87% of Marketers to Boost Content Budgets in 2026 as AI Search and LLMs Redefine Visibility

Content marketing investment is set to rise sharply in 2026 as brands adapt to the expanding role of artificial intelligence-driven search and large language models (LLMs) in content discovery.

The 2026 State of Content Report, based on a January 2026 survey of more than 450 marketing professionals across SMBs and large enterprises, reveals that 87% of respondents plan to increase their content marketing budgets next year.

Notably, one in four marketers now identify LLMs as the primary audience for the majority of their content, a sign of how rapidly AI systems have become central to digital visibility strategies.

Executives from both firms highlighted the speed of this transition. According to the findings, 81% of content marketers feel positive about the state of content marketing in the era of LLMs, while 67% view LLMs more as an opportunity than a threat.

The data points to a structural shift in how content teams define audience, performance, and visibility in a discovery landscape increasingly shaped by both traditional search engines and AI-generated responses.

Beyond higher budgets, marketers are also recalibrating how they measure success. While referral traffic remains relevant, many respondents acknowledge that it no longer captures the full influence of content in AI-driven environments, where brand exposure and authority often occur before a user clicks through.

As a result, organizations are broadening their performance metrics to include brand mentions, citations, and inclusion within AI-generated answers.

The research further shows that more than 55% of marketers expect to increase content output in 2026, and 75% already use AI-powered tools as part of their standard content creation workflow. Proprietary research and original reports have emerged as the top written content priority for improving visibility within AI-generated answers.

Although video and social platforms continue to grow in importance for engagement and authority-building, structured, authoritative, and extractable long-form content remains critical for durable AI visibility.

Overall, the findings depict a discipline in transition, optimistic and increasingly strategic, as content teams navigate an environment where influence often shapes outcomes without necessarily driving direct clicks.