Case study ·
Goodbye to hand-painted signs? Small businesses are already using ChatGPT for advertising but face a challenge
Original title, in Spanish: “¿Adiós a los carteles con rótulos? Pequeños negocios ya usan ChatGPT para su publicidad pero enfrentan un reto”
- Publication
- Expansión (México) (Mexico)
- Author
- Selene Ramírez
- Published on
- 18 September 2026 · read in the page structured data · updated on 18 September 2026
Summary
In Mexico, several small business owners (restaurants, a barbería, a painting taller, beauty product sales, an ice cream shop) describe how they use ChatGPT and Gemini to create logos, posters, banners and social media visuals, to avoid the cost of a graphic designer. The gains they mention vary: financial savings for some, time savings for others, including a trained designer who produces more content in less time. An anonymous professional designer confirms that even large brands use AI, but with supervision and retouching. The article also cites studies by Getty Images and Stylitics on how consumers react to AI-generated images, showing a risk of losing customers but also a growing tolerance. The main problem identified is the uniformity of AI-generated content, which undermines brand differentiation.
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on Expansión (México) →Figures cited
-
66 %
Share of consumers who prefer real, unedited images in advertising
Consumers, Getty Images study
« Una investigación de Getty Images señala que 66% de los consumidores prefiere imágenes reales y sin editar en la publicidad porque no quiere sentirse engañado. »
Source: Getty Images
-
68 %
Share of consumers who require real, unaltered photos before buying online
Online consumers, Getty Images study
« En compras por internet, 68% afirma que necesita fotografías reales y sin modificaciones antes de tomar una decisión. »
Source: Getty Images
-
47 %
Potential loss of customers when an AI-generated or AI-edited image is identified
Potential customers, Getty Images study
« El mismo estudio apunta que cuando los consumidores identifican imágenes generadas o modificadas con IA, una empresa puede perder cerca de 47% de sus clientes potenciales. »
Source: Getty Images
-
71 %
Share of shoppers who could not tell real images from AI-generated ones or noticed only small differences
411 shoppers, Stylitics study
« El estudio encontró que 71% no distinguió entre imágenes reales y generadas con esta tecnología o percibió diferencias pequeñas. »
Source: Stylitics
-
60 %
Share of shoppers who reacted positively or neutrally on learning that an image was AI-generated
411 shoppers, Stylitics study
« 60% reaccionó de manera positiva o neutral cuando supo que una imagen tenía origen artificial. »
Source: Stylitics
-
59 %
Share of shoppers who want brands to disclose the use of AI in an image
411 shoppers, Stylitics study
« El análisis también encontró que 59% de los compradores quería que las marcas informaran cuando una imagen utilizaba IA. »
Source: Stylitics
Classification
- Country
- Mexico
- Company size
- Micro-businesses
- Industries
- Tourism, hospitality, catering · Retail and distribution, e-commerce · Media, communications, marketing
- Companies
- Stylitics (study author), Sol Pérez (venta de productos Jafra) (deploys AI), Jonatán García (negocio de alitas y hamburguesas) (deploys AI), Getty Images (study author), María Luisa (nevería) (deploys AI), Eduardo Garrido (birriería, barbería, taller de hojalatería) (deploys AI)
- Keywords
- pymes, ChatGPT, advertising, diseño gráfico, social media, AI-generated images
Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to Expansión (México) and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.