Profound and Listen Labs Release New Research Showing Marketing Leaders Are Already Living in the LLM Era

Study of 100 CMOs finds AI has become core marketing infrastructure, with leaders increasingly relying on multiple models for different business functions

NEW YORK, July 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Profound and Listen Labs today released new research examining how chief marketing officers are integrating large language models into marketing workflows, evaluating vendors, building teams, and making strategic decisions.

For years, AI adoption was measured by experimentation. Teams tested tools, explored use cases, and debated where AI could create value. The new research suggests that the era of experimentation is ending, with AI becoming part of day-to-day operations for marketing leaders.

Based on interviews with 100 CMOs across technology, financial services, healthcare, professional services, and other industries, the report finds that large language models now influence how marketing teams create content, conduct research, evaluate vendors, hire talent, and structure workflows. Rather than standardizing on a single AI platform, many marketing leaders are building AI stacks, using different models for different types of work.

The findings also highlight how AI is beginning to reshape customer acquisition and discovery. As buyers increasingly turn to AI systems to research products and vendors, marketing teams must think beyond traditional search visibility and consider how their brands appear inside AI-generated answers.

Key findings include:

• AI has moved from experimentation to operations. Ninety percent of CMOs use LLMs daily, and 85% report their usage has increased over the past six to twelve months. AI adoption is no longer concentrated among early adopters. It has become part of everyday marketing work.
• CMOs are building AI stacks, not standardizing on one model. Claude emerged as the preferred platform for strategy and long-form writing (44%), ChatGPT led for content creation and copywriting (29%), Gemini was favored for Google ecosystem workflows (22%), and Copilot was most commonly used for Microsoft-centric enterprise tasks (12%).
• LLMs are reshaping how B2B buyers discover vendors. Peer recommendations remain the most common starting point for vendor discovery (49%), but 22% of CMOs now begin research inside an LLM, compared with 16% who start with traditional search engines.
• The AI advantage is shifting from prompts to systems. Nearly half of respondents (47%) have moved beyond ad hoc prompting into structured AI workflows, automated reporting, and custom agents.
• AI is changing how marketing teams are built. Twenty-eight percent say AI fluency is now a hiring requirement, while 32% expect AI-driven team restructuring or smaller marketing organizations.
  
  

"CMOs were testing prompts a year ago," said Alfred Wahlforss, CEO of Listen Labs. "Now they're building whole systems, optimizing LLM visibility and hiring for AI fluency. This is the new standard."

"The study shows that marketing leaders aren't treating AI as a single category anymore," said James Cadwallader, Co-founder and CEO of Profound. "Different models are earning different roles inside the organization, and that specialization is starting to influence how teams create content, evaluate vendors, and make purchasing decisions."

The full report is available today.

About Profound

Profound is the marketing platform for the era of AI. Thousands of teams use Profound’s Agents to understand, control, and scale how they appear across AI Search. Trusted by Figma, Walmart, Ramp, MongoDB, Chime, and U.S. Bank, Profound arms visionary marketers with the tools to win the zero-click internet.

Learn more at www.tryprofound.com.

About Listen Labs

Listen Labs is the end-to-end voice-of-customer platform for marketing leaders. Marketing teams use Listen to truly know their customers and confidently make their biggest decisions: new messaging, marketing channels, and brand campaigns. Trusted by companies from the Fortune 50 to startups, including Anthropic, Microsoft, Cognition, Perplexity, and Sweetgreen, Listen helps leading teams maximize their ROI and stand out in the market.

Learn more at listenlabs.ai.

Media Contact

Layla Baradaran
Media@tryprofound.com

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