F-29 · Small Teams
What share of small businesses use AI, and for what?
Between a fifth and a half of small businesses use AI, 20 to 46 percent in official counts and weighted owner surveys from 2025 to 2026, mostly for writing and marketing. Use is shallow: only 7 percent of AI-using US small firms have fully built it into how they work.
20–46% of small businesses use AI (official counts and weighted owner surveys; vendor surveys report 66 to 77%)
Across all 8 studies: 20 to 77% counting vendor and advocacy surveys.
- Medium confidence
- 8 primary sources
- 2025 to 2026
- Last checked
Every study on one scale
Shaded: 20–46% Dashed: with vendor surveys One figure
Chart values as text
- Scale: % of small businesses using AI. Shaded range: 20–46%; dashed, with vendor surveys: 20% to 77%.
- US Census, 1 to 4 employees (2026): 23.9%
- ONS, under 10 employees (2026): 28.7%
- Statistics Canada, 1 to 4 (2026): 19.9%
- NFIB (2025): 24%
- OECD, seven countries (2025): 30.7%
- Federal Reserve (2026): 46%
- US Chamber (advocacy) (2026): 66% (vendor or advocacy)
- Intuit (vendor) (2026): 77% (vendor)
Why medium confidence: Many independent creators report figures, and they agree on how small firms use AI. The level is uncertain because official surveys ask whether the business uses AI, while owner surveys count any use by anyone at the firm, and size cutoffs differ.
Sources
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), employment size class estimates | US Census Bureau | 2026 | About 20,000 responses per two-week period; collection ending 4 October 2026 | Official experimental survey; AI used in any business function in the prior two weeks | 1 to 4 employees 23.9%; 5 to 9: 21.5%; 10 to 19: 22.4%; 20 to 49: 24.8% “did this business use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in any of its business functions?” | census.gov ↗ |
| Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 8 October 2026 | Office for National Statistics (UK) | 2026 | UK business survey, wave live 21 September to 4 October 2026 | Official statistics; current use of at least one listed AI technology | 28.7% of businesses with 0 to 9 employees and 36.1% with 10 to 49 used AI “only 29% of businesses with fewer than 10 employees reported using AI technologies” | ons.gov.uk ↗ |
| Analysis on artificial intelligence use by businesses in Canada, second quarter of 2026 | Statistics Canada | 2026 | 9,251 responding businesses, April to May 2026 | Official survey; AI used to produce goods or deliver services in the past 12 months | 19.9% of businesses with 1 to 4 employees used AI; 41.4% say it is not relevant to them “Among businesses with 1 to 4 employees, about one-fifth (19.9%) reported using AI” | www150.statcan.gc.ca ↗ |
| Small Business and Technology Survey (2025) | NFIB Research Center | 2025 | 521 NFIB member employers, March 2025 | Membership survey with a low response rate; run by a business advocacy group | 24% of small employers use AI; 21% of firms under 10 employees, 48% of firms with 50 or more “ranging from 21% uptake for single-digit employee firms to 48% at 50+ employee firms” | nfib.com ↗ |
| Generative AI and the SME Workforce: New Survey Evidence | OECD, survey by Ipsos | 2025 | 5,232 SMEs in seven countries, October to December 2024 | Random telephone survey weighted by number of firms; any staff use of generative AI | 30.7% of SMEs use generative AI; one-person companies 23.6%, firms with 50 to 249 employees 45.8% “It is in use (by the respondent or a colleague) in 31% of SMEs” | oecd.org ↗ |
| 2026 Report on Employer Firms (2025 Small Business Credit Survey) | Federal Reserve Banks | 2026 | 6,525 US employer firms with 1 to 499 employees, September to November 2025 | Weighted convenience sample; counts any use by the business or its employees, including AI inside existing software | 46% of employer firms use AI; of users, 49% experimenting, 44% partly integrated, 7% fully integrated “46% of employer firms reported that their business or employees were using” | fedsmallbusiness.org ↗ |
| Empowering Small Business: The Impact of Technology on U.S. Small Business (2026) | US Chamber of Commerce Technology Engagement Center, with Teneo Research | 2026 | Online survey of US small businesses under 250 employees, July to August 2026 | Non-probability online survey by a business lobby group | 66% use some AI tool; 41% a generative AI chatbot “2/3 of small businesses now use AI.” | uschamber.com ↗ |
| 2026 AI Impact Report | Intuit QuickBooks, with economists at the University of Chicago | 2026 | 2,222 US owners of businesses with 0 to 100 employees, January 2026; plus payment data on 4.3 million businesses | Paid panel and Intuit customers; any AI use at least monthly. Intuit sells AI features in QuickBooks. | 77% use AI regularly; in Intuit's payment data, 12% of US businesses paid for a dedicated AI tool between 2021 and 2025 “77% of US businesses now use AI regularly, up from 48% in July 2024.” | intuit.com ↗ |
What do small businesses use AI for?
Writing and marketing first, in every source. Among AI-using US employer firms, 83% use it for writing or marketing, 61% for individual productivity, 51% for planning or analysis, 38% for admin and 19% for coding (Federal Reserve, 2025). Across seven OECD countries, 92% of SME users generate text, and only 29% use generative AI in core business activities.
How many small businesses pay for AI tools, and how much do they spend?
About half of the small businesses on Ramp, a spend-management platform: 50.1% of firms with 1 to 24 employees had a paid AI transaction in August 2026, up from 39.7% a year earlier. The median small firm on Ramp spent about $23 per employee per month, roughly $230 a month for a 10-person team. Ramp's customers are more tech-minded than typical small firms, so the share across all small businesses is likely lower: in Census data, only 8 to 9% of AI-using US firms under 50 employees bought software or equipment to use AI.
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramp AI Index | Ramp Economics Lab | 2026 | More than 70,000 US businesses on Ramp; small means 1 to 24 employees | Measured card and bill-pay transactions to AI products. Misses free tools and personal accounts. Ramp sells corporate cards and spend software. | 50.1% of small businesses paid for AI in August 2026 (medium 62.5%, large 66.8%); median AI spend $23.23 per employee per month for small firms “Share of businesses with spending on AI models, subscriptions, tokens, and APIs” | ramp.com ↗ |
| BTOS AI Supplement Table 2026 | US Census Bureau | 2026 | More than 117,000 responding US firms, November 2025 to February 2026 | Official survey of what AI-using firms changed in order to use AI | 7.6 to 8.8% of AI-using firms under 50 employees bought computing power, equipment or software; about two thirds made no changes “to use Artificial Intelligence (AI), what changes did this business make?” | census.gov ↗ |
Numbers you may have seen
These figures circulate widely. Here is what the original source says.
- 58% of small businesses use generative AI (US Chamber of Commerce). That was the 2025 edition. The 2026 edition says 66% use some AI tool, and 41% use a generative AI chatbot.
- 77% of small businesses use AI (Intuit). It counts any AI use at least monthly, including features inside other tools, from a paid panel and Intuit customers. Intuit's payment data show 12% paid for a dedicated AI tool.
- 76% of small businesses use AI (Goldman Sachs). The sample is alumni of a Goldman Sachs growth program for small businesses, who are larger and more growth-minded than typical firms.
- Nearly half of small businesses pay for AI. That is Ramp's customers with 1 to 24 employees. Ramp's own chart puts the Census estimate of AI use at about 22% for the same month.
- Only 5% of small businesses use AI (Census). That was the old question, about AI used to produce goods or services. With the current wording, 21 to 25% of firms under 50 employees use AI.
More from Small Teams
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- F-3013–38 ptsHow does AI adoption differ by company size?
- F-3154–63%What stops small companies from adopting AI?
- F-3265–78%Do small firms that use AI see gains?
- F-3345–52 hHow many hours do small business owners work, and how much goes to admin?
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