Basis Survey Shows Claude Use Among Marketers Hit 72% in 2026

Claude use among marketers grew about 4x in a year. That's the headline number in Basis's 2026 AI and the Future of Marketing report, published on 19 October.

Basis surveyed 184 marketing and advertising professionals from agencies and brands. 72.3% now use Anthropic's Claude, up from 17.9%.

ChatGPT is still the most used tool at 74.5%. A year ago it sat at 88.6%.

How many marketers use Claude in 2026?

Basis's 2026 AI and the Future of Marketing report found that 72.3% of marketing and advertising professionals use Anthropic's Claude, up from 17.9% in 2025. ChatGPT use fell to 74.5% from 88.6% over the same period. Basis surveyed 184 professionals from agencies and brands for the report.

Claude use among marketers grew 4x in a year

Here's the Basis data next to Social Media Examiner's July survey of 681 marketers:

2 calculations change how you read this.

First, 2.2 points of 184 respondents is about 4 people. On Basis's numbers, ChatGPT and Claude are close to level.

Second, the 2 shares add up to 146.8%, so people are stacking tools. At least 46.8% of Basis's respondents must use both ChatGPT and Claude.

The same maths on Social Media Examiner's figures puts at least 46% of its respondents on both.

If you're weighing them for heavier work, we compared Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 on benchmarks and price.

Experienced marketers lean hardest toward Claude

Social Media Examiner's report splits platform use by AI experience. Among marketers with under 1 year of AI use, 46% use Claude.

Among marketers with 3 or more years, that rises to 76%. ChatGPT sits at 68% and 85% across the same 2 groups.

Divide each tool's "most important" votes by its users and the loyalty gap shows. Claude turns 42 of its 65 points into a top-tool vote, or about 65%.

ChatGPT turns 39 of its 81 points into one, or about 48%. More marketers have ChatGPT open, and a larger share of Claude users treat it as their main tool.

What else the Basis report found

From the same report:

• 61.4% use generative or agentic AI every day, up from 33.6% last year
• 51.1% of marketing organisations now use AI agents
• 47.8% replaced human tasks with AI in the past 12 months
• Just 6.5% measure AI investments against defined benchmarks
• 13.0% call their first-party data extensive and well-structured

3 caveats before you cite these numbers

184 is a small sample. Basis also sells ad-buying software, so it has a stake in how AI in advertising is read.

Basis's usage shares add up past 100%, so they count any use. Social Media Examiner's "most important" question shows which tool marketers rely on, and there Claude leads 42% to 39%.

That survey leans small: 60% of its respondents work in businesses of 10 or fewer people. B2B respondents favour Claude, and B2C respondents lean ChatGPT.

Even so, 2 different samples point in the same direction. That agreement is the most citable part of this story.

3 things to do with these numbers

Test your team's key workflow in both tools. With at least 46.8% of Basis's respondents running both, a 2-tool setup is normal.

Set an ROI benchmark before you scale either one. Basis found only 6.5% of organisations measure AI against defined benchmarks.

If you use Claude to make content at scale, read Anthropic's new rule against seeding fake sources before you build anything that publishes across several sites.

Disclaimer: This article is AI-assisted and may contain errors, so please verify key details against the linked sources.