About the paper
The report analyses 2026 communications budget trends, with a focus on how CCOs are reallocating spend towards PR, AI, technology, analytics and measurement.
It is primarily original survey research based on Gartner’s 2026 CCO Spend Survey, conducted online from late October to mid-December 2025 among 200 senior communications decision-makers in North America and Europe, all from organisations with at least $1 billion in annual revenue.
The report also draws on secondary Gartner survey evidence from CFOs, CEOs and CMOs, so it is best understood as a mixed-evidence analyst report rather than a purely standalone survey study.
Length: 23 pages
More information / download:
https://www.gartner.com/en/communications/research/cco-budget-2026-ec
Core Insights
1. What is the central argument of the report?
The report’s central argument is that communications functions are being forced to transform under constrained budget conditions. Gartner argues that CCOs can no longer rely on incremental budget planning or traditional allocations. Instead, they must actively redirect resources towards AI, communications technology, analytics, measurement, PR, brand and crisis communications.
The underlying logic is that communications is now expected to support broader business transformation, especially AI-driven transformation, while also managing heightened reputation risk, misinformation, shifting stakeholder expectations and declining trust. The report frames this as a strategic inflection point: communications functions that fail to modernise their capabilities risk further budget cuts, while those that reallocate spending towards measurable, technology-enabled and reputation-focused work will be better positioned to demonstrate business value.
A key point is that this is not presented as a story of abundant new funding. Gartner emphasises that many CCOs face cuts or constraints: 46% say their current-year communications budget forecast was reduced due to company-wide cost-cutting, and 44% say their function lacks the budget needed to execute its strategy successfully. At the same time, 82% say their communications strategy needs to evolve rapidly to meet changing audience expectations. This creates the report’s core tension: ambition is rising, but capacity is not keeping pace.
2. How are communications budgets changing, and where are CCOs reallocating spend?
The report finds that overall budget growth is limited and uneven. Smaller organisations with revenue below $5 billion expect modest increases, while larger organisations face stagnant or declining budgets. Most organisations spend around 0.5% of revenue on communications, with smaller companies spending a higher percentage and very large companies spending a lower percentage, presumably because larger organisations benefit from economies of scale.
Within constrained budgets, the mix of spending is changing. Communications budgets remain heavily weighted towards traditional areas: labour accounts for 40.3%, agencies and services for 23%, operational costs for 17.3%, and communications technology tools and internal platforms for 16.8%. However, looking ahead, technology is the area most likely to receive increased investment: 35% of communications leaders expect to increase spend on communications technology and internal platforms.
This implies that CCOs are trying to fund transformation partly by reducing or limiting other areas. Gartner explicitly points to potential trade-offs in events, creative services, translation, operational costs and some agency spending. The report does not say these activities are unimportant, but argues that they must be streamlined, delegated, automated or tightly linked to strategic priorities if communications is to fund AI, data and analytics capabilities.
3. Why are PR, brand and crisis communications receiving increased budget attention?
Gartner argues that external reputation management is becoming more important because the risk environment is more volatile. PR and corporate brand command the largest shares of communications budgets, with public relations at 14.3% and corporate brand at 8.8%. Crisis communications has also grown, rising by 2.1 percentage points year on year to 4.8% of the current budget.
The report links this shift to several forces: AI disruption, misinformation and disinformation, geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory complexity, stakeholder scrutiny and the growing speed with which reputation issues can escalate. It also argues that public large language models are changing how audiences discover and trust information, which means organisations must rethink earned media, owned content and answer engine visibility.
This is one of the report’s more forward-looking arguments. Gartner suggests that PR is not simply about media coverage; it is becoming part of how organisations maintain discoverability, credibility and influence in AI-mediated information environments. That is why the report recommends prioritising PR and earned media investments that support “answer engine visibility”, reallocating some spending from paid media to owned and earned media, investing in authoritative owned content, and updating the corporate narrative across traditional, social and owned channels.
4. What does the report say about AI, GenAI, technology and analytics in communications?
The report presents AI, technology and analytics as the main transformation priorities for communications functions. GenAI investment is rising from 5.7% of total communications budget in the current fiscal year to a forecast 8.8% next year, a 54% year-on-year increase. However, Gartner also notes that current GenAI spend is below the level predicted in the previous year’s research, which suggests adoption is moving more slowly than expected.
The barriers are not only financial. The report says 86% of communications leaders recognise the need to update team talent strategies and skill sets to capitalise on GenAI opportunities. It also says 57% believe the function must address substantial audience scepticism about GenAI integration in communications work, and 43% report that GenAI investments have not yet delivered the expected value.
Analytics is another major theme. Thirty-four percent of leaders plan to increase spend on data and analytics, and 35% already have a dedicated communications data scientist or analyst, while another 25% plan to add one within 12 to 18 months. Yet the actual budget allocation for measurement, monitoring and analytics is still only 4.1%, up from 2.9% the year before. Gartner contrasts this with marketing’s 8% allocation and argues that communications still underinvests in the capabilities needed to link its work to organisational outcomes.
The report’s perspective is therefore cautiously pro-investment. Gartner does not simply say “spend more on AI”. It argues that AI and technology investments must be part of a coherent strategy tied to business and communications outcomes, with proper talent development, measurement and success metrics. Otherwise, CCOs risk cutting human capability too aggressively while buying tools that fail to deliver value.
5. What are the main implications for CCOs and communications leaders?
The main implication is that CCOs need to become much more deliberate budget strategists. Gartner’s advice is to stop planning budgets through small adjustments to last year’s numbers and instead redraw allocations around current business priorities, reputation risks and transformation needs. The report repeatedly frames budget planning as a strategic leadership discipline, not an administrative exercise.
A second implication is that CCOs must be able to defend investment in business terms. The report recommends linking communications outcomes to enterprise priorities such as reputation, engagement, trust and business transformation. It also urges communications leaders to benchmark spending, establish clearer budget targets for analytics and measurement, and build stronger evidence of impact.
A third implication is that communications leaders must make harder trade-offs. Gartner explicitly recommends cutting low-value work that does not support business objectives, offloading or streamlining activities such as event management, graphics, creative services and translation where appropriate, and reassessing agency spend so it is focused on high-ROI activities or skills not available in-house.
Finally, the report implies that internal communications should not be neglected. Although external-facing activities receive much of the budget attention, employee communications is the third-largest budget allocation, and Gartner warns that AI transformation creates employee anxiety that could threaten enterprise success. The report says 69% of communications leaders see employee anxiety from changes such as AI transformation as a significant risk over the next two years. That means CCOs must continue investing in employee communications, change communications, manager and leader communications, intranet platforms, employee experience platforms and measurement of internal communications effectiveness.
Overall, the conclusion is clear: communications leaders are being asked to do more than protect reputation or produce content. Gartner sees the function’s future value in helping organisations navigate AI-enabled transformation, sustain trust, manage reputation risk, and prove impact through data.