Advertising Sales Agents
In short: today's best AI models could do about 56% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 61% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 39% of the time, stays with people.
Sell or solicit advertising space, time, or media in publications, signage, TV, radio, or Internet establishments or public spaces.
91,700 people do this job in the US. $64,820 a year.
Reviewed on October 1, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on3 h
- A person checks AI's work19 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet2 h
- Stays with people16 h
Advertising Sales Agents, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 3 hours, 19 hours become checking its work, 2 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 16 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Identify new markets (about 5 h, a person checks); Prepare plans, kits and contracts (about 4 h, a person checks); Choose the medium and make samples (about 3 h, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 59%
- 2%
- 25%
- 14%
- 0%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 56% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 28%. Today's estimate: 56%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.13% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 138th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 4 of its 20 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.07% to 0.063% (released February and March 2025); 0.02% to 0.072% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.15% to 0.13% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.07% | 224 of 708 | 9 of 20 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.063% | 233 of 703 | 8 of 20 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.02% | 372 of 655 | 5 of 20 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.043% | 256 of 672 | 8 of 20 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.072% | 208 of 677 | 9 of 20 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.15% | 122 of 434 | 5 of 20 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.13% | 138 of 447 | 4 of 20 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates almost none of this job's working time as physical work, so robots do not reach it.
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
39% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Keep and grow accounts, the conversation, 10%
- Attend shows and seminars, the in-person work, 6%
- Arrange and attend taping sessions, the in-person work, 5%
- Give sales presentations, the in-person work, 4%
- Show artwork options to customers, the conversation, 3%
- Find and contact prospects, the conversation, 2%
What becomes checking the machine
53% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 8% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Identify new markets, costly if wrong, 16%
- Prepare plans, kits and contracts, costly if wrong, 10%
- Choose the medium and make samples, costly if wrong, 7%
- Keep and grow accounts, costly if wrong, 4%
- Gather bid material and coordinate approval, costly if wrong, 3%
- Give sales presentations, costly if wrong, 3%
What to learn
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 59% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Dealing with people outside the organization. Customers, patients, suppliers or the public: trust with them is built by a person.
- The conversations. About 39% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 20 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identify new advertising markets, and propose products to serve them.Market analysis and a written proposal for products to serve them.Done daily by most who do it. | 16% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Documents 100% | 73%Half by now |
| Maintain assigned account bases while developing new accounts.Calls and visits to existing accounts, and work on new ones.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Conversation 70%, documents 30% | 29%Desk part half by now |
| Prepare promotional plans, sales literature, media kits, and sales contracts, using computer.Writing the plans, kits and contracts on the computer.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Documents 100% | 96%Half by now |
| Prepare and deliver sales presentations to new and existing customers to sell new advertising programs and to protect and increase existing advertising.Preparing the pitch and presenting it to the customer in person.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 1.7 h50 min to 4.2 h | In person 60%, documents 40% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Determine advertising medium to be used, and prepare sample advertisements within the selected medium for presentation to customers.Deciding the medium and mocking up sample ads for the customer.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h50 min to 4.2 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Attend sales meetings, industry trade shows, and training seminars to gather information, promote products, expand network of contacts, and increase knowledge.Being at the meetings and shows; the contacts and knowledge are the agent's own.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Gather all relevant material for bid processes, and coordinate bidding and contract approval.Assembling the bid and chasing the approvals.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | Documents 70%, conversation 30% | 64%Desk part half by now |
| Arrange for commercial taping sessions, and accompany clients to sessions.Booking the session and being there with the client.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | In person 60%, conversation 40% | Stays with people |
| Locate and contact potential clients to offer advertising services.Building prospect lists and making the calls.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Obtain and study information about clients' products, needs, problems, advertising history, and business practices to offer effective sales presentations and appropriate product assistance.Reading up on the client's business and asking about it, to shape the pitch.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Documents 70%, conversation 30% | 70%Desk part half by now |
| Consult with company officials, sales departments, and advertising agencies to develop promotional plans.Meetings with the client's people and agencies, and the plan written up.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | Conversation 70%, documents 30% | 30%Desk part half by now |
| Write copy as part of layout.Writing the words of the ad to fit the layout.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services43,870 people
- Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers14,720 people
- Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations11,390 people
- Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers6,880 people
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services3,280 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Advertising Sales Agents is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 56% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 61% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Advertising Sales Agents come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Identify new markets (73% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Prepare plans, kits and contracts (96% of the task's time now); and Choose the medium and make samples (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Advertising Sales Agents stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Attend shows and seminars; Arrange and attend taping sessions; and Show artwork options to customers. Together such tasks are about 15% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Advertising Sales Agents learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are briefing a model and checking its drafts; reviewing work you did not do yourself; and dealing with people outside the organization. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 39% of the working time stays with people, 53% becomes checking a model's work and 8% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Advertising Sales Agents?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.13% went to this job's tasks, the 138th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 4 of its 20 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 15%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Advertising Sales Agents?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds almost none of the working time is physical work, so robots do not reach it.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 20 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on October 1, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
The full personal report is $19, to print or save as a PDF: every task with when it comes within reach, which ones your description names, the parts of your description the task list does not cover, what stays with you, what becomes checking the machine and what to learn.