In October 2026 AgencyIndex asked UK marketing agencies one question: how much of your agency's client work involves generative AI tools right now? 13 agencies answered. 7 said most of their client work, 3 said some of it and 3 said very little. None said they don't use generative AI in client work at all.
10 of the 13 answers came from the person who runs the agency: 7 founders or co-founders and 3 directors or managing directors. 12 of the 13 are independent agencies, and every one whose size we know has 50 staff or fewer.
The results
We asked: "How much of your agency's client work involves generative AI tools right now?" By generative AI tools we meant things like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Midjourney, not the AI built into ad platforms.
| Answer | Agencies |
|---|---|
Most of it More than half of our client work has AI somewhere in it | 7of 13 |
Some of it A fair share of our client work, but under half | 3of 13 |
Very little The odd task here and there | 3of 13 |
None We don't use generative AI in client work | 0of 13 |
Nobody chose "Not sure, or I'm not the right person to say".
What stands out
No agency that answered keeps generative AI out of client work. Every one of the 13 uses it somewhere, and for 7 of them it now touches most of what they deliver.
The answers split, they don't cluster. 7 agencies put AI in most of their work while 3 keep it to the odd task. Among the agencies that answered, how far AI goes into client work is still a choice each one makes, not a settled norm.
These are the people who decide. Most answers came from founders and directors, the people who set how an agency works, rather than from staff describing their own tasks.
What agency leaders told us in interviews
The poll asks how much. Our interviews with agency founders show how differently they draw the line.
Ben Foster, CEO of The SEO Works, told us his team went through a phase where "everyone used it differently". The agency has "since standardised on Claude and built custom workflows that go well beyond a single prompt". Read the interview with Ben Foster.
Richard Michie, founder of The Marketing Optimist, went the other way on output: "I made a pledge that we'll never use AI as our final output". His team uses it "for the more mundane parts". Read the interview with Richard Michie.
Phil Treagus-Evans, co-founder of Giraffe Social, put it this way: "We use it, as everyone does, for the jobs it's good at." And: "AI can help you make more. It can't make you matter." Read the interview with Phil Treagus-Evans.
How we ran the poll
- Who we asked: the people who manage UK agency listings on AgencyIndex and receive our newsletter, The Dispatch. The poll email was delivered to 212 of them on 12 October 2026, with one reminder on 15 October.
- The question and answers: exactly as written above. Half the people asked saw the answers in reverse order, so an answer's position in the list did not favour it.
- When: answers came in between 12 and 19 October 2026. The poll closed when we published these results.
- One answer per agency: where two people from the same agency answered, only the first answer counts.
- Confirmed answers only: clicking an answer in the email did not count as a vote. Each person had to confirm their answer on the page, so email security software that opens links could not vote on anyone's behalf.
- Who answered: going by the job titles they gave us when they listed or claimed their agency, 7 answered as founder or co-founder, 3 as director or managing director, 2 as other members of staff, and 1 gave no title. 12 are independent agencies and 1 is a specialist agency.
- What it can and can't tell you: agencies chose whether to answer, so these results describe the 13 agencies that did, not every UK agency. With 13 answers we give counts, not percentages.
Questions about this poll
How many UK marketing agencies use generative AI in client work?
In the AgencyIndex poll of October 2026, all 13 UK agencies that answered said they use generative AI in at least some client work, and 7 of the 13 said it is in most of it. The poll describes the agencies that answered, not every agency in the UK.
What counts as a generative AI tool here?
Tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Midjourney. The question excluded the AI built into ad platforms, so automated bidding in Google Ads or Meta does not count on its own.
Who answered?
People who manage UK agency listings on AgencyIndex. 10 of the 13 answers came from a founder, co-founder, director or managing director.
Can I quote these results?
Yes. Please credit "AgencyIndex poll of UK marketing agencies, October 2026" and link to this page.
Poll run by AgencyIndex, 12 to 19 October 2026. 13 agencies answered.