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TMCNet:  As 59% of Creators Turn to AI, URLgenius Drives Efficiency in a Market Where Half Face Declining Consumer Spending

[April 23, 2025]

As 59% of Creators Turn to AI, URLgenius Drives Efficiency in a Market Where Half Face Declining Consumer Spending

This National Creator Day, URLgenius, the leading app deep linking platform, is celebrating the ingenuity of creators with the release of its latest Lightning Survey findings and a wave of new support for small creators. The survey reveals that 59% of creators are leveraging AI to streamline workflows and improve monetization strategies1, underscoring the growing influence of AI tools amid today's economic challenges. To meet the moment, URLgenius is expanding its free access program for emerging creators and breaking new ground as the company integrates TikTok Shop offers into its product marketplace, pairing AI-powered recommendations with high-commission opportunities.

In response to the survey findings, URLgenius is now free for ecommerce influencers with up to 20,000 followers on their largest social platform. Creators just getting started can now tap into AI-powered product discovery tools-completely free of charge.

"Creators are seeing real utility from AI, especially when it comes to saving time and making smarter decisions about what to promote," said Brian Klais, URLgenius founder & CEO. "With AI recommendations and free access for smaller creators, we're empowering everyone, from emerging influencers to established voices, to focus on building meaningful content and thriving in today's creator-driven economy."

AI and Market Shifts Are Redefining the Creator Economy - Top Insights from the URLgenius Creator Lightning Survey:

  • AI Transforming Workflows: 34% of creators use AI to automate follower engagement, while 23% rely on it to curate products or analyze audience data.
  • Efficiency Matters: 43% of creators report AI has streamlined their creative processes, though concerns about authenticity linger, with 33% worried about AI replacing human creativity.
  • Economic Pressures Persist: Among full-time creators (representing 80% of respondents surveyed), 52% report decreased consumer spending on affiliate-linked products, showing how market conditions are driving the need for innovative monetization solutions.
  • Side Hustle Creators Face Brand-Side Squeeze: In contrast, art-time creators-those for whom content creation serves as a side hustle or supplementary income-are disproportionately impacted by the brand side of the equation, with 40% noting either reduced commissions or fewer brand sponsorships available.


Smarter Product Discovery Through AI - In response to creator feedback, URLgenius' AI-powered product recommendation feature, launched within its Creator Marketplace, is driving a more efficient approach to product discovery. By using seasonal trends, audience insights, and high-commission opportunities, the new tool enables creators to curate products faster and with greater precision.

URLgenius is also breaking new ground as it brings TikTok Shop offers into its product marketplace. Thanks to its AI-powered search and recommendation engine and seamless TikTok Shop integration, creators can now quickly uncover high-commission, highly relevant products that are ready to promote to their TikTok audiences.

"With AI-driven recommendations, the URLgenius Marketplace makes it easier to discover high-commission products that truly resonate with my followers," said KariAnne Wood, lifestyle influencer of Thistlewood Farms. "URLgenius listens to creators and delivers tools that simplify and elevate our work. I found a 12.5% commission link in the marketplace for a product I was already promoting, far surpassing the brand's original 8% link. That kind of difference is gold for creators, empowering us to succeed while staying focused on creating great content."

To see the additional URLgenius Creator Lighting Survey findings or to learn more about National Creator Day initiatives, visit URLgenius.com.

About URLgenius: URLgenius is the premier, patent-protected global app-linking platform that empowers marketers and creators of all sizes to create fluid app-to-app linking experiences to enhance engagement, conversions, and affiliate commissions.

Having facilitated over $5 billion in e-commerce sales in 2024 alone and ranking No.184 in the 2024 Inc. 5000 fastest-growing software companies, URLgenius is renowned for its innovative approach that foregoes the need for SDKs, URLgenius offers unparalleled reliability, speed, and flexibility, all while prioritizing privacy.

Favored by leading content creators, agencies, and brands worldwide, URLgenius reduces friction for the end user when linking to apps and websites from social media, and digital and traditional advertising. Receiving Best Influencer Marketing Technology at the Global Influencer Marketing Awards, URLgenius was also a Top 30 Influencer Technologies recipient for our cutting-edge platform and tools revolutionizing the influencer marketing landscape. Connect with us as we continue to evolve alongside the influencer ecosystem with even more groundbreaking solutions on URLgenius.com, learn best practices on our blog, and follow us on LinkedIn.

1 Survey Methodology: The URLgenius Creator Lightning Survey, conducted from April 7-16, 2025, collected insights from 121 creators and influencers. Notably, 74% of respondents reported follower counts exceeding 100,000, over 80% identified as career or full-time creators, and 57% revealed that more than half of their income is derived from affiliate commissions.


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