The Australian Small Business AI & Digital Index. Every number verified against its source.

This index tracks what is actually happening at the intersection of Australian small business and AI: who is using AI tools, how AI answers are changing search behaviour, what data breaches look like, and how small businesses are trading. Every figure below carries a verbatim line from its public source, and a script re-checks each line against the live source every month — the same verification our published articles go through. Last verified: August 2026.

AI adoption

58%
Australians (14+) using AI tools in an average four weeks
13.6 million people, March quarter 2026
Source: Roy Morgan — verbatim: “13.6 million people, equivalent to 58% of Australians aged 14+, use ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) tools in an average four weeks”
45%
Australians using ChatGPT — the most-used AI tool
10.5 million Australians, March quarter 2026
Source: Roy Morgan — verbatim: “10.5 million Australians (45%) using ChatGPT”

AI search

58%
Lower average clickthrough for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview is present
Google Search Console data across 300,000 keywords
Source: Ahrefs — verbatim: “the presence of an AI Overview now correlates with a 58% lower average clickthrough rate for the top-ranking page”
8%
Share of Google visits with an AI summary where users clicked a traditional result
vs 15% on pages without an AI summary, March 2025 browsing data
Source: Pew Research Center — verbatim: “Users who encountered an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result link in 8% of all visits”

Data security

595
Notifiable data breaches reported to the OAIC, July–December 2024
1,113 notifications across calendar 2024
Source: OAIC Notifiable Data Breaches Report — verbatim: “July to December 2024 595”
20%
Share of breach notifications from health service providers — the most-breached sector
121 notifications, July–December 2024
Source: OAIC Notifiable Data Breaches Report — verbatim: “Health service providers 121 20%”

Small business economy

6.5%
Australian small business sales growth, year on year
June quarter 2026
Source: Xero Small Business Insights — verbatim: “Sales grew a still healthy 6.5% year-on-year”
22.9 days
Average days an Australian small business waits to be paid
June quarter 2026
Source: Xero Small Business Insights — verbatim: “The average length of time small businesses waited to be paid, after issuing an invoice, was 22.9 days”

Methodology

The index aggregates published figures from public Australian and international sources — Roy Morgan, the OAIC, Xero Small Business Insights, Pew Research Center and Ahrefs. We do not run surveys and we do not model estimates; we curate, attribute and verify.

Verification is mechanical. Each indicator stores the exact sentence or table line it came from. A deterministic script re-fetches every source monthly and string-matches the stored line against the live page. If a source changes — a report superseded, a page restructured — the indicator is flagged and a person reviews it before any value changes. A figure that can no longer be verified is removed rather than left to drift.

If we are not the right people to maintain a number, we will say so and point at whoever is. Corrections: tell us what we got wrong and we will fix it, with the change noted.

Citing this index

Cite the original source for any underlying figure. If the aggregation or verification is what you are using, cite the index itself — each card above has a stable anchor you can link directly: 

Compound Co, The Australian Small Business AI & Digital Index, August 2026.
https://www.compound-co.com.au/australian-smb-ai-index/

Frequently asked questions

How is the index verified?

Every indicator stores a verbatim quote from its public source. A deterministic script re-fetches each source monthly and string-matches the quote against the live page — the same mechanism that verifies citations on our blog. A figure whose source changes is flagged and reviewed by a person before the value is updated; nothing on this page is machine-invented.

Can I cite or republish these figures?

Yes. Cite the original source for the underlying figure, and cite or link this index if the aggregation, framing or verification is what you are using. A link to compound-co.com.au/australian-smb-ai-index is appreciated and helps others find the verified version.

How often is the index updated?

Sources are re-verified monthly by machine. Values change only when a source publishes new data — quarterly for most of the underlying series — and every update is reviewed by a person before it goes live. The updated date on this page reflects the most recent verification.