Report finds adoption is no longer the challenge with precise AI use cases emerging and those most prolific and practiced in AI more likely to report revenue impact
Bluehost, the SMB business platform that millions of small businesses, developers, and agencies globally trust to run, grow and scale in the AI Era, today released its inaugural State of Small Business AI Confidence report. The study examines how U.S. small business owners are adopting AI, how confident they feel using it, and where they see the greatest opportunities ahead. Its central finding names a new dividing line for the era ahead: an AI Confidence Divide that increasingly separates the small businesses turning AI into results from those still working to use it well.
Conducted in partnership with ListenLabs, the study surveyed 350 U.S. small business owners across a broad mix of industries. Adoption of AI across this pool was widespread, with 87% already using at least one AI tool, and over half using AI every day. The most commonly reported AI tools in use were general purpose AI chat platforms ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude. On average, small business owners rate their ability to use AI effectively at just 5.3 out of 10, and only 20% consider themselves highly confident.
While AI is now widely available to all businesses, making it practical, trustworthy, and relevant to the realities of running a small business is the work ahead for AI solution providers to enable confidence, usage, and revenue impact.
“Small business owners have always found ways to outperform their resources through grit, creativity, and determination,” said Sachin Puri, Chief Executive Officer of Bluehost. “AI can give them extraordinary leverage, but only when it is truly useful in the realities of day-to-day business. If it takes too much time to learn, too much effort to manage, or too much guesswork to trust, it becomes another burden. Bluehost is on a mission to support small businesses with AI solutions that are purpose-built for their needs, simple to use, and backed by real human support.”
Key Findings indicate the AI Confidence Divide is becoming a Revenue Divide
- 78% of owners save time every week, and nearly half (48%) save four or more hours a week, showing concrete benefits even where confidence is still building
- 39% reported some level of revenue growth since adopting AI
- Owners who self-report high confidence in their use of AI are nearly 3X as likely to see revenue gains as low-confidence owners (65% compared with 23%)
- Owners with more than two years of AI experience are roughly 2X as likely to see positive revenue impact as newer users (55% compared with 27%)
- Owners that report saving 16+ hours per week using AI are 3.7X as likely to report a positive revenue impact than those saving 1-3 hours (72% vs 20%)
Small business owners seek AI Solutions purpose built for their business
Bluehost’s research also unveiled trust gaps shaping where owners are willing to let AI operate. Only 6% of owners highly trust AI to write in their brand voice, which keeps much of AI’s potential behind the scenes and underscores the value of keeping a human in the loop.
The study also highlights how much guidance is still needed as AI reshapes search, content, and customer discovery. Nearly nine in ten owners have not yet acted on optimizing their websites for AI search, and 22% encountered the concept for the first time in this study, signaling a wide education gap at a moment when AI-powered discovery is becoming more important. Looking ahead at the opportunities with agentic AI adoption, 79% of owners are aware of AI agents, while just 16% have deployed one. Top automation priorities when considering agent deployment include site and SEO updates, social media and Google advertising management and lead capture and appointment booking.
“At Bluehost, we pride ourselves on being closely connected to small businesses to understand their needs and help them thrive online,” said Salim Ali, Bluehost CMO. “Given that SMBs account for 99.9% of all American businesses and generate 43.5% of total US GDP, the potential positive impact of AI on SMBs and the economy at large is extraordinary. Our mission is to help make AI highly accessible and useful to small business owners so they can leverage what is benefiting larger companies that have more technical resources. In addition to leveraging insights from our study to inform our product roadmap, we are inspired to launch a new AI Confidence webinar series designed to help small business owners succeed.”
The State of Small Business AI Confidence report is part of Bluehost’s ongoing commitment to helping SMBs and builders to build, grow, and scale online. Through AI-powered solutions designed specifically for small businesses, and a movement to expand AI education for small business owners, Bluehost aims to close the Confidence Divide and make advanced technology accessible, practical, and impactful for business owners at every stage of growth.
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