CiteLadder asked Claude Sonnet 5.5 the kinds of questions buyers ask about email marketing software. Each question ran three times in three conditions: from memory, with web search available, and told to search first. Brevo was the brand Claude named most often in every condition. Mailchimp dropped out of the top five once Claude searched. This page reports what Claude said. It is not a ranking of which product is best.
What we asked Claude
The questions covered five kinds of buyer intent: best overall, a specific buyer or use case, budget or free, feature-led, and comparison shortlists. Each question ran three times per condition, giving 60 answers per condition.
Some examples, quoted exactly:
- "What's the best email marketing software right now?"
- "Which email platform works best for a nonprofit sending donor updates?"
- "Cheapest email marketing service that still has decent automation?"
Requests went through the Anthropic API at low effort, with no current date given. Another model listed the brands in each answer, and code did the counting. Results from the API can differ from what people see in the Claude apps.
Brands Claude named from memory
With no tools, Claude named 73 distinct brands across 60 answers, about 8 per answer. The top three brands made up 24.7% of all mentions, so the field was wide.
- Brevo appeared in 76.7% of answers. It was named in every run for 14 prompts, but named first only once.
- Klaviyo appeared in 61.7% of answers and was named first 12 times.
- ActiveCampaign appeared in 58.3%.
- MailerLite appeared in 55%.
- Mailchimp appeared in 53.3%. It was named first 15 times, more than any other brand, with an average position of 3.
Beehiiv, HubSpot, Kit, Omnisend and Substack completed the top ten. Runs agreed 68.2% of the time. Being named often and being named first were different things here. Brevo showed up most, while Mailchimp and Klaviyo tended to open the list.
When search was only available
When web search was available but not required, Claude did not search once. There were 0 searches across 60 answers.
Those answers still came from memory. They named 82 distinct brands, about 9.2 per answer. Brevo appeared in 86.7% of them. Mailchimp was named first 16 times. Run agreement was 67.5%, close to the no-tools condition.
For these prompts, offering search did not lead Claude to use it. A brand's place in Claude's trained knowledge decided what these answers contained.
What changed when Claude was told to search
When the system prompt told Claude to search first, it searched in 58 of 60 answers, with 246 searches in total. Answers got shorter and narrower: 58 distinct brands, about 5.6 per answer. The top three brands took 29.6% of mentions. Run agreement fell to 55.3%.
- Leader: Brevo stayed first, named in 63.3% of answers. It was also named first 10 times, up from once from memory.
- Kept in the top five: Brevo, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign and MailerLite. MailerLite rose to 60% and was named first 11 times.
- Left the top five: Mailchimp, which fell from 53.3% to 30%. It was never named first.
- Entered the top five: HubSpot, at 33.3% (36.7% from memory). It moved up because Mailchimp moved down.
Sender and Moosend entered the top ten, each at 20%. Neither was in the memory top ten. No answer in this condition carried inline citations.
What Claude searched for
About half of the queries, 51.9%, contained the word "best". Many named brands directly or asked about pricing. Examples, quoted exactly:
- "best email marketing platforms for ecommerce 2025"
- "ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo vs Braze vs HubSpot visual workflow builder review"
- "Klaviyo pricing 2025 ecommerce email SMS"
50.8% of queries included a year. 2025 appeared in 124 queries and 2026 in 10. The requests gave no date, so the year came from Claude itself. Content tagged with 2025 matched most of these queries.
Sites Claude's searches returned
A small set of review and comparison sites came back again and again.
- sequenzy.com was returned in 75.9% of searched answers.
- emailvendorselection.com in 60.3%.
- emailtooltester.com and brevo.com in 56.9% each.
- ventureharbour.com in 41.4%.
- sender.net, constantcontact.com and mailercloud.com in 39.7% each.
- mailtrap.io and encharge.io in 34.5% each.
Two vendor sites stand out. brevo.com came back often, and Brevo led in this condition. sender.net came back often, and Sender entered the top ten. These are search results, not citations in the answers, and they show correlation, not cause.
What an email marketing brand can take from this
- Memory matters first. When search was only available, Claude never used it. Those answers depended on what Claude already knew about your brand.
- Searched answers are narrower. When Claude searched, it named fewer brands, and the top three took a larger share. Some brands lost ground, as Mailchimp did.
- Third-party comparison pages carry weight. sequenzy.com, emailvendorselection.com and emailtooltester.com came back in most searched answers. How those pages describe your product shapes what Claude reads.
- Your own site can surface. brevo.com and sender.net were returned often. Clear, current pricing and comparison pages on your domain can match the queries Claude writes.
- Dated content matches dated queries. Many queries carried 2025. Keep yearly roundups and pricing pages current.
CiteLadder tracks these patterns over time for your category and your brand.
Brand shares in each condition
Share of the 60 answers (20 prompts, three runs) that named each brand. "Prompts named in every run" counts the prompts where the brand appeared in all three runs from memory.
| Brand | From memory | Prompts named in every run | Told to search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | 76.7% | 14 | 63.3% |
| Klaviyo | 61.7% | 12 | 41.7% |
| ActiveCampaign | 58.3% | 11 | 40% |
| MailerLite | 55% | 8 | 60% |
| Mailchimp | 53.3% | 9 | 30% |
| Beehiiv | 40% | 6 | not in top 15 |
| HubSpot | 36.7% | 6 | 33.3% |
| Kit | 35% | 3 | 26.7% |
| Omnisend | 33.3% | 5 | 26.7% |
| Substack | 30% | 4 | not in top 15 |
| Sender | not in top 15 | 20% | |
| Moosend | not in top 15 | 20% |
Sites Claude's searches returned
When told to search. Share of answers whose searches returned at least one page from the site.
| Site | Answers | Share of searched answers |
|---|---|---|
| sequenzy.com | 44 | 75.9% |
| emailvendorselection.com | 35 | 60.3% |
| emailtooltester.com | 33 | 56.9% |
| brevo.com | 33 | 56.9% |
| ventureharbour.com | 24 | 41.4% |
| sender.net | 23 | 39.7% |
| constantcontact.com | 23 | 39.7% |
| mailercloud.com | 23 | 39.7% |
| mailtrap.io | 20 | 34.5% |
| encharge.io | 20 | 34.5% |
The 20 prompts
- What's the best email marketing software right now? (best overall)
- Which email marketing platform do most marketers actually recommend? (best overall)
- Top email newsletter tools worth paying for? (best overall)
- What email marketing service has the best deliverability overall? (best overall)
- Best email marketing tool for a small Shopify-style online store? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Which email platform works best for a nonprofit sending donor updates? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Good email marketing software for a B2B SaaS startup? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- What should a solo creator use to send a paid newsletter? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best email tool for a marketing agency managing many client accounts? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Which email marketing platform suits a local restaurant or retail shop? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Email software for an enterprise team with strict compliance needs? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- What email platform do online course creators use to sell courses? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best free email marketing tool for a list under 1,000 subscribers? (budget or free)
- Cheapest email marketing service that still has decent automation? (budget or free)
- Affordable email marketing options for a tiny startup on a tight budget? (budget or free)
- Which email marketing tools have the most powerful visual automation builders? (feature-led)
- Email platforms with strong A/B testing and detailed analytics? (feature-led)
- Which email software combines SMS and email campaigns in one place? (feature-led)
- Compare the top 5 email marketing platforms for ecommerce brands. (comparison shortlist)
- Shortlist of email marketing tools to switch to from my current one? (comparison shortlist)
Frequently asked questions
Which email marketing brand did Claude name most often
Brevo. From memory it appeared in 76.7% of answers, and when told to search it appeared in 63.3%. That is a measure of what Claude said, not a judgment of which product is best.
Did Claude search the web on its own for these questions
No. With search available but not required, Claude ran 0 searches across 60 answers. It searched only when the system prompt told it to, and then searched in 58 of 60 answers.
Why did Mailchimp drop when Claude searched
The data shows the change, not the cause. From memory Mailchimp appeared in 53.3% of answers and was named first 15 times. When told to search it appeared in 30% and was never named first. Searched answers named fewer brands overall, about 5.6 per answer.
Do these results match what people see in the Claude app
Not necessarily. The study used the Anthropic API at low effort with no current date. The Claude apps can behave differently, including in when they search.
Track how often Claude names you
CiteLadder records how ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews answer your buyers' questions, tracking your mentions, position and competitors. Every result is tied to the answer it came from.
Visibility over time
| Series | 8 Sep | 15 Sep | 22 Sep | 29 Sep | 6 Oct | 13 Oct | 20 Oct | 27 Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acme Analytics | 27.9% | 29.6% | 30.2% | 31.8% | 32.5% | 33.1% | 34.2% | 38.4% |
| Northwind | 46.0% | 45.2% | 45.8% | 44.6% | 44.1% | 43.5% | 42.9% | 41.7% |
| Lumen | 30.4% | 31.0% | 29.8% | 30.6% | 29.9% | 29.2% | 28.8% | 27.5% |
412 answers to 120 prompts across 4 engines, week of 27 Oct – 2 Nov 2026
Brands
| Brand | Visibility | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Northwind | 41.7% | down 1.2 pts |
| Acme Analytics | 38.4% | up 4.2 pts |
| Lumen | 27.5% | down 1.3 pts |
| Fathom Labs | 16.9% | down 0.2 pts |
Acme Analytics by engine