Developing
A vendor survey of about 300 self-selected respondents; Ahrefs sells SEO and AI marketing tools.
In 60 seconds
- 280 of 301 respondents (93%) use AI to create or help create content, up from 87%.
- 7% of AI users say more than 75% of their published content is pure AI with no editing (4% in 2025); 40% publish none (50% in 2025).
- 89% of AI users check AI output manually; 22% disclose AI use to visitors, up from 16%.
- 57% say human writing is higher quality (65% in 2025); 24% say AI content is better (14% in 2025).
Impact Layer
- What changed
- A year-on-year survey shows more AI use, more checking, and little disclosure.
- Why it matters
- It frames the editing and disclosure norms that quality and spam policies, and new EU labelling rules, will be judged against.
- Who is affected
- Content, SEO and editorial leaders.
- Martech stack area
- SEO & Search, Content
- Stack impact
- Compare your own review step with the 89% norm, and decide your disclosure policy before regulators and platforms force one.
- Business impact
- Moderate Ahrefs sells AI marketing products, respondents are self-reported and locations are unstated. Ahrefs notes tool-question formats changed between years, so tool shares are not directly comparable.
- Related technologies
- What to watch
- Whether Google's quality policies and EU rules change what is acceptable.
Ahrefs’ second annual State of AI in Content Marketing survey was fielded in August 2026, with the full report published September 30 and a press release on October 1. PPC Land summarised it. The press release cites about 300 marketing and SEO professionals; the report counts 301.
Adoption and quality
- 280 respondents (93%) use AI to create or help create content, up from 87% in 2025.
- 7% of AI users say more than 75% of their published content is pure AI with no editing (4% in 2025); 40% publish none (50% in 2025).
- 57% say human-written content is higher quality (65% in 2025); 24% say AI content is better (14%).
Review and disclosure
- 89% of AI users manually check AI content (80% in 2025); 29% ask an AI system to assess AI-written content (14%).
- 78% do not tell visitors that AI helped create content; 22% do, up from 16%.
Tools
Among AI users: Claude 84%, ChatGPT 75%, Gemini 57%. Ahrefs says the 2025 survey asked for a primary tool while 2026 allowed multiple answers, so the years are not directly comparable as market share.
Caveats
The sample is about 300 and self-reported, locations are unstated, and Ahrefs sells SEO and AI marketing products. PPC Land notes minor inconsistencies between the press release and the report.
Our read
The figure to take from the survey is the gap: most teams review what AI writes, and most do not say so. A clear editing standard and a disclosure position will serve you whichever rules apply.
Sources
- PPC Land: Ahrefs finds 7% of AI-using marketers publish mostly unedited AI content (opens in a new tab)
Source of all survey figures and caveats. The full Ahrefs report was not read directly.