Are Small Businesses Really Using AI? What the 2026 Numbers Say

You hear about AI everywhere. It can feel like every business on your street already uses it. The real numbers tell a different story: most small businesses have not started yet.

That is good news if you run a trade or service business. It means you are not late. The owners who start now are still early, and early is where the advantage is.

Below are the most reliable numbers we could find. They come from government surveys in the US and Canada, not from companies trying to sell you something.

The US Census Bureau runs a survey every two weeks called the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS). It asks businesses if they use AI in any part of their work.

• From December 2025 to May 2026, between 17% and 20% of US businesses said they were using AI.
• Another 20% to 23% said they expected to be using it within the next six months.
• Big companies lead. 37% of firms with 250 or more employees use AI, and 32% of firms with 100 to 249 employees do.
• Tiny businesses lag. Less than 20% of firms with four or fewer employees use AI.

The Census Bureau also found that AI use grew among firms with 20 or more employees during that period, but did not change much for firms with fewer than 20. In other words, the gap between big and small is getting wider, not smaller.

Statistics Canada asks a similar question in its Canadian Survey on Business Conditions. In the second quarter of 2025, 12.2% of Canadian businesses said they had used AI to make products or deliver services in the past 12 months. One year earlier, that number was 6.1%.

So AI use in Canada doubled in a single year. But it still means close to 9 out of 10 Canadian businesses were not using it yet.

The industries most likely to use AI were information and cultural industries (35.6%), professional, scientific and technical services (31.7%), and finance and insurance (30.6%). Construction and trades were not near the top.

This is the question most owners and employees ask first. According to Statistics Canada, nearly 90% of businesses that used AI said it did not change how many people they employ.

That matches what we see with service businesses. AI is mostly taking over small, repeated tasks that nobody enjoys: answering the same questions, typing up notes, chasing reviews, sending reminders. The people stay. They just spend more time on the work that actually earns money.

For plumbers, HVAC companies, electricians, and other trades, AI is most useful in a few simple places:

• Answering the phone. An AI receptionist picks up every call, books the job, and texts you the details. This is the most common starting point because missed calls are lost money.
• Scheduling and reminders. Booking appointments into your calendar and texting customers before the visit.
• Writing. Drafting quotes, emails, job descriptions, and social posts faster.
• Reviews. Sending a review request after each job, so happy customers actually leave one.

You do not need an “AI strategy.” You need to fix one problem.

• Pick your most painful task. For most trades, that is the phone. Count how many calls you missed last week.
• Try one tool for two weeks. Use a free trial. Do not sign a long contract for something you have not tested.
• Measure one number. Missed calls, booked jobs, or hours saved. If the number does not move, cancel.
• Check privacy. Ask where your customer data is stored and who can see it. Canadian businesses should read our PIPEDA guide.

If the phone is your biggest problem, Mercvox is built for exactly that. It answers every call in under a second, books jobs into your calendar, and flags emergencies. You can try it free for 14 days.

• US Census Bureau — Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026)
• Statistics Canada — Analysis in Brief: AI use by Canadian businesses (2025)