The Gist 100Business softwareOctober 2026
No brand owns email marketing, and the question picks the winner
ActiveCampaign appears in 72% of 297 AI answers on email marketing platforms, Brevo in 69%, Klaviyo in 65% and Mailchimp in 63%. Klaviyo is named first most often, in 27% of answers, and the most-cited website is Sequenzy at 43%.
By Gist GEO team · October 2026
Share of AI answers about email marketing platforms that name each brand
Gist asked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews eight questions about email marketing platforms and counted 297 answers. The answers name 44 different brands, and the typical answer names 6.1, so buyers read a list rather than a single recommendation. No brand appears in every answer. ActiveCampaign appears in 72%, Brevo in 69%, Klaviyo in 65%, Mailchimp in 63%, MailerLite in 53% and HubSpot in 50%.
The four brands named most sit within 9 points of one another, 72% for ActiveCampaign against 63% for Mailchimp, and the order among them changes with the assistant and the question. Klaviyo is the brand named first most often, in 27% of answers, followed by ActiveCampaign at 20% and Mailchimp and MailerLite at 15% each. Brevo is named in 69% of answers but first in only 9%.
The pattern a reader would not guess sits in the sources. The most-cited website in these answers is Sequenzy, a brand site, at 43% of answers, and Sequenzy is not among the brands the answers name most. Venture Harbour follows at 40%, then Brevo's own site at 33% and EmailTooltester at 32%. Claude cites Sequenzy in 91% of its answers, while ChatGPT cites it in 0%.
MailerLite and Brevo each reach 97% on the affordable question, while ActiveCampaign sits at 22%, Klaviyo at 20% and HubSpot at 8%. Ask which platforms are worth paying more for and the order reverses: Klaviyo reaches 92%, ActiveCampaign 89% and HubSpot 83%, while Brevo holds 68% and MailerLite 67%. A budget name keeps a place in the premium answers, and a premium name has far less presence in the affordable ones. An overall score hides this split, so a brand should read its numbers question by question.
Klaviyo reaches 100% on the online store question and 0% on the B2B one. HubSpot does the reverse, with 100% on B2B and 15% for online stores. Omnisend reaches 84% for stores and 0% for B2B, while ActiveCampaign holds 97% on B2B and 31% for stores. Mailchimp sits between them at 79% for stores and 50% for B2B. Buyers who ask by business model get different shortlists, so a brand needs a clear account of which one it serves.
Klaviyo is the first brand named in 27% of answers, ActiveCampaign in 20% and both Mailchimp and MailerLite in 15%. Brevo is named in 69% of answers overall but first in only 9%, and Kit is named in 33% but first in 1%. Omnisend, beehiiv and Constant Contact are never named first. A high overall score does not always carry over to the opening slot, so a brand should check where it lands in an answer as well as whether it appears.
Claude names 8.8 brands in a typical answer, against 5.8 for Perplexity, 5.2 for ChatGPT and 4.0 for Google AI Overviews. It puts ActiveCampaign at 99% where Google AI Overviews puts it at 49%. ChatGPT names Mailchimp in 86% of its answers and Google AI Overviews in 26%. Omnisend reaches 62% on Claude and 19% on Google AI Overviews, and Constant Contact reaches 39% on Claude and 0% on Perplexity. Brevo is the one brand named in more than half of the answers from every assistant, from 58% on Google AI Overviews to 78% on Claude, so for every other brand the choice of assistant changes the odds of being named.
Who each company is, and how it shows up in the answers
72% of AI answers
ActiveCampaign sells email marketing and marketing automation software that includes customer relationship management tools. The platform also handles SMS and WhatsApp messaging, and it is aimed at small and mid-sized businesses. Jason VandeBoom founded the company in Chicago in 2003, and it is still headquartered there.
Founded 2003 · Chicago
Sophisticated automation is the credit: answers cite complex sequences, lead scoring, segmentation and CRM workflows, and note a steeper learning curve. It is named in 97% of answers on the B2B question and 92% on the deliverability question, and in 99% of Claude's answers overall.
69% of AI answers
Brevo is a cloud-based software company that sells email marketing, SMS marketing, marketing automation and customer relationship management tools to small and medium-sized businesses and mid-market companies. Armand Thiberge founded it in Paris in 2012 under the name Sendinblue. The company changed its name to Brevo in 2023.
Founded 2012 · Paris, France
Value and multichannel reach are what answers credit: email, automation and CRM alongside SMS, WhatsApp and chat, with sending-volume pricing that suits large lists. It reaches 100% on the best platform question and 97% on the affordable one, but 34% on deliverability and 14% for online stores.
65% of AI answers
Klaviyo sells a customer relationship management platform for business-to-consumer brands. Companies use it for email marketing, SMS marketing and other messaging, and most of its customers are e-commerce sellers. Andrew Bialecki and Ed Hallen founded Klaviyo in 2012, and it is based in Boston.
Founded 2012 · Boston
Ecommerce is the label every assistant gives it, with answers citing customer data, behavioral triggers, revenue reporting and store integrations. It is named in 100% of answers on the online store question and 92% on the worth-paying-more question, and it is named first in 27% of all answers.
63% of AI answers
Email marketing platform owned by Intuit, long popular with small businesses.
General-purpose is how answers frame it: a simple campaign builder, automations and integrations, plus a gentle learning curve. Some add that its free tier and costs at scale make it a less obvious pick for new small businesses. It reaches 89% on the compare-three question, and ChatGPT names it in 86% of its answers against 26% for Google AI Overviews.
53% of AI answers
A simple, low-cost email marketing tool.
Budget-minded small businesses are the audience, with answers citing a simple drag-and-drop builder, a free plan for small lists, automations, forms and landing pages. Some say its automation and analytics offer less depth than competing tools. It reaches 97% on the affordable question and on the tools-to-consider question, but 2% for online stores.
50% of AI answers
Software company whose CRM, marketing, sales and service tools run on one platform.
Email tied to a full CRM is the draw, with answers pointing to teams that run marketing and sales together and some warning that it pays off mainly when the CRM comes with it. It reaches 100% on the B2B question and 83% on the worth-paying-more question, but 15% for online stores.
35% of AI answers
Email and SMS marketing platform for online stores.
Online stores that combine email, SMS and push in shared workflows are the audience, with answers calling it a lower-cost route to Klaviyo-style features for smaller brands. It reaches 84% on the online store question, and Claude names it in 62% of its answers against 19% for Google AI Overviews.
33% of AI answers
Email marketing platform for creators, formerly ConvertKit.
Creators, coaches and newsletter writers are who answers have in mind, crediting a simple, subscriber-focused tool for digital products and automation, with design options described as narrower. It reaches 97% on the tools-to-consider question and 91% on the best platform question, but 0% on the B2B and online store questions.
15% of AI answers
Newsletter platform with growth and monetization tools built in.
Newsletter businesses that earn from subscriptions and advertising are the audience, with answers calling it worth paying for when the newsletter is the product. It reaches 42% on the best platform question and 35% on the tools-to-consider question, and Claude names it in 35% of its answers against 0% for Perplexity.
13% of AI answers
Long-running email marketing service for small businesses.
Local businesses and small teams that want straightforward tools and support are the audience, with answers adding social, SMS and event features and noting that automation suits simple journeys better than complex ones. Claude names it in 39% of its answers, while Perplexity names it in 0%.
The three brands named most for each question Gist asked
| Question | Named most | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's the best email marketing platform right now? | Brevo 100% | Klaviyo 97% | ActiveCampaign 91% |
| Which email marketing tools do you recommend? | Kit (ConvertKit) 97% | Klaviyo 97% | MailerLite 97% |
| What's the best affordable email marketing tool? | Brevo 97% | MailerLite 97% | Sender 45% |
| Which email marketing platforms are worth paying more for? | Klaviyo 92% | ActiveCampaign 89% | HubSpot 83% |
| What's the best email marketing platform for an online store? | Klaviyo 100% | Omnisend 84% | Mailchimp 79% |
| What's the best email marketing platform for a B2B company? | HubSpot 100% | ActiveCampaign 97% | Brevo 64% |
| We're picking an email marketing platform. Which three should we compare? | Mailchimp 89% | Brevo 76% | ActiveCampaign 72% |
| Which email marketing platform has the best deliverability? | ActiveCampaign 92% | Klaviyo 70% | Postmark 62% |
Share of each assistant’s answers that name the brand
| Brand | All four | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Claude | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveCampaign | 72% | 68% | 71% | 99% | 49% |
| Brevo | 69% | 76% | 64% | 78% | 58% |
| Klaviyo | 65% | 75% | 57% | 81% | 47% |
| Mailchimp | 63% | 86% | 71% | 66% | 26% |
| MailerLite | 53% | 45% | 46% | 69% | 53% |
| HubSpot | 50% | 45% | 57% | 64% | 35% |
| Omnisend | 35% | 20% | 39% | 62% | 19% |
| Kit (ConvertKit) | 33% | 44% | 29% | 34% | 26% |
| beehiiv | 15% | 16% | 0% | 35% | 9% |
| Constant Contact | 13% | 2% | 0% | 39% | 9% |
The websites AI cites most on email marketing platforms, by share of answers
Brand sites, publishers and review sites share the citations. Sequenzy, a brand site, is cited in 43% of answers, ahead of the publisher Venture Harbour at 40%, Brevo's own site at 33% and the review sites EmailTooltester at 32%, TechRadar at 28% and G2 at 28%. The assistants rarely agree. Claude cites Venture Harbour in 92% of its answers and ChatGPT in 0%, Perplexity leans on G2 and hostinger.com at 88% each, and Google AI Overviews turns to Reddit at 58% and YouTube at 49%.
Three moves the numbers point to
Earn a place in the publishers and review sites that Claude and Perplexity read. Claude cites Venture Harbour in 92% of its answers, and Perplexity cites G2 in 88% and EmailTooltester in 75%.
Compete for the open slot on the affordable question. MailerLite and Brevo each reach 97%, but Sender is named in 45% of answers and Zoho Campaigns in 34%, so the next name in that answer is not settled.
Check how Claude describes your product. Claude names 8.8 brands per answer against 4.0 for Google AI Overviews, and it names Omnisend in 62% of its answers and Constant Contact in 39%, where Perplexity names Constant Contact in 0%.
Case study · 4 min read
The largest CRM vendor by market share is not the brand the answers name most. HubSpot scores 99 and Salesforce 83. Assistants name HubSpot first in 49% of answers and Salesforce first in 26%. The gap sits in four of eight questions, and the lead stays in CRM.
99 vs 83Share of CRM answers naming HubSpot vs Salesforce
Analysis · 4 min read
AI answers cite a ranked brand’s own site in 68% of business software answers and 24% of consumer ones. A vendor’s site is the most-cited website in 9 of 16 business categories and none of the consumer ones. Being cited is not the same as being named.
68% vs 24%Business vs consumer answers citing a brand’s site
Analysis · 4 min read
Ask an AI assistant for a budget option and the top brand changes in 24 of 32 categories. Technivorm Moccamaster scores 67 overall and 0 on the budget question, while Carrd goes from 19 to 100. An overall score can hide how a brand fares on price questions.
24 of 32categories where the budget leader differs
Gist asks a fixed set of eight buying questions in each category. None of them names a brand. Each question is put to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews ten times, with web search on.
A brand’s score is the share of answers that name it, averaged across the assistants so that each one counts equally. Stores and review sites named in passing are not ranked. Brands named in fewer than one answer in ten are left off.
Measured October 5 to October 6, 2026.
No. It shows which brands AI assistants name when asked, not which products are best. Being named often usually reflects how much has been written about a brand, and where.
The page shows the 10 most-named brands. The free scan checks your own brand on a topic you choose.
Yes. AI answers shift as assistants are updated and as new pages are published. The date at the top shows when this ranking was measured.
See which brands appear in AI recommendations for your category, and where your brand stands among them.
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