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U.S. Bank · June 2026

The Small Business Perspective 2026 (U.S. Bank Small Business Survey)

U.S. Bank's The Small Business Perspective 2026 (U.S. Bank Small Business Survey) (June 2026; n=1,000 (+200 Gen Z oversample), fielded Feb 27 – Mar 17, 2026) found that 75% of small business owners say they now use AI in their business.

Read the original report ↗Cite2 min read · Summary updated
Growing small businesses are more likely to use generative AIPercent of small business owners using generative AI, by growth status, 2026
Growing businesses
81%
Non-growing businesses
64%
Source: U.S. Bank, The Small Business Perspective 2026, 2026.

Key findings

  1. 01
    Owners most often apply AI to marketing and sales (56%), data analysis (51%), content creation (51%) and automation (44%).
  2. 02
    89% say AI delivers measurable value, yet 53% also report negative impacts such as added complexity and overstated benefits.
  3. 03
    Growing businesses were more likely to use generative AI than non-growing ones (81% vs. 64%).

By the numbers

75%of small business owners say they now use AI in their business
89%of owners using AI say it delivers measurable value
53%of AI users also report negative impacts, such as added complexity and overstated benefits
Marketing and sales is the most common use of AIPercent of small business owners using AI for each purpose, 2026
Marketing and sales
56%
Data analysis
51%
Content creation
51%
Automation
44%
Source: U.S. Bank, The Small Business Perspective 2026, 2026.

What it means for you Draft

For executives at $10–100M companies

The 75% figure is far above the Census number, which says more about how the question was asked than about reality; treat it as 'owners have tried it.' The more candid finding is that half report downsides alongside the benefits. That matches what we would expect: useful in marketing and analysis, with real overhead to manage.

Limitations

Medium trust.Disclosed sample, dates and ±3.1% margin; research vendor not named; bank does not sell AI but markets to respondents. Growth link is correlation.

The headline figure measures the “Tried it” stage of adoption (any use of ai).Why adoption numbers disagree

Cite the original

U.S. Bank. "The Small Business Perspective 2026 (U.S. Bank Small Business Survey)." June 22, 2026. https://www.usbank.com/about-us-bank/news-and-stories/article-library/us-bank-survey-gen-z-small-business-owners-making-bigger-bets-to-drive-growth.html

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