A neutral, enduring benchmark for AI in Chicago marketing.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping marketing faster than any shift in a generation, yet most organizations have no reliable way to understand where they stand. Anecdote and vendor marketing fill the gap that rigorous, local data should occupy.

This research replaces speculation with a consistent, transparent measure — one that the Chicago marketing community can return to year after year to see how the region is genuinely progressing.

Chicago is one of the country's most significant marketing hubs, home to global agencies, enterprise brands, nimble startups, and a deep bench of practitioners. That breadth makes it an ideal setting to study how AI adoption varies across organization types and sizes.

A regional focus also makes the findings actionable. Rather than a diffuse national average, the report reflects the specific market in which its participants compete and hire.

The report is presented by Dance, but it is designed to be independent and vendor-agnostic. The research does not promote specific products, and its methodology is published openly for scrutiny.

Findings are reported only in aggregate. Individual responses are never published or attributed to a person or organization.

Anyone involved in marketing at an organization operating in the greater Chicago area — from executives setting strategy to practitioners doing the work. A wide range of perspectives makes the benchmark more accurate and more useful to everyone who relies on it.