, eve if the ew p actices go agai st decades of i dust y best p actices.” | “As lo g as eve ue is up, o ga ic sea ch dips do ‘t matte .” | “Ma y pa t e s i flue ce AI messagi g, but o e leade eeds to ow it.” |
35 ma kete s we e su veyed live du i g the “Getti g Cited” sessio at HubSpot UNBOUND 2026 i Bosto o Septembe 16, 2026. The i st ume t comp ised si gle-select questio s plus two ope – espo se questio s. 83% of espo de ts we e b a d-side ma kete s a d 63% wo ked at compa ies of 51 to 1,000 employees.
We a e ACCESS Newswi e, a globally t usted Public Relatio s (PR) a d I vesto Relatio s (IR) solutio s p ovide . With a focus o i ovatio , custome se vice, a d value-d ive offe i gs, ACCESS Newswi e empowe s b a ds to co ect with thei audie ces whe e it matte s most. F om sta tups a d scale-ups to multi-billio -dolla global b a ds, we e su e you most impo ta t mome ts make a impact a d eso ate with you audie ces. To lea mo e visit www.access ewswi e.com.
Je ife Hamme sEVP Sales a d Ma keti g, ACCESS Newswi e