![local voice logo [recovered]](https://mylocalvoice.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Local-Voice-Logo-Recovered-250x56.png){kind=logo}
Local Voice research
Small Business AI Use Jumped From 39% to 55% in One Year
Thryv found small business AI use rose from 39% to 55% in a year. No primary survey yet measures how many use AI to answer the phone.
By Adam Brewer, founder of Local Voice. Figures checked October 10, 2026.
Small business AI use jumped from 39% in 2024 to 55% in 2025, according to Thryv's survey of 540 small business decision-makers. Jobber's 2026 report found 52% of U.S. home service business owners use AI.
Neither survey asks whether AI answers the phone, and we found no primary survey that does for small businesses. The closest figure: about 18% of all home service owners use AI for customer communication or follow-ups (Local Voice calculation from Jobber).
Every figure was checked at its source on October 10, 2026. Derived figures are marked as Local Voice calculations, with the math shown in the methodology.
Key findings
Small business AI use rose from 39% in 2024 to 55% in 2025, according to Thryv's May 2025 survey of 540 small business decision-makers. That's 16 percentage points (Local Voice calculation).
Among small businesses with 10 to 100 employees, AI use rose from 47% to 68% in one year, per Thryv's 2025 survey.
52% of U.S. home service business owners use AI, according to Jobber's survey of 1,050 owners in December 2025. Among owners under 30, it's 64%.
About 18% of all U.S. home service owners use AI for customer communication or follow-ups, a Local Voice calculation from Jobber's 2026 report (52% × 35%).
No primary survey we found reports how many small businesses use AI to answer phone calls. Thryv (2025), Jobber (2026), Gartner (2024) and Sinch (2025) all leave it out.
How fast is small business AI use growing?
By 16 percentage points in a year. Thryv's second annual AI and Small Business survey found 39% of small businesses used AI in 2024 and 55% in 2025. Thryv sells marketing and management software to small businesses.
Thryv calls the jump "a 41% increase." That's the relative change: 16 ÷ 39 = 41%. It doesn't mean 41 more businesses in every 100 started using AI.
Figure 1. Small business AI use rose from 39% to 55% in one year, and from 47% to 68% at firms with 10 to 100 employees
Share of small business decision-makers who say their business currently uses AI. Thryv, 2024 and 2025.
Source: Thryv, AI and Small Business survey, July 17, 2025. 540 decision-makers, May 4 to 14, 2025.
Thryv collected 540 responses between May 4 and May 14, 2025. Respondents were decision-makers aged 21 or older at businesses with 1 to 100 employees and $100,000 to $9.9 million in revenue. Thryv calls it a national survey and doesn't name the country.
Among the businesses already using AI, 63% use it daily. Their top uses were data analysis (62%), content generation (55%) and customer engagement tools like chatbots (46%).
Those shares are of AI users only. As a share of all 540 respondents, about 35% use AI daily and about 25% use customer engagement tools like chatbots. Both are Local Voice calculations: 55% × 63% and 55% × 46%.
How many home service owners use AI?
About half. Jobber's 2026 Home Service Trends Report found 52% of U.S. home service business owners use AI. Jobber surveyed 1,050 owners through Conjointly in December 2025, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points at 90% confidence.
Younger owners lead. 64% of pros under 30 already use AI, 12 points above the 52% average (Local Voice calculation). Jobber also reports that another 27% plan to adopt AI in the next year, 36% are unsure and 37% have no plans. Those three add to 100%, so they appear to be shares of owners not yet using AI.
Busy shops use it more. 88% of Jobber's high-confidence businesses use AI, against 27% of low-confidence ones. Jobber defines high-confidence partly as fully booked with growing demand, so the gap shows a link between AI and growth. It doesn't show which causes which.
Jobber also asked AI users what they use it for. Converting each answer to a share of all owners shows how far AI has reached into customer-facing work.
Share of all owners using AI for a task = 52% who use AI × share of AI users who use it for that task
Figure 2. About 18% of all home service owners use AI for customer communication, against 28% for quotes
Share of all U.S. home service business owners using AI for each task. Local Voice calculation from Jobber's 2026 report.
Jobber's list doesn't include answering phone calls. Each task bar is 52% × the share of AI users Jobber reports for that task, rounded to whole percents.
Source: Local Voice calculation from Jobber, 2026 Home Service Trends Report. 1,050 U.S. home service business owners, December 2025.
Back-office work leads. Among AI users, Jobber found 54% use it for estimates and quotes and 52% for invoices. Customer communication or follow-ups comes in at 35% of AI users, about 18% of all owners.
Jobber's list has no line for answering phone calls. Nearly 1 in 5 owners told Jobber they don't believe AI will help their business at all.
How many small businesses use AI to answer the phone?
No primary survey we found isolates AI phone answering for small businesses. Any vendor who quotes you a precise share is guessing or citing a figure we couldn't trace.
Four surveys come close. Each asked a different group a different question, and none measured AI phone answering at small businesses.
Table 1. The closest published figures to AI phone answering, and what each one leaves out
Rows run from closest to small service businesses to furthest. Jobber (December 2025 survey). Thryv (May 2025). Gartner (July to August 2024). Sinch (June 2025 release; reported by No Jitter). About 18% and about 25% are Local Voice calculations.
Gartner's 2024 survey covered customer service and support leaders, the people who run service departments. In it, 44% were exploring a customer-facing GenAI voicebot, 11% were piloting one and 5% had one deployed. Gartner didn't publish company sizes.
Sinch's 2025 release lists AI voice assistants among the top investment areas for 2025, at 63%. No Jitter reported the figure as 63% of business leaders planning to adopt them. Sinch's release doesn't say what the 63% is a share of.
In September 2026, AInora's statistics page credited Gartner with predicting that 60% of small service businesses would use AI phone handling by 2028. On October 10, 2026, we found it on none of the pages we opened. No Gartner report or press release says it. Gartner's published 2028 prediction is about the Fortune 500: none will have fully eliminated human customer service by then.
Will AI replace the person who answers your phone?
Few small business decision-makers expect it to. In Thryv's 2025 survey, only 14% of respondents believe AI could replace an employee. 42% said they're open to the idea under the right conditions.
Gartner expects companies to pull back from full replacement. In September 2025, it predicted that by 2027, 50% of organizations that expected to cut their service workforce significantly because of AI will drop those plans. It also predicted that by 2028, none of the Fortune 500 will have fully eliminated human customer service.
Customers want the same thing. Invoca's 2025 survey found 77% of buyers are more willing to use a brand's AI when a person is easy to reach. See why 77% accept AI as long as a human is still available.
For a small shop, the realistic setup pairs AI with a person. AI takes the calls nobody can answer, and a person handles the ones that need judgment. For which calls fit each, see what customers will let AI do on the phone.
What to do this week
Start where other owners already use AI. Jobber found 54% of AI-using home service owners use it for estimates and quotes. If you haven't tried AI yet, drafting a quote is a low-risk first test.
Count your own missed calls for 30 days. No survey tells you how many of your competitors answer with AI, so your own numbers decide it. See what a missed call costs, by trade.
Ask vendors for the source behind every adoption stat. If a pitch cites "Gartner: 60% of small service businesses by 2028," ask for the report. We couldn't find it.
Price coverage before you decide. Compare each coverage option against what one booked job is worth to you. We sell the AI option, so check our math. See what it costs to answer every call.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of small businesses use AI?
55% in 2025, up from 39% in 2024, according to Thryv's survey of 540 small business decision-makers at firms with 1 to 100 employees. Firms with 10 to 100 employees reached 68%. Jobber's survey of 1,050 U.S. home service owners in December 2025 found 52% use AI.
How many small businesses use AI to answer their phones?
No primary survey we found measures it. The closest figures come from Jobber and Thryv. Jobber found 35% of AI-using home service owners use it for customer communication or follow-ups, about 18% of all owners. Thryv found 46% of AI users use customer engagement tools like chatbots. Neither asked about phone calls.
What do contractors use AI for?
Mostly paperwork. Among home service owners who use AI, Jobber's 2026 report found 54% use it for estimates and quotes, 52% for invoices and 51% for emails and proposals. 35% use it for customer communication or follow-ups and 29% for scheduling or dispatching crews.
Is the Gartner prediction that 60% of small service businesses will use AI phone handling by 2028 real?
We couldn't find it. The figure ran on AI receptionist vendor pages in September 2026, and on October 10, 2026, we found it on none of the pages we opened. We found no Gartner report or press release behind it. Gartner did predict in September 2025 that none of the Fortune 500 will have fully eliminated human customer service by 2028.
Will AI replace customer service staff at small businesses?
Few small business decision-makers expect that. Only 14% of respondents in Thryv's 2025 survey believe AI could replace an employee, though 42% are open to the idea under the right conditions. Gartner predicts 50% of organizations that expected big AI-driven service cuts will drop those plans by 2027.
Free tool
What do missed calls cost your business?
Pick your trade, enter how many calls you miss and what a job is worth. The free calculator shows the sales you lose each month, each year and per missed call, using published booking and close rates.
Open the calculatorMethodology
Formulas
Change in points = 2025 share minus 2024 share (55% minus 39% = 16 points; 68% minus 47% = 21 points). Relative change = points ÷ 2024 share (16 ÷ 39 = 41%, matching Thryv's stated 41%). Share of all respondents using AI for a task = share using AI × share of AI users using it for that task. Thryv: 55% × 63% = 34.65%, shown as 35%; 55% × 46% = 25.3%, shown as 25%. Jobber: 52% × task share, for example 52% × 35% = 18.2%, shown as 18%.
Jobber task inputs
Shares of AI-using owners, from Jobber's chart: estimates, quotes or contracts 54%; invoices or billing documents 52%; emails, proposals or job descriptions 51%; marketing content or social posts 46%; customer communication or follow-ups 35%; analyzing customer feedback or reviews 33%; scheduling or dispatching crews 29%; training or safety documentation 29%. The chart is labeled "among home service businesses," but Jobber's text says the 54%, 52% and 51% are "for those who've already adopted AI." A 54% share can't sit inside a 52% adoption rate, so we treat every task share as a share of AI users. Calculated values: 28%, 27%, 27%, 24%, 18%, 17%, 15%, 15%.
Thryv survey
Second annual AI and Small Business survey, Thryv press release dated July 17, 2025. 540 small business decision-makers aged 21 or older, surveyed May 4 to May 14, 2025. All had been in business at least a year, with 1 to 100 employees and $100,000 to $9.9 million in revenue. Thryv calls it national and doesn't name the country. The 63% daily use and the use-case shares are "among current AI small business users," which we take to be the 55%. The research file listed an AIthority republication as the source; it didn't load on October 10, 2026, so this post cites Thryv's own release and Business Wire.
Jobber survey
2026 Home Service Trends Report. 1,050 U.S. home service business owners, surveyed through Conjointly in December 2025, margin of error plus or minus 3 points at 90% confidence. Jobber doesn't state the base for 27% plan to adopt, 36% unsure and 37% no plans. The three add to 100%, which suggests they are shares of owners not yet using AI. High-confidence businesses reported being fully booked with significant growth in demand and expected growth in job size and revenue. Low-confidence businesses had declining expectations.
Gartner
December 9, 2024 press release: 187 customer service and support leaders surveyed July to August 2024. 85% will explore or pilot a customer-facing conversational GenAI solution in 2025. 44% were exploring a GenAI voicebot, 11% piloting and 5% deployed. Gartner doesn't explain how the voicebot figures relate to the 85%. September 10, 2025 press release: predictions for 2027 and 2028, with no survey sample cited.
Sinch
Sinch press release, June 16, 2025: surveys of 2,800 consumers and 1,600 business leaders (U.S., per No Jitter). Sinch says 97% of businesses plan to use AI in customer communications this year, and lists AI voice assistants (63%) among its top 2025 investment areas. No Jitter (June 17, 2025) words the figure as 63% planning to adopt AI voice assistants. This post uses Sinch's wording.
Searching for an AI phone answering figure
On October 10, 2026, we searched for any primary survey that reports the share of small businesses using AI to answer phone calls. Results were vendor statistics pages without traceable primary sources. We also checked the "Gartner 60% by 2028" claim. In September 2026 it ran on AInora's statistics page. On October 10 we found it on none of the pages we opened, and we found no Gartner source.
Combining studies
Table 1 sets four surveys side by side. They measured different people at different times and asked different questions. Don't add or average them.
When we checked
Every source was checked on October 10, 2026: Thryv's investor relations release and its Business Wire copy, Jobber's report page, both Gartner press releases, Sinch's PR Newswire release, No Jitter's article and Invoca's July 24, 2025 press release. The September 2026 sighting of the Gartner 60% claim comes from Local Voice's research notes.
Sources
Thryv. AI Adoption Among Small Businesses Surges 41% in 2025 According to New Survey from Thryv. Thryv press release, July 17, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Thryv via Business Wire. AI Adoption Among Small Businesses Surges 41% in 2025 According to New Survey from Thryv. Press release via Business Wire, July 17, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Jobber. 2026 Home Service Trends Report. Survey of 1,050 U.S. home service business owners, December 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Gartner. Gartner Survey Reveals 85% of Customer Service Leaders Will Explore or Pilot Customer-Facing Conversational GenAI in 2025. Press release, December 9, 2024. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Gartner. Gartner Predicts None of the Fortune 500 Companies Will Have Fully Eliminated Human Customer Service by 2028. Press release, September 10, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Sinch. 97% of Businesses to Use AI in Customer Communications in 2025, But Are Consumers Ready for It?. Press release via PR Newswire, June 16, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026.
No Jitter. End Users Prefer People to AI Agents, Unless They're in a Hurry. Matt Vartabedian, June 17, 2025. Reports Sinch's survey. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Invoca. Invoca Study Reveals Consumers Embrace AI, but Reject Replacing Humans, in the Buying Experience. Press release, July 24, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Stop missing calls
Answer every call, even after hours.
Local Voice answers your phone and books callers onto your calendar. Plans start at $397 a month for 500 minutes, plus a $500 setup fee. Call the demo line to hear it work.