It seems like our uses for AI change more every day, especially in the creator economy.
A new report from URLgenius suggests that the influencer economy is entering a new phase, powered by AI and data-driven decision-making.
The 2025 URLgenius Creator Trend Index reveals that AI is now central to how professional creators manage content, commerce and earnings, signalling a shift from side hustles to scalable small businesses.
According to the report, 44% of creators now use AI tools every week for their content and monetisation efforts, more than doubling from 19% earlier this year. The change has coincided with a 223% year-on-year increase in platform traffic during October’s Amazon Prime Day, largely fuelled by creators automating affiliate links and performance tracking.
The emergence of the “Commerce OmniFluencer”
URLgenius founder and CEO Brian Klais describes this new generation of creators as “Commerce OmniFluencers”: professionals who operate across multiple platforms, diversify income through brand and affiliate partnerships, and use analytics to convert engagement into revenue.
“The Commerce OmniFluencer represents the professional evolution of the Creator Economy,” says Klais. “They understand how to turn attention into income and are using AI to scale like brands. This is the creator economy’s next leap.”
Prime Day sets the tone for the holidays
The October Prime Day results offered a preview of what to expect this holiday season. URLgenius recorded a 290% rise in AI-assisted Marketplace activity compared with July’s Prime Day and 30% growth across creators’ main social channels.
“October Prime Day showed how creators can turn AI-assisted product discovery and recommendations into measurable results,” says Klais. “What used to be a manual search process is now instant and intelligent, helping creators monetise faster and give audiences exactly what they want.”
This professionalisation marks the arrival of the Commerce OmniFluencer: creators who treat their work as a business and view AI as their competitive advantage.
Looking ahead to 2026
The outlook for next year is optimistic, particularly among experienced and AI-savvy creators. The Index found that 58% of weekly AI users expect income growth in 2026. Those with diversified income streams are nearly twice as optimistic about the future as single-channel creators, and veterans with over three years’ experience are twice as confident as newcomers.
“The next phase of the Creator Economy rewards adaptability and intelligence over scale alone,” says Klais. “Creators who measure what works and build structure around it will be the ones who thrive in 2026.”
