Marketers boost budgets as LLMs emerge as key audience

Content marketing budgets are expected to rise in 2026, according to new survey data from Clutch and Conductor. Many teams now treat large language models as a core audience rather than a downstream channel.

The survey of more than 450 marketing professionals found that 87% of content marketers plan to increase budgets this year, and more than half expect to boost output.

The results also point to a shift in how teams define reach and performance, with marketers increasingly tracking visibility inside AI-generated answers alongside traditional search rankings and referral traffic.

LLMs as audience

Nearly a quarter of respondents said large language models are the primary audience for most of their content. Among enterprise respondents, the figure rose to 32%.

The findings suggest teams are commissioning and structuring content for machine consumption as well as human readers. That change affects writing, site organisation, and how success is measured across channels.

Sentiment about the shift is largely positive. The survey found that 81% feel optimistic about content marketing in the LLM era, while 67% see LLMs as more of an opportunity than a risk to their strategy.

AI tools are also becoming standard in day-to-day production, with three quarters of respondents saying they already use AI-powered tools in their content creation workflow.

Metrics shifting

As search experiences evolve, teams are broadening the indicators they use to gauge impact. Many respondents said referral traffic alone no longer reflects performance when AI systems summarise answers directly on results pages or within chat interfaces.

Instead, teams increasingly track whether a brand is mentioned, cited, or surfaced in AI-generated responses. In this model, a user journey may start with an AI overview and end without a click, even if the content influences the decision.

"These findings reflect a clear inflection point for content marketing," said Mike Beares, chief executive officer at Clutch. "Teams understand that AI search is reshaping how buyers discover information, and they're responding by investing in higher-quality, more authoritative content that can earn trust, citations, and visibility across emerging discovery surfaces."

This focus on citations and mentions changes incentives for content teams. Marketers have traditionally optimised page-level performance in search results, targeting ranking position, click-through rates, and conversion paths. The emerging model places more weight on credibility signals and reference value.

Original research

Proprietary research and original reports ranked as the top written content priority for increasing visibility in AI-generated answers. The finding aligns with the view that AI systems favour sources that are distinct, specific, and easy to quote.

Non-text formats are also gaining importance, with growing attention on video and social platforms for authority-building and engagement. The report also highlighted the value of "structured, extractable, and authoritative assets" for durable visibility in AI outputs.

This approach renews focus on long-form reference content, clearly presented data, and material that can be cited consistently. It also suggests a tighter link between content strategy and subject-matter expertise, especially in sectors where accuracy and traceability shape how information is reused.

Conductor chief executive officer and co-founder Seth Besmertnik said the speed of change has been striking.

"The most striking shift is how quickly LLMs have become a first-class audience for content teams," said Besmertnik. "Just one to two years into AI search, nearly a quarter of marketers say LLMs are now their primary content audience. That's a massive change in a short amount of time, and it reinforces why original, trustworthy content is becoming the currency of visibility in AI-generated answers."

Clutch operates a marketplace for B2B service providers focused on client reviews and partner evaluation. Conductor sells software for search and AI-answer visibility, including website and content tracking tools.

The results add to evidence that AI-driven discovery is not reducing content investment. Instead, it is changing what marketers produce and how they assess results, with a growing focus on research-led assets and visibility inside AI-generated responses.