Meta remains a core platform for local advertising, but year-over-year growth shows softness, with some budgets likely moving toward high-intent AI-enabled platforms.

Google's AI Overviews are gaining traction, while Meta remains central to local advertising but exhibits slower growth, suggesting some budgets are shifting to AI-first platforms.

Google’s AI Overviews are delivering improved lead quality and relevance, driving strong traction among advertisers in the study.

SMBs are increasingly adopting AI-integrated search tools, with Morgan Stanley and Co. LLC noting rising adoption and intent for Google's Search and AI Overviews features, which outperform rivals in utility and growth.

The SMB advertising landscape is shifting from broad reach on traditional social platforms to higher-intent, AI-assisted discovery and content creation tools, reshaping budget allocations and competitive dynamics.

A market shift toward AI integration and first-mover advantages is driving greater advertiser loyalty and potential shifts in market share among large tech advertisers through 2026.

First-mover advantages in AI integration are translating into increased advertiser loyalty and potential shifts in market share among big tech advertisers through 2026.

There is a shift in advertising spend toward generative AI-led discovery tools, with a modest year-over-year softness in overall usage of traditional digital ads.

There is strong SMB interest in testing OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad products, as generative text and video creation tools reshape competition against legacy social platforms.

Generative AI tools, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are attracting significant SMB interest for advertising, as businesses experiment with AI-driven text and video creation to improve efficiency and content quality.

AI-powered search is gaining traction due to higher intent and direct pathways to conversion, leading SMBs to prefer AI-based results over traditional social feeds for lead quality and relevance.

The evolving capabilities of AI tools are expected to influence long-term revenue resilience for platforms that maintain utility for small businesses amid a more automated advertising landscape.