A few years ago, setting up a campaign with creators meant spending whole afternoons scrolling through Instagram profiles, keeping your fingers crossed that the follower counts were genuine, and gauging results by eye. By 2026, that picture has changed completely. Artificial intelligence has become part of every stage of the process, from finding the right creator to predicting how well a collaboration will perform. And, as if that weren’t enough, influencers have emerged who don’t exist outside a screen but still generate revenue.
If you’re in charge of marketing for an SME or a growing brand, the AI-powered influencer marketing It’s no longer a big-budget experiment. It’s a tool you can use today, provided you understand what’s really going on behind the headlines. Let’s get to the heart of the matter with facts, not hot air.
What is AI-powered influencer marketing?
AI-powered influencer marketing is the use of artificial intelligence tools to plan, execute and measure campaigns with content creators. In practice, this translates into three things: algorithms that analyse thousands of profiles to find the creator who best suits your audience, models that estimate performance before you spend a single euro, and systems that measure the actual impact of each post. Added to this is a new category: the virtual influencers, computer-generated characters that brands use to represent themselves without relying on a real person.
To put it another way: AI does not replace the relationship between the brand and the creator; it organises it. It reduces the manual work and the element of “gut feeling” that used to weigh so heavily on the process.
The figures that explain why now
It is no coincidence that this channel is the talk of the town. According to the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2026 According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the influencer marketing sector was worth around 32,550 million dollars in 2025, compared with 1.7 billion in 2015. By 2026, various projections put the figure at over 40,000 million, although these figures should be treated as estimates: they vary significantly depending on the source and methodology, and there is no single figure that can be regarded as confirmed.
There are two indicators that I find more useful than market size. The first: according to that same report, nearly two-thirds of the brands surveyed plan to increase their budget for creators. The second: the average return reported by Influencer Marketing Hub is around $5.78 for every dollar invested. This is a self-reported industry average, not a guarantee; your results will depend on who you choose and how you measure them. But it gives an idea of why so many companies keep coming back.
If you add to this the fact that consumption has shifted towards the short-form video and towards the social commerce, you can see why creators have become a sales channel and not just a means of raising awareness.
Virtual influencers: creators who never sleep (and don’t even exist)
The most striking aspect is that of AI-generated creators. Characters such as Lil Miquela and the Brazilian Lu do Magalu have amassed millions of followers and secured collaborations with real brands. The article Marketing Week has documented how more and more advertisers are exploring these “digital twins” to gain complete control over the image, availability and message.
When it comes to the size of this sub-segment, we need to be honest: estimates vary wildly, ranging from a few billion to much higher figures, depending on which study you look at. I cannot confirm a specific figure backed by reliable sources, so I prefer to stick to what is verifiable: it is a growing market, and its appeal to brands lies in the control it offers and the reduction of reputational risks associated with a real person.
The flip side is obvious. A character who doesn’t exist doesn’t inspire the same trust as a real person recommending something they actually use. That’s why the authentic marketing It remains your greatest ally: technology helps, but credibility comes from honesty.
How AI is changing day-to-day work
Beyond the headlines, this is what you really notice when you incorporate AI into a campaign with creators:
- Identification. Instead of searching manually, you describe your ideal client and a tool returns creators whose audience matches that description, whilst filtering out profiles with inflated follower counts or suspicious engagement levels.
- Forecast. Before signing a deal, some systems estimate likely reach and engagement based on the creator’s track record. It’s not a crystal ball, but it does reduce the element of risk.
- Production. AI speeds up the creation of scripts, copy variations and subtitles, so that a creator can test more versions of the same message without increasing the workload.
- Measurement. Here’s the key change. With last-click attribution now being phased out, AI helps link posts to actual sales and understand which creators are delivering real value.
An important point to bear in mind so we don’t mislead ourselves: just because a campaign coincides with a sales peak does not mean it caused it. Correlation does not imply causation, and any tool that promises absolute certainty about attribution is worth treating with a degree of scepticism.
The legal aspect you cannot ignore
Working with content creators and AI involves two layers of regulation which, in Spain and the EU, have become very specific. On the one hand, advertising must be identified as such: in Spain, the obligations for creators with a large audience are set out in Royal Decree 444/2024, which elaborates on the concept of “users of particular relevance” under the General Audiovisual Communication Act. It is advisable to review the exact details with legal counsel, as they depend on revenue and follower thresholds.
On the other hand, when you use content generated or altered by AI, the European Union AI Act and their transparency obligations. The underlying idea is simple: if something is artificial, the public has a right to know. Clearly labelling a virtual influencer or synthetic content is not just a matter of compliance; it is a way of protecting the trust that is so hard to build.
How to get started without dying in the attempt
If you asked me where a brand wanting to try this out in 2026 should start, I wouldn’t say, “Hire the biggest influencer you can afford.” I’d say the opposite. Start small and methodically: set a measurable goal (sales, sign-ups, whatever), choose three or four mid-tier creators whose audience genuinely resembles your customer base, and use AI to verify that those followers are genuine and to set up tracking before publishing anything.
Try things out, measure the results, stick with what works and discard what doesn’t. It’s less glamorous than a big launch, but that’s how you build a profitable channel. And if at any point you’re thinking of making the leap to the hyper-personalisation or to integrate creators into a broader strategy – that’s where having a partner who analyses the data with you makes all the difference. In Vandelay We’ve been doing exactly that for over ten years: turning trends into decisions that can be measured.
Frequently asked questions
Is AI-powered influencer marketing suitable for SMEs, or is it only for big brands?
It works for both. AI tools actually reduce the cost of the tasks that previously made this channel unviable for an SME: finding creators, verifying audiences and measuring results. With tight budgets, the key is to work with mid-tier creators who are a good fit for your audience.
Does a virtual influencer generate more conversions than a human one?
There is no single, verifiable answer. Some studies attribute higher levels of engagement to certain virtual characters, but these come from a wide variety of sources and employ methodologies that lack transparency, so they should be treated with caution. What is clear, however, is that they help with brand control; trust, on the other hand, tends to be higher with real people.
Do I have to state that content has been created using AI?
In the European Union, the regulatory trend is clearly moving towards transparency: synthetic content must be identifiable. Beyond the legal obligation, labelling it is good practice that protects your brand’s credibility.
Sources:
- Influencer Marketing Hub — Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2026
- Marketing Week — What the rise of AI influencers and digital twins means for marketers (2026)
- Official State Gazette — Royal Decree 444/2024 (users of particular importance) and the EU AI Act (transparency obligations).
English (UK) 
Español