Brands Rethink Content as AI Agents Shop
Gartner survey finds most CMOs have changed content strategies to protect brands from AI assistants.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
Gartner reported that 61% of chief marketing officers have modified content strategies to protect their brands from AI assistants, based on responses from 408 senior marketing leaders across the U.S. and Canada. Human Security separately reported that 85% of agent requests go straight to product and search pages.
Why it matters
As AI agents increasingly handle shopping and research, marketers are being pushed to monitor how their brands are represented in AI-generated content. The findings suggest brands are both correcting misinformation and reinvesting in human touchpoints.
Gartner's study of 408 senior marketing leaders in the U.S. and Canada found 42% are actively correcting AI-generated misinformation about their brands, while 11% are still deciding how to approach agentic ecommerce.
The players
Gartner
Gartner is a global research and advisory firm known for its widely cited technology and marketing surveys.
Human Security
Human Security is a cybersecurity company that publishes monthly benchmarks tracking AI agent traffic across the web.
The details
Gartner conducted its study between July and August 2026. Human Security's monthly benchmark found travel ranked second in agentic traffic, growing 2.9 times between September and October, while media's share fell from 21.1% to 19.1%.
Timeline
July–August 2026: Gartner conducts its CMO study.
September–October 2026: Travel agentic traffic grows 2.9 times.
Monday, November 9, 2026: Gartner and Human Security publish their data.
Later in November 2026: Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach.
Big Picture
Human Security's monthly State of Agentic Traffic report shows AI agents increasingly routing users directly to product and search pages. The Gartner survey indicates marketers are now responding to that shift by changing how they manage brand content.
Shoppers may increasingly find AI assistants sending them straight to product and search pages rather than brand storefronts. Marketers' efforts to correct AI-generated misinformation could affect the accuracy of product information consumers see.
The takeaway
Brands that monitor how AI assistants describe their products may be better positioned as agentic shopping grows. Consumers should still verify product details they receive from AI tools against official sources.
What happens next
Human Security plans to publish a report on how AI agents behaved during the holidays, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrive later this month.
Further reading
Explore more on Artificial Intelligence developments shaping how brands reach consumers.
Source note: This article includes information reported by MediaPost.
