# Small-Business Owners Report AI Time Savings, Mixed Revenue Results

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/52077
Published: 2026-11-09T05:15:10.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-09T05:15:10.000Z
Section: Business

> The 78% time-savings figure covers 350 owners; revenue answers came from 299 AI users, whose results ranged from increases to no change.

A May 2026 survey of 350 U.S. small-business owners found that 78% reported weekly time savings from AI, while revenue reports among 299 AI users were mixed.

Among the AI users, 43% reported no revenue change after adopting AI, and 39% reported an increase. Across all 299 users, 6% reported a significant increase and 33% reported a somewhat larger increase. Another 17% said it was too early to tell, while 1% reported a decrease.

The figures reflect respondents’ accounts. The survey did not measure productivity changes or establish that AI caused revenue shifts, and it did not track whether AI brought in new customers.

Eric Groves, Alignable’s co-founder and CEO, argued Saturday that general-purpose AI tools lack the relationship data needed to identify referral opportunities. The survey did not test that argument. Several companies have announced AI products aimed at small-business tasks, but their announcements describe features rather than measured customer-acquisition results.

Alignable announced Allie on Sept. 16, an AI networking assistant designed to surface contacts for outreach, introductions and referrals using the company’s relationship graph. The graph draws on 14 years of activity, and Allie was available to paying members in the United States and Canada.

Meta announced Muse for Small Business on Sept. 29. Owners could set goals such as finding new customers and connect the agent to Facebook and Instagram business accounts and tools including QuickBooks, Shopify and Stripe. Meta’s announced design required user approval before Muse could publish, send or spend.

Google announced new Gemini tools for small-business owners on Oct. 20, including a landing page and connected tools designed to help with branding, finances and customer insights.

Other small-business AI offerings were announced earlier in 2026. Anthropic announced Claude for Small Business on May 13 with connectors and workflows for tools including QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. OpenAI announced a ChatGPT program for small businesses on July 21.