AI-generated content in marketing: A bibliometric and future research agenda

Abstract

AI-generated content (AIGC) has rapidly transformed marketing by reshaping content creation, consumer engagement, and digital communication strategies. However, existing research remains dispersed across technological, psychological, and application-oriented domains, creating fragmented understanding of how AIGC is evolving as a marketing research field. This study aims to map the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and emerging research directions of AIGC in marketing. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 125 Scopus-indexed publications from 2023–2026. Biblioshiny (Bibliometrix) and VOSviewer were employed to perform performance analysis and science mapping, including annual scientific production, co-citation analysis, keyword co-occurrence, thematic evolution, thematic maps, and trend topics. The findings reveal a phase of rapid institutionalization, with publication output peaking in 2025 and the field becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. Four major thematic clusters are identified: strategic applications of generative AI in marketing, psychological consumer responses, operational and e-commerce applications, and human-centric comparative and ethical studies. Importantly, the thematic evolution analysis demonstrates a clear transition from broad technological concepts such as generative AI and artificial intelligence toward specialized concerns related to advertising, consumer behavior, authenticity, trust, AI disclosure, and ethical governance. This shift indicates that AIGC research is moving beyond technological novelty toward a collaborative intelligence paradigm emphasizing human–AI synergy and consumer-centered governance. By clarifying how these thematic clusters are interconnected and evolving, this study contributes a structured understanding of the emerging intellectual architecture of AIGC in marketing and provides future research directions related to ethics, authenticity, trust, and responsible AI integration.