Nearly Half of U.S. Consumers Say AI Has Degraded Content Quality
Forty-nine percent of U.S. consumers say generative AI has made content quality worse, according to a Gartner survey released this week at the company's Marketing Symposium/Xpo in Denver. The finding signals a widening trust gap that marketing leaders must address through stronger brand positioning and higher-quality creative work.
The concern runs deeper among younger audiences. Fifty-seven percent of Gen Z and Millennial respondents said AI is degrading marketing content quality.
The Volume Problem
AI is flooding the media environment with more content, but not necessarily better content. Kate Muhl, VP Analyst in Gartner's Marketing practice, said the survey revealed that "AI-generated content is increasing the volume of media that consumers encounter, but not necessarily the value."
In this skeptical media environment, brands need to be more recognizable, more credible, and more intentional about where they appear. The stakes for differentiation have risen.
Consumer Attention Is Fragmented
Fifty-nine percent of U.S. consumers prefer multitasking across media-watching TV while texting, browsing the internet simultaneously-rather than focusing on one activity. This fragmentation means screen time is abundant, but attention is scarce.
Muhl said the implication for marketers is clear: "Media strategy must compete for scarce attention and create brand meaning quickly enough to survive fragmented, fast-moving environments."
CMOs should stop chasing impressions and reach. The goal is now to understand where consumer attention gathers, how trust forms, and what experiences consumers want to remember.
How Consumers Are Searching Differently
AI is changing how consumers search for products and services. Twenty percent of U.S. consumers now use more specific search inputs because of AI. Nineteen percent phrase searches as questions more frequently. Seventeen percent rely on AI summaries to research purchases.
These shifts mean brands cannot assume traditional search behavior will continue.
The Brand Doom Loop Traps 84% of Companies
Gartner identified a "brand doom loop" affecting 84% of companies: organizations underinvest in brand measurement, lack confidence in results, and consequently receive even less funding for brand work. This cycle prevents marketing leaders from proving brand's impact on enterprise growth.
The problem is structural. Companies with strong brand strategy are twice as likely to exceed growth goals, yet most organizations fail to invest in measuring brand value.
Gartner predicts that by 2028, over 80% of companies will make significant changes to their mission, brand, and culture to keep pace with AI's market impact. As AI accelerates commoditization and fuels disinformation, brand becomes one of the few remaining levers for claiming a distinctive, trustworthy position.
More than 50% of C-suite executives want their CMO to clarify the relationship between brand and business strategy. Forty-three percent want a clear story about brand health and business performance.
CMO Budgets Shift Toward Acquisition
Awareness and conversion now account for nearly 63% of total media spend, as CMOs shift budget toward acquisition and digital channels. Digital media now represents more than two-thirds of total media investments in 2026, up 18% since 2024.
AI is driving this shift. CMOs cite enhanced personalization and the need to prioritize channels that can be AI-optimized as the biggest influences on their channel mix.
However, this focus on short-term optimization carries risk. The most AI-mature marketing organizations allocate a larger share of budget to customer loyalty and retention, and a lower share to digital channels. Less mature organizations may be over-indexing on short-term gains in channels easiest to measure and automate.
People Costs Are Rising, Not Falling
Despite assumptions that AI would reduce labor costs, the opposite is happening. Labor's share of total marketing budget rose to 25% in 2026 from 22% a year earlier.
CMOs increasingly recognize that AI value depends on people, skills, and execution-not just technology. Ewan McIntyre, VP Analyst and Chief of Research in Gartner's Marketing practice, said: "AI can help marketers optimize faster, but optimization is not the same as strategy."
The barrier is significant: 70% of CMOs say their internal marketing processes are not mature enough to effectively implement and scale AI. Lack of internal AI expertise and talent is the top obstacle preventing CMOs from achieving AI-driven efficiency, cited by 38% of respondents.
Organizations investing in AI-powered transformation must also invest in talent, governance, and operating maturity to make those tools work in practice.
What Marketing Leaders Should Do
CMOs need to move beyond tracking brand metrics in isolation. The goal is to show how brand influences enterprise priorities like revenue, profit, customer experience, and innovation.
For organizations looking to build stronger AI capabilities and brand strategy, resources like the AI Learning Path for CMOs can help close knowledge gaps. Additionally, exploring AI for Marketing provides practical frameworks for implementing these insights.
The fundamental principle remains unchanged: AI is not a shortcut around marketing capability. Organizations that pull ahead are those that pair AI investment with the people, processes, and discipline required to turn it into measurable business results.
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