Overview
Artificial intelligence is changing how customers search for products and services, and how companies organise their marketing. The KMU Digital Pulse 2026 examines four questions: how Swiss SMEs use artificial intelligence in marketing, how they handle their visibility in AI-driven search, which barriers hold them back, and what they intend to do over the next twelve months.
Key findings
- 21 per cent use AI tools in marketing, with large differences by company size: from 18 per cent of micro-enterprises (1 to 9 employees) to 49 per cent of medium-sized companies (50 to 249 employees).
- In AI-driven search, how a company is presented matters more than whether it is found. 76 per cent consider it important that the information about them is correct. Fewer than half consider it important to be found (47%).
- 58 per cent have never checked what AI search returns about them. Only just over one in ten SMEs checks systematically (8%) or takes targeted measures (2%).
- Optimising for AI-driven search is still rare. 69 per cent of SMEs use a website as a marketing activity, but only 7 per cent optimise content for AI-driven search.
- Unclear benefit or need is the most common barrier, followed by a lack of knowledge. 44 per cent see no clear benefit or need for AI in their own marketing. 39 per cent are unclear how AI could be integrated into their work; 38 per cent lack knowledge of the AI tools available.
- AI use in marketing is set to grow, especially among those already using it. Among SMEs that already use AI in marketing, 89 per cent expect their use to increase. Among those not using it today, 38 per cent are open to doing so.
Respondents are people responsible for, or substantially involved in, marketing decisions in Swiss SMEs. The study covers companies with 1 to 249 employees from all three language regions. Fieldwork was carried out by the market research institute intervista in May 2026. The sample is weighted by language region and employee size class. The whitepaper was published on 24 September 2026, in German, French and Italian.
The KMU Digital Pulse 2026 was conducted in cooperation with localsearch (Swisscom Directories AG). The Institute of Communication and Marketing IKM is responsible for the study design, analysis and interpretation.
