Creator content is becoming key to AI search strategies.
That’s based on new research from creator commerce company LTK and Northwestern University, provided exclusively to Scalable.
The survey was conducted among brand C-Suite marketers and senior decision-makers in the US who already invest in creator marketing, with the majority of companies representing more than $100 million in annual revenue. Their seniority and existing investment can put them ahead of the curve when it comes to influencer marketing, but their outlook is also a good indicator of where the industry is headed.
Two-in-five (41%) of the senior brand leaders surveyed said they are now using creator content to influence what generative AI search tools share about their products. That wasn’t too far behind the percentage of respondents using creator content on retail media sites like Amazon, and ahead of affiliate marketing, connected TV and events.
On the one hand, it makes sense. AI chatbots rely heavily on creator-focused and user-generated platforms such as YouTube, Reddit and LinkedIn for product recommendations. (LTK also recently released its own AI chatbot, which surfaces content from its creators inside its consumer app.)
At the same time, 41% feels really high, considering that many brands are still trying to figure out how they are showing up in AI search results—and how to improve it. The best example we’ve seen is still from Mondelez, which changed its content strategy earlier this year after finding that its best-selling cookie brand Oreo appeared in AI search results only about 10% of the time. (Read more about that here.)
Zooming out, the findings raise major questions about what it means as more brands design their creator strategies for AI chatbots, rather than real human shoppers.
Concerns range from content becoming too formulaic or similar as websites are optimized for AI, to power and revenue concentrating in the hands of a few tech giants that control the AI platforms people rely on. For creators, it means increasing uncertainty around attribution and how they get paid for their work.
In the short term, however, the shift toward AI search is likely contributing to growing demand for creator content among brands: 57% of respondents in LTK and Northwestern’s survey cited content generation as a creator campaign goal, up 22% year-over-year. Roughly half also said they now work with 100 or more creators, meaning that there are now opportunities for more creators to make money.
That’s a big change from previous years, when many marketers were trying to limit the number of creators they partnered with.
The catch is that these brands aren’t interested in just any type of creator. As AI also makes it harder for people to tell what’s real or accurate online, marketers increasingly want to work with creators with a specific niche or expertise, which can help them stand out amid the sameness and influx of AI slop on social media. For example, Amazon partnered with parenting expert Dr. Becky Kennedy and her parenting platform Good Inside.
Overall, LTK and Northwestern found that the percentage of brand leaders who consider certified experts, such as chefs or home designers, to be important to their strategies grew to 49%, up by 23% year-over-year. That was just six percentage points behind lifestyle creators (55%), a much broader category that has long been the most popular among brands.
There’s another upside: Working with experts can also help brands show up in AI search since authority and credibility are top signals AI chatbots look for when deciding what content to surface. “Just like with SEO, you need more people pointing in,” said Amber Venz Box, co-founder and president of LTK.
We go deeper on the survey and what it means for creator strategies with Box and Northwestern professor Frank Dudley on Thursday’s episode of the Scalable podcast.
Creators Are Small Businesses
💼 Creators are getting more recognition from the federal government, thanks to new guidelines from the US Small Business Administration. That makes it easier for them to receive loans and other resources from the SBA.
According to the new guidelines, qualifying creators, such as filmmakers, video producers, podcasters and “social media entrepreneurs,” can use existing industry classifications to apply for support from the SBA. While creators could previously apply, it wasn’t clear which business category they fit into, which likely prevented some of them from seeking those resources.
The changes come as more creators are building real businesses that go beyond their content. As we’ve previously analyzed, many of the top creator media companies already fall into the small business category at least in terms of headcount, employing between 60 and 200 employees. (Beast Industries is one major exception.)
While many of these companies have been able to raise outside funding and bring on seasoned executives to run the businesses, many more creators still lack the resources and support to grow. The new SBA guidelines are a step toward changing that.
Back to the Early 2000s?
Victoria’s Secret held its annual fashion show in Los Angeles on Sunday, which was livestreamed primarily on YouTube. The show went on hiatus in 2019 amid criticism of unrealistic beauty standards and falling viewership. It returned in 2024.
A day later, Playboy launched a nationwide casting call to find its next Playmate, with fans voting on contestants. The winner gets $25,000 and a 12-page magazine spread.
The revival of both of these franchises is bringing back familiar concerns about body image and women’s mental health, especially as they are now being powered—and reaching wider audiences—through social media and creators.
For example, Victoria’s Secret ran a casting campaign dubbed “Angels Among Us” to find its newest model and generate social media buzz. Kylie Jenner was the star of the show, wearing a $50 million diamond-encrusted Fantasy Bra, which hadn’t been seen on the runway since 2018. Creators including Alex Consani and Quenlin Blackwell also walked the runway.
While Playboy and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show have been featuring more body types, including plus-size models like Ashley Graham, critics have called those efforts performative. We saw plenty of blowback on social media to the Victoria’s Secret show this week.
It’s an era we certainly thought had been left behind.
The Round Up
Substack is giving users more control over their feeds, including new content preferences, such as muting keywords or opting to see more or less video. This is becoming a trend: YouTube recently launched custom feeds, while Meta has rolled out a similar feature with Your Algorithm on Facebook and Instagram. (Control was also Jasmine’s word of the year for 2026.)
Sporty Group, the London company behind sports betting brand SportyBet, launched Football.com TV, a 24/7 soccer network on YouTube. Instead of live games, it will host watch parties and stream commentary from creators, journalists and other pundits.
Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform, launched a Fashion Advisory Board, which includes handbag designer Brandon Blackwood and Recho Omondi, the host of The Cutting Room Floor podcast. The initiative aims to help mentor and promote independent fashion creators.
Deals, Deals, Deals: Creator Edition
Disney announced a partnership with Dude Perfect, which includes the YouTube group developing original content for its own channels based on Disney franchises and events. Some Dude Perfect content will also be featured on Disney+.
IShowSpeed partnered with the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground and Breakwater Studios to be a producer on the documentary “The Eyes of Ghana.”
Acquired, a popular business podcast with hours-long episodes diving deep into companies like Coca-Cola and Hermès, released its latest episode about “Seinfeld” on Netflix. Acquired also released the episode on YouTube, but without video. In August, Netflix renewed its deal to keep the sitcom on its streaming service through 2031.
Disney+ and Hulu will stream true crime podcasts “Clues” and “Mother Knows Murder” from Pave Studios first before they become available on other platforms. Pave is also launching a new podcast with luxury fashion influencer Becca Bloom.
Creator Moves
Piers Morgan’s independent media company Uncensored launched four weekly newsletters on Beehiiv, covering soccer, history and the royal family as part of a paid membership offering that diversifies its revenue beyond advertising and YouTube. Earlier this year, Morgan told Kaya he wants Uncensored to be worth $1 billion within five years. Read more about his ambitions here.
Danielle Bernstein, the fashion influencer and founder of WeWoreWhat, revealed that she bought back equity in her business. The move comes as other creators and celebrities are rethinking their exits, or even buying their companies back. (Hi Reese Witherspoon!)
Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo are bringing their podcast “Giggly Squad” to Madison Square Garden in February as part of a wider tour. It’s the first female-hosted podcast to perform there.
Michelle Khare and Mythical’s Josh Scherer are among the creators who will appear on a special edition of Jeopardy! streaming on YouTube on Thursday.
🍼Alex Cooper welcomed a baby boy with husband Matt Kaplan.
Robert Downey Jr. is joining Snap’s AR glasses division Specs as “Chief Customer Experience Officer,” the latest celebrity or creator to get an honorary C-Suite title. These partnerships can come with quite the paycheck.
Platform Reversals
Meta apologized for temporarily suspending the Instagram account of the anti-Trump “No Kings” movement over the weekend as protests were happening. The company blamed a Claude AI tool, which it said was viewing the account’s profiles and posts so quickly that its systems mistook it for automated bot traffic.
TikTok restored the advertising account for Alex Gibney’s investigative documentary about Elon Musk after initially banning it over political content. YouTube and Meta also previously rejected ads for the “Musk” film before reversing course. X, which is owned by Musk, is unsurprisingly not allowing ads for it.
Talent Tracker
Dan Lin is out as Netflix‘s film head. His reported ousting comes after the streamer laid off 1,000 employees last week, including chief content officer Bela Bajaria and Lin’s deputy Doug Belgrad. Former Disney exec Peter Rice is taking Bajaria’s position, but it’s not yet clear who will replace Lin.
UTA elevated seven agents into leadership roles in its Creators division: Beth Hatchett, Ike Zhang, Nicole Lonner, Rebecca Bibb, Sarah Mathews, Scarlett Perlman and Shelby Schenkman.
Spy Ninjas Entertainment, a creator-led media company, hired Anthony Falcon as creative director, Joe Bereta as associate creative director and Jordan Martin as head of production.
