What AI Tools Small Businesses Use
AI tools for small business are software products that apply machine learning or generative AI to a business function, such as marketing, customer service, bookkeeping, or IT. In a Census Bureau survey fielded from November 2025 to February 2026, 13.1% of firms with 1 to 4 employees used AI in sales and marketing.
That was the most common function for the smallest firms. Strategy and business development followed at 12.0%, and information technology reached 11.2%. Management and administration, the closest match to AI for SMB operations, reached 6.9%.
How AI for SMBs Differs by Function and Size
Use holds roughly flat below 50 employees, then rises with firm size. In the two weeks before the survey, 17.6% of firms with 1 to 4 employees used AI, against 30.6% of firms with 250 or more. Among AI-using firms with 1 to 4 employees, 42.8% used AI to support tasks staff perform, and 10.9% to perform tasks staff once did.
Census researchers found that 57% of AI-using firms of all sizes used it in three or fewer of 15 functions. Broader use correlated with stronger commercial performance. The paper reports a correlation, not a cause.
How to Evaluate an AI Platform for SMB Use
Secure AI for SMB use starts with the vendor terms. Check where data is stored, how long the vendor keeps it, and whether inputs train the model. Privacy or security concerns held back 20.1% of the smallest firms with no AI plans.
Integration comes next. Among AI-using firms with 1 to 4 employees, 65.5% made no changes to adopt AI, and 15.0% developed new workflows. Measure output by timing real tasks and counting errors before and after a trial.
Sources: US Census Bureau Business Trends and Outlook Survey AI Supplement 2026, Bonney et al., Census Center for Economic Studies working paper 2026, Census America Counts 2026
