CiteLadder asked Claude Sonnet 5.5 20 buyer questions about marketing automation platforms, three times each, through the Anthropic API. HubSpot was named in 92% of answers from memory and stayed first when Claude was told to search. This page shows what Claude said, not which product is best. API results can differ from the Claude apps.
What was asked
The 20 prompts cover five kinds of buyer intent. Some ask for the best option overall. Some describe a specific buyer or use case. Others ask about budget or free tools, specific features, or a comparison shortlist.
Examples, quoted exactly:
- "What's the best marketing automation platform right now?"
- "Best marketing automation platform for a B2B SaaS startup with a small team?"
- "Marketing automation software with strong lead scoring and native Salesforce integration?"
Each prompt ran three times in each of three conditions: from memory with no tools, with web search available, and with a system prompt telling Claude to search before answering. That gives 60 answers per condition. Another model listed the brands in each answer, and code counted them. The requests gave no current date.
Brands Claude named from memory
With no tools, Claude named 86 distinct brands across 60 answers, an average of 8.7 per answer. The three most named brands took 25.5% of all mentions.
HubSpot appeared in 91.7% of answers and was named first 34 times. It was named in every run for 18 of the 20 prompts. ActiveCampaign followed at 71.7%, named in every run for 13 prompts. Brevo was at 58.3%, and Salesforce and Klaviyo were each at 55%. Mailchimp appeared in 48.3% of answers.
Further down, Adobe, Omnisend, MailerLite and Braze each appeared in between 21.7% and 30% of answers.
Run agreement was 63%. The same prompt asked three times produced a broadly similar list, but not an identical one. Brands below the top few moved in and out between runs.
When search was only available
When web search was available but not required, Claude did not search at all. Across 60 answers there were 0 searches.
The results looked like the from-memory condition. HubSpot appeared in 93.3% of answers and was named first 34 times. ActiveCampaign was at 73.3% and Brevo at 65%. Zoho and Oracle showed up in this condition's top ten, but no search took place, so this reflects normal variation between runs.
For this category, a buyer asking Claude through the API with search merely enabled gets an answer drawn from what the model already holds.
When Claude was told to search
With a system prompt telling it to search, Claude searched in all 60 answers and ran 268 searches in total. The answers got shorter lists. It named 65 distinct brands, an average of 6.1 per answer. The top three brands took a larger share of mentions, at 35.3%. Run agreement fell to 56.8%.
The top five did not change. HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Salesforce and Klaviyo were in the top five both from memory and after search. No brand left or entered it. HubSpot stayed the leader, named in 86.7% of answers and first 21 times.
Some shares moved within that group. Klaviyo went from 55% to 41.7%, and Salesforce from 55% to 35%. Brevo held at 60%.
Outside the top five, Mailchimp appeared in fewer answers, at 28.3%, yet was named first 7 times. Customer.io entered the top ten at 16.7%. Braze, in the top ten from memory, was not in it after search.
None of the searched answers included inline citations.
What Claude searched for
Many queries named specific vendors and asked about pricing or head-to-head comparisons. Examples, quoted exactly:
- "HubSpot vs ActiveCampaign vs Customer.io B2B SaaS startup pricing"
- "best marketing automation platform B2B SaaS startup small team 2025"
- "Brevo vs MailerLite vs Mailchimp pricing 5000 contacts automation"
Of all queries, 48.4% contained the word "best" and 44% contained a year. Claude added 2025 to 118 queries and 2026 to 3. The requests gave no date, so Claude supplied the year itself.
Some queries also looked for analyst views, such as "Gartner Forrester marketing automation B2B leaders 2025".
Sites its searches returned
The site returned most often was sequenzy.com, in the searches for 32 answers (53%). Next came ventureharbour.com at 29 answers (48%) and brevo.com at 28 answers (47%).
blog.hubspot.com and emailtooltester.com each came back for 24 answers (40%). zapier.com and learn.g2.com each came back for 22 answers, and g2.com for 20. etropo.com and improvado.io complete the top ten.
The mix is mostly comparison blogs and review sites, plus content from two vendors, Brevo and HubSpot.
What a brand in this category can take from this
From memory, Claude has a stable core list here. HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Salesforce and Klaviyo appear often and stayed in the top five after search. A brand outside that group starts with less visibility in Claude's own knowledge.
Search narrowed the lists. With fewer brands per answer, the sources Claude reads carry more weight. Appearing in comparison and review articles like those on sequenzy.com, ventureharbour.com and emailtooltester.com is one way into those answers.
Vendor content was returned too. brevo.com and blog.hubspot.com both appeared often, so a brand's own pricing and comparison pages can be read directly.
Many queries carried a year, mostly 2025. Pages that state a current year and list pricing clearly match the queries Claude wrote.
CiteLadder tracks these patterns over time, so a brand can see whether its share of answers moves.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | 91.7% | 18 | 86.7% |
| ActiveCampaign | 71.7% | 13 | 68.3% |
| Brevo | 58.3% | 10 | 60% |
| Klaviyo | 55% | 9 | 41.7% |
| Salesforce | 55% | 9 | 35% |
| Mailchimp | 48.3% | 7 | 28.3% |
| Adobe | 30% | 3 | 25% |
| Omnisend | 28.3% | 3 | 21.7% |
| MailerLite | 26.7% | 4 | 21.7% |
| Braze | 21.7% | 3 | not in top 15 |
| Customer.io | not in top 15 | 16.7% |
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 | 32 | 53.3% |
| ventureharbour.com | 29 | 48.3% |
| brevo.com | 28 | 46.7% |
| blog.hubspot.com | 24 | 40% |
| emailtooltester.com | 24 | 40% |
| zapier.com | 22 | 36.7% |
| learn.g2.com | 22 | 36.7% |
| g2.com | 20 | 33.3% |
| etropo.com | 19 | 31.7% |
| improvado.io | 18 | 30% |
The 20 prompts
- What's the best marketing automation platform right now? (best overall)
- Which marketing automation tools do most marketing teams actually recommend? (best overall)
- Top rated marketing automation software for growing companies? (best overall)
- Most reliable all-in-one marketing automation platform for email, ads and CRM? (best overall)
- Best marketing automation platform for a B2B SaaS startup with a small team? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Which marketing automation tool works best for ecommerce stores selling on Shopify-style sites? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Good marketing automation software for a solo consultant or freelancer? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- What marketing automation platform do enterprise companies use for account-based marketing? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best marketing automation tool for a marketing agency managing multiple clients? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Which marketing automation platform suits nonprofits running donor campaigns? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Recommended marketing automation software for healthcare companies needing HIPAA compliance? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Easiest marketing automation platform for a non-technical marketer to learn? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Are there any free marketing automation tools that are actually decent? (budget or free)
- Cheapest marketing automation platform for a small business with a few thousand contacts? (budget or free)
- Affordable alternatives to expensive enterprise marketing automation software? (budget or free)
- Which marketing automation platforms have the best visual workflow builder? (feature-led)
- Marketing automation software with strong lead scoring and native Salesforce integration? (feature-led)
- Which marketing automation tools offer SMS and email in one platform? (feature-led)
- Compare the top 5 marketing automation platforms for mid-sized B2B companies (comparison shortlist)
- Shortlist of marketing automation platforms worth demoing before switching from our current one? (comparison shortlist)
Frequently asked questions
Does this show the best marketing automation platform?
No. It shows which brands Claude Sonnet 5.5 named, and how often, when asked 20 buyer questions three times each. It is a record of what Claude said, not a product ranking.
Did Claude search the web when search was available?
Not in this category. With search available but not required, Claude ran 0 searches across 60 answers and answered from memory.
Which brand did Claude name most often?
HubSpot. It appeared in 91.7% of answers from memory and 86.7% of answers when Claude was told to search, and it was named first more often than any other brand in both conditions.
Would the Claude apps give the same results?
Not necessarily. This study used the Anthropic API with low effort and no current date. The Claude apps can use different settings and may answer differently.
Track how often Claude recommends you
CiteLadder tracks whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews mention your brand for buyer questions like these, along with position, sentiment and competitors. Every result is tied to its recorded answer, so you can check what was actually said.
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