Industry report · Data as of 1. June 2026
SaaS & Software
AI models recommend Freshdesk 14 times in this vertical, but the brand does not appear in classic web search.
HubSpot is the most cited brand across AI assistants, though it does not hold the leading rank in classic web search results. A notable discrepancy between the systems emerges with Freshdesk, which receives high visibility and exclusively positive sentiment in AI responses but fails to appear in the top ten of classic web search.
15 Queries Sample: 150 AI models: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity
The 10 most visible brands in AI answers
Ranked by AI prominence, a consolidated 0–100 visibility score: how often a brand is named, across how many AI models, at what position, and in what sentiment. Two further factors (recommendation strength, momentum) cannot be measured here and remain hidden.
-
Zoho achieves a 74.7 visibility score by appearing in 47 percent of queries across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, outperforming its average classic web search rank of 8.0. The sharpest data point is its broad coverage contrasting with a lower average AI answer position of 4.6, indicating it is frequently mentioned but rarely listed first. Its sentiment profile remains highly positive with 26 favorable and only two neutral mentions.
-
HubSpot secures visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity by appearing in 33 percent of tested queries, positioning itself higher in AI answers with an average rank of 3.3 compared to 6.5 in classic web search. The sharpest data point is its reliability, evidenced by a 71 percent run consistency and the highest absolute volume of positive sentiment at 33 favorable mentions.
-
Zendesk is cited in 13 percent of queries across all three measured AI platforms, showing a notably stronger placement in AI responses than its average classic web search rank of 5.6. The sharpest data point is its average AI position of 1.1, meaning that when the brand is mentioned, it is placed at the very top of the generated lists.
-
With a 13 percent query coverage across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, sevdesk displays a significant performance difference between AI systems and traditional indexes. The sharpest data point is its average AI answer position of 1.8, which directly contrasts with a much lower average classic web search rank of 9.0.
-
Gusto appears in just 7 percent of queries across all three AI platforms but registers a strong average AI position of 1.1 when cited. This creates a stark visibility gap, as the brand achieves high prominence and a 78 percent run consistency in AI answers while failing to rank within the top 10 of classic web search results.
| # | Brand | Prominence | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 New |
Lexware
lexware.de
|
71.0 | Big Name |
| 7 ↓5 |
Zoom
zoom.us
|
71.0 | Big Name |
| 8 New |
Sage Group
sage.com
|
70.6 | Big Name |
| 9 New |
Freshdesk
freshdesk.com
|
69.6 | Big Name |
| 10 New |
Apollo
apollo.io
|
69.2 | Big Name |
Your brand not in the top 10? The free scan shows whether ChatGPT and Gemini recommend it.
Start free scanSame brands, different visibility
Brands present in both channels, normalized to the per-channel peak and sorted by asymmetry. A long AI bar next to a short web-search bar means the brand is named disproportionately often by AI models even though it barely appears in organic web-search results. The reverse holds too.
AI top 10 vs. web-search top 10
On the left, the brands named most often in AI answers; on the right, the brands most visible in classic web-search results. Pink lines connect brands that appear in both top-10 lists.
9 AI only 1 in both 9 web search only
-
1
OMR⌀ Rank 4,9 · 12 Treffer
-
2
Fuer-Gruender⌀ Rank 2,4 · 5 Treffer
-
3
Softwareabc24⌀ Rank 4,3 · 4 Treffer
-
4
Zendesk⌀ Rank 5,6 · 5 Treffer
-
5
trusted⌀ Rank 4,5 · 4 Treffer
stabil Marken, die in mindestens zwei von drei Modell-Durchläufen je Anfrage auftauchen.
Check your own brand
How visible is your brand?
See, for free, whether ChatGPT and Gemini recommend your brand in SaaS & Software.
Complete brand ranking, AI citations per model, and methodology. Direct download, no email required.
Download PDFMethodology
Achtung.app sends typical German-language queries for each industry to classic web search and to the active AI models. Queries are brand-free, so results show which brands surface organically. Both channels receive identical prompts so answers can be compared directly. Every brand named in the responses is extracted and consolidated on its canonical domain. The classic-web-search source is Brave Search, a Google-independent organic index.
3 runs per AI model per query; classic web search via a single top-10 fetch. Models queried: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity. Platforms and infrastructure (e.g. Google Analytics, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok) are excluded from the brand list because they are marketing channels, not competitors.
Frequently asked questions about this report
How is the AI prominence score calculated?
AI prominence is a 0–100 score built from four measured factors: in how many queries the brand is named (coverage), how many of the evaluated AI platforms cite it (breadth), where it appears in the answers (position), and how the mentions read (sentiment). Only measured values go in — no estimates.
Which AI platforms does the report evaluate?
This report is based on answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity. Each query was asked multiple times per platform; the details are in the methodology note above.
How current is the data?
The numbers come from the collection run of 1. June 2026. Achtung.app re-collects this report monthly; the ranking and texts are fully recomputed each time.
Does ranking first mean the brand is the best?
No. The ranking measures how visible a brand is in AI answers, not the quality of its products or services. A high AI prominence means AI assistants name the brand frequently and prominently when users ask questions in this field.
Why is a specific brand missing?
The report only lists brands that appeared in the AI answers or in the classic web search top 10 for the tested queries. If a brand is missing, it was not named for this query set; that says nothing about other topic areas. Pure platform and infrastructure domains are deliberately excluded.
Can I reuse the data?
Yes. The published figures and rankings are licensed under CC BY 4.0: you may share and reuse them as long as you credit Achtung.app as the source and link to this page.
More industry reports
Who shows up in which industry in AI answers — Achtung.app measures it.