Survey finds marketers see AI visibility as important, but no team owns it

A new survey of 200 U.S. marketing and communications professionals finds broad concern about AI visibility, but little agreement on who should manage it. Nearly half call it significant, while paid media is seen as the biggest influence and PR ranks near the bottom.

Why it matters: - AI visibility is emerging as a real marketing concern, with 47% of surveyed professionals calling it highly significant or significant. - The lack of clear ownership means companies may struggle to influence how AI systems surface their brands, products and expertise. - Business leaders outside marketing are already asking questions, which raises pressure on marketing teams to respond with a clear strategy.

What happened: - Sword and the Script Media surveyed 200 U.S.-based marketing and communications professionals in July 2026. - The survey found marketers are split into three camps: advocates, fence-sitters and skeptics, according to Sword and the Script President Frank Strong. - Strong said more, but not most, respondents are in the advocacy camp, suggesting more marketers believe AI is affecting awareness and demand.

The details: - 47% said AI visibility is highly significant or significant. - 19% said AI visibility is moderately significant. - 16% said AI visibility is not significant. - 6% said they were unsure. - 63% said business leaders outside marketing have asked about AI visibility. - 29% said leaders asked multiple times. - 34% said leaders asked once or twice. - No single marketing team or function was seen as owning AI visibility. - Marketing operations ranked first at 17%. - Product marketing ranked at 14%. - Social media ranked at 13%. - Creative/design ranked at 13%. - PR and communications ranked at 3%. - 35% said paid media has the greatest influence on AI visibility. - 28% chose shared media. - 24% chose earned media. - 14% chose owned media. - The survey note said other studies have found AI visibility is most influenced by news coverage, press releases and blog posts. - Gartner has said PR and communications should lead AI visibility efforts. - 65% agreed or strongly agreed that their teams have the knowledge, skills and resources to improve AI visibility. - 26% neither agreed nor disagreed. - 11% disagreed or strongly disagreed. - 61% said AI visibility will make human expertise more or much more important. - 29% said it will make no difference. - 10% said human expertise will become less or much less important. - The full survey is available online without registration: Marketing sees AI visibility as significant.

Between the lines: - The results suggest AI visibility is becoming a cross-functional issue before companies have settled on internal ownership. - The gap between who respondents think influences AI visibility and what other studies say may create confusion about where budgets and responsibility should sit. - Strong framed the core challenge as both understanding AI visibility's impact and teaching teams how to influence it.

What's next: - Marketing leaders are likely to assess how AI visibility affects brand, customer and prospect perception. - Teams may also need clearer training on what affects AI visibility and which functions should lead the work. - Sword and the Script's findings may add to the debate over whether PR, paid media or another function should own the issue.