Influencer marketing has become a major advertising channel. FTC guidance is clearer, brands have more formal compliance processes and paid-partnership tools are widely available.

Yet creator disclosure has become less consistent.

SheSpeaks partnered with Business Insider to survey 365 creators about disclosure, brand relationships and the changing creator economy. We also compared the findings with our 2016 influencer study where the questions were sufficiently similar.

The results revealed a notable shift:

• In 2016, 95% of creators said they always or almost always disclosed paid brand relationships. In 2026, that figure fell to 84%.
• The share saying disclosure “depends on the situation” rose from 2% to 14%.
• One-third of creators said they encountered none of the disclosure compliance practices included in the survey during the past year.

Brand pressure also remains a current concern. In 2016, 25% of creators said a brand had asked them at some point in their creator careers not to disclose compensation. In 2026, 18% said a brand had made that request within the past 12 months alone.

The fact that nearly one in five creators encountered this request during just one recent year is significant.

The findings point to a creator economy that has professionalized at the center while becoming more fragmented across a much larger ecosystem. More brands, agencies, platforms, intermediaries and creators are participating, but their levels of experience, training and oversight vary considerably.

As creator marketing continues to grow, it is important for practitioners to understand and follow disclosure best practices. Today’s social media audiences recognize sponsored content and are quick to call out unclear or missing disclosures, making transparency essential to protecting both creator trust and brand credibility.

Read the Business Insider article for a closer look at the findings and what creators told us.

Find the full SheSpeaks/Business Insider report to below to explore the research, creator perspectives and implications for brands and agencies.