- Almost half of Switzerland’s population already uses generative AI, and uses it to find businesses too.
- Most SMEs don’t know what AI says about them. Only 2% actively do anything about it.
- Large companies use AI more than three times as often as small firms. The OECD sees a widening gap.
- Most small businesses use AI without rules, even though data protection law applies directly to AI.
Customers have changed how they search
No digital technology has spread through Switzerland as fast as generative AI, the Federal Statistical Office notes. Three years after ChatGPT launched, almost half the population uses such tools; among younger people it is the vast majority. (Federal Statistical Office, 2025)
That changes how businesses are found. 13% of people already start looking for an unfamiliar small business with an AI assistant, and 39% can imagine booking appointments through a voice assistant. (Lucerne University, 2025) These people no longer compare ten results. They read one answer.
AI names only a few, and hardly anyone checks
A search engine shows a list and a map. An AI assistant answers with one recommendation or a short selection. If you are not in it, you don’t exist for that customer. AI names what it can reliably piece together from profiles, reviews and websites.
Among micro businesses, 60% have never looked, and 48% of SMEs think businesses like theirs don’t need AI in marketing at all. (Lucerne University, 2026) That is the opportunity: the few places in AI answers have not been handed out yet. Whoever builds complete details and good reviews now gains a lead that latecomers have to catch up on.
The big players are pulling ahead
In a single year, the share of EU enterprises using AI rose from 13.5% to 20%. But the growth is unevenly spread: large enterprises use AI more than three times as often as small firms. (Eurostat, 2025)
The OECD has shown for years that the most productive firms are pulling away from the rest and that the gap keeps growing, because new technology reaches the rest only slowly. (OECD) In its December 2025 report for the G7 it notes persistent gaps between SMEs and large firms in AI adoption. (OECD, 2025)
Switzerland is moving fast too: the share of SMEs that have built AI into their processes rose from 22% to 34% in one year. (SECO, 2025) The question is no longer whether your competitors use AI, but how long you wait.
Work is changing
According to the International Monetary Fund, AI will upgrade, transform or replace around 40% of jobs worldwide, and 60% in advanced economies like Switzerland. Those with in-demand skills gain in productivity and pay. (IMF, 2026)
For a small business this is very concrete. Translation and correspondence are already among the most common AI uses in Swiss SMEs, and 57% of employers report efficiency gains. (SECO, 2025) Whoever wins back the hours spent on quotes, emails and admin can take on more work or offer better prices. Whoever doesn’t competes with businesses that do.
The risk nobody sees
Staff often use AI on their own, with private free accounts. Only a third of Swiss SMEs have clear rules for this, and fewer than a quarter of micro businesses. (SECO, 2025)
The legal position is clear: the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner states that data protection law is technology-neutral and applies directly to AI-based data processing, with duties of transparency and information. (Swiss Data Protection Commissioner) Whoever pastes customer data into a chatbot is responsible for it. For companies in the EU, the EU AI Act also requires measures to build staff AI literacy. (European Commission)