77% of Surveyed Small Business Owners Say They Use AI. What It Means for Your Sales Team

Seventy-seven percent of the 6,000 owners and entrepreneurs Fiverr surveyed said they already put generative AI to work, whether for business, personal needs or both. Everyone in that survey was an active Fiverr user. Searches for AI video ads in the user-generated-content style are up 265%. The owners you compete with are already in the middle of it.

The Number Fiverr Just Put Out Comes With a Catch

Fiverr asked 6,000 owners and entrepreneurs and published what it found in May 2025. Seventy-seven percent told the company they already put generative AI to work, whether for business, personal needs or both. One caveat worth knowing: everyone in the survey was an active Fiverr user. My read: that is not a random slice of your market.

The newer numbers are the ones I would pay attention to. Fiverr's Business Trends Index from June 2026 found searches for AI help up 278% in Video & Animation. Programming & Tech grew 94%. Digital Marketing grew 62%. Searches for Claude Code specialists rose 938%. The window runs from November 2025 to April 2026, measured against the six months before it.

That is not a someday trend. Owners are searching for this right now.

Here Is What They Are Actually Searching For — All Ten

Fiverr laid out ten ways small businesses put AI to work right now. In plain English:

1. Writing. Owners lean on generative AI to draft newsletters and website copy, then bring in editing so the language matches the brand. Searches for freelancers who could "humanize AI content" climbed 641% in the six months before Fiverr's May 2025 index.

2. Search phrases. AI can surface search phrases and questions worth answering. Fiverr's SEO guidance says to blend AI with human research and expertise instead of leaning on the suggestions alone.

3. Content strategy. AI can look at what you already have and propose article ideas, and point out subjects a business has not covered well.

4. Product descriptions and sales copy. AI takes a product's specs and who it is for, then writes a first draft. A person then checks the copy against the product.

5. Code. Fiverr's June 2026 index shows a 61% rise for "vibe coding", which means code written by AI tools. The report emphasizes that shipping software still takes people who know the technical side and can run the project.

6. Apps. Fiverr sells app development help for owners who want a ChatGPT-powered product of their own, like an internal assistant that helps staff search company documents or a customer-facing app that answers questions.

7. Campaigns. AI campaigns automate and personalize social messages, including picking send times and tuning how each channel performs. Fiverr says a campaign starts with a goal, a defined audience and a spending cap.

8. Video. Searches for AI video ads in the user-generated-content style rose 265%, and plain AI video ads rose 63%. Searches for human video editing rose 36%.

9. Images. AI tools can make custom illustrations and images for blog posts. But the report notes that an AI-generated image is not automatically royalty-free, exclusive or unrestricted.

10. Customer service. A chatbot can answer routine questions on demand. Questions it cannot handle go to a person.

Two of those ten hit your business harder than the rest. And it is not the technology.

Why Owners Are Doing This at All

A small business owner's to-do list does not stop when the shop closes. They still write tomorrow's social posts and answer customer questions after hours. A full marketing or technology team is often out of reach, but the work still has to get done.

That is the whole reason this market exists. My read: the draw is not the technology. The work piled up, a full team may be out of reach, and this was the option in front of them.

Which brings me to the two numbers in that report that should actually bother you.

Two Numbers Buried in That Report Should Bother You

The first is 641%. That is searches for people who can make AI-written content sound human. Think about what that means. My read: businesses went looking for someone to clean up AI-written copy. That is what the 641% measures. My read: the demand is not for AI writing. The demand is for cleanup.

The second is 265%. That is searches for AI video ads in the user-generated-content style. Owners are hunting for video help. My read: attention moved to video, and small teams struggle to produce enough of it.

My read: neither number is about the tool. Both are about the gap between what a small team can produce and what buyers seem to want.

What This Means If You Sell Cars or Fix Houses

Everything in this section is my read, not something the report says. Picture your own shop.

A home services company. You run heating and cooling with one office manager and four techs. Owners hear the same questions daily — hours, where to find product details, and who to ask. Right now every one of those lands in a phone queue. Load approved answers into a chatbot, give it an easy way to reach a person, and the routine questions get answered on demand. Your office manager only touches the calls that need a person. Nothing about that changes how you sell. It changes how many people you can talk to in a day.

A car dealer. You have dozens of units on the lot, and writing each listing by hand eats hours when you post them one at a time. If AI drafts from the vehicle specs and who usually buys it, and your people verify the copy, listings go live the same day you take the trade. More listings live sooner means more calls on inventory you already paid for.

A remodeler. You have years of finished jobs and no content library. AI can look at what you already have and propose article ideas, and point out the subjects you have not covered. That is the difference between a pile of disconnected blog posts and a set of pieces that answer what homeowners actually ask.

All three end in the same place: the customer gets an answer before your competitor gives one.

What I Would Do This Week

Seven steps. Each one takes under an hour.

1. Write down your ten most-asked questions. Pull your last week of calls and texts. Type the ten questions you answer over and over. Then set up your chatbot with approved answers and one clear line telling the customer how to reach a live person. The source is specific on this: questions the bot cannot handle get passed to a person.

2. Draft your listings or service copy with AI, then edit it yourself. The source's own advice is to start with an AI draft, then add human judgment and editing. Do not skip the second half.

3. Brainstorm search phrases before you spend a dollar. The report says a keyword is only a starting point. My read: that is not a strategy.

4. Get one video ad made this month. Searches for AI video ads in the user-generated-content style are where the demand is going. One decent video beats a perfect one that never ships.

5. Set the rules before the campaign runs. A goal, a defined audience and a spending cap.

6. Check the rights on any image you use. The report notes that an AI-generated image is not automatically royalty-free, exclusive or unrestricted.

7. Pick one thing and finish it this week. My read: owners who try all seven at once finish none of them.

Here are three prompts you can copy today. The report does not say which tool to open, so use whatever you already pay for.

Prompt 1 — customer questions. You write chat replies for a home services company. Here are the questions we get every day: [paste your ten]. Write one plain answer for each, kept short. End every answer with one line telling the customer how to reach a live person.

Prompt 2 — a vehicle listing. Here are the specs on a vehicle we are listing and a note on who usually buys it: [paste specs]. Write a short listing in a plain, no-hype voice. Flag anything in the specs you are unsure about so we can check it before it goes live.

Prompt 3 — search phrases. List a batch of phrases a homeowner might type when they need [our service], plus the questions they want answered before they call. Mark the ones we have not written about yet.

Run each one, then read the output out loud. If it sounds like a brochure, cut it in half and run it again.

Mistakes That Will Cost You Money

• Publishing AI copy with no edit. The best route is an AI first draft plus human judgment and editing. Skipping that is how every page on your site starts sounding the same.
• A chatbot with no way out. Unresolved questions go to a person. If there is no door, you lose a sale you already paid for.
• Treating one keyword as a plan. A keyword is only a starting point. That is all it is.
• Skipping the rights check on images. The report notes that an AI-generated image is not automatically royalty-free, exclusive or unrestricted.