Customer success platforms
Asked as “customer success platform”, and as “customer health and retention management tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 31 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
48%
Clear leader
48ChurnZero19Vitally10Custify23others
48% of first choices, clear leader.
The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
04
HubSpot Service Hub10%0%11accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 10% now.
HubSpot Service Hub10%0%11accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 10% now.Show the two products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
08
Gainsight Customer Success0%56%32criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
Gainsight Customer Success0%56%32criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one can't be told apart from repeat variation, and both are shown. Each index measures its own floor from its own repeat, over its own categories, so the floor differs from one index to the next. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
All fifteen head-to-head pages: the top six products, each against each
Recommended versus criticized
Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.
Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
01
02
0304
05
06C07
08Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative60%
Key
01ChurnZero48%
ChurnZero48%02Vitally19%
Vitally19%03Custify10%
Custify10%04HubSpot Service Hub10%
HubSpot Service Hub10%05Totango6%
Totango6%06Planhat3%
Planhat3%07Catalyst0%
08Gainsight Customer Success0%
Gainsight Customer Success0%What they warned about
Four of six models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Opus 4.8 and Gemini 3.1 Pro changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Gainsight Customer Success56%
18 of 32 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 3 hard negative
“avoid heavy enterprise tools like Gainsight, which can be expensive and require lengthy, costly implementations” Gemini 3.1 Pro, budget prompt
Totango35%
8 of 23 labels negative · 5 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Totango / Catalyst is the clearest flag right now... the merger introduced instability, with multiple mid-market teams migrating away post-merger” Claude Opus 5, negative prompt
Catalyst
25%
3 of 12 labels negative · 3 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Totango / Catalyst is the clearest flag right now... the merger introduced instability, with multiple mid-market teams migrating away post-merger” Claude Opus 5, negative prompt
Planhat12%
3 of 26 labels negative · 3 of 6 models
“Highly flexible, but that flexibility creates operational overhead... significant configuration effort, field-management sprawl” GPT-5.6 Sol, negative prompt
What they cite
Six of the six models returned a source list in this edition: six return the pages they cited.
Sites the answers cite
34 of 36 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 6 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 589 links across 153 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.
vendor site · Vitally17 answers · 26 citations · 6 models
15 answers · 31 citations · 5 models
vendor site · ChurnZero15 answers · 24 citations · 6 models
vendor site · Userpilot15 answers · 15 citations · 4 models
14 answers · 24 citations · 4 models
vendor site · Oliv14 answers · 23 citations · 4 models
vendor site · Gartner14 answers · 19 citations · 4 models
vendor site · Gainsight13 answers · 16 citations · 4 models
12 answers · 15 citations · 4 models
12 answers · 13 citations · 4 models
vendor site · Velaris11 answers · 14 citations · 4 models
vendor site · Totango10 answers · 15 citations · 6 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
15 answers · 4 models
13 answers · 4 models
11 answers · 4 models
10 answers · 4 models
10 answers · 3 models
9 answers · 4 models
7 answers · 2 models
7 answers · 4 models
7 answers · 2 models
6 answers · 2 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best customer success platform”, “customer success platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChurnZero churnzero.com | 48% | 237 | 2,900 | 39 | 11,534 | $2,558 | 19 | |
| Vitally vitally.io | 19% | 163 | 4,400 | 40,641 | 3,154 | $138 | 25 | 5 |
| Custify custify.com | 10% | 113 | 260 | 1 | 8,585 | 0 | 1 | |
| HubSpot parent site HubSpot Service Hub 10%, HubSpot CRM 0% | 10% | 289 | 368,000 | 9,776 | ||||
| Totango totango.com | 6% | 151 | 1,600 | 20 | 1,885 | 5 | ||
| Planhat planhat.com | 3% | 178 | 2,900 | 45 | 3,971 | $4,492 | 6 | |
| Akita akitaapp.com | 3% | 17 | 135,000 | 9,342 | 343 | |||
| ClientSuccess clientsuccess.com | 0% | 76 | 720 | 6 | 7,636 | 12 | 3 | |
| Catalyst | 0% | 246,000 | 21,098 | |||||
| Airtable airtable.com | 0% | 94 | 165,000 | 2,461 | 143,237 | 118 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 12 sites; 6 of them are among the sites the models cited here (gainsight.com, gartner.com, totango.com, usepylon.com, userpilot.com, vitally.io). The first result for “best customer success platform” is gartner.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best customer success platform for a mid-market B2B software company?”Paraphrase“Which customer health and retention management tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B software company?”Comparative“What are the top customer success platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best customer success platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a customer success platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which customer success platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5ChurnZero, Vitallyagainst: Gainsight Customer SuccessChurnZero, VitallyHeldagainst: Gainsight Customer Success, TotangoChurnZero, Gainsight Customer SuccessCustify, HubSpot Service Hubagainst: ChurnZero, Gainsight Customer Success, VitallyChurnZeroagainst: Gainsight Customer Success, Totangoagainst: Catalyst, ChurnZero, Gainsight CS, Gainsight PX, Planhat, Totango
Three alternatives
ClientSuccess, Custify, PlanhatTwo alternatives
Custify, PlanhatFour alternatives
Custify, Planhat, Totango, VitallyThree alternatives
Custify, Planhat, VitallyClaude Opus 4.8ChurnZero, Vitallyagainst: Gainsight Customer SuccessChurnZeroChangedagainst: Gainsight Customer Success, TotangoGainsight Customer SuccessHubSpot Service Hubno first choicenothing named
One alternative
TotangoOne alternative
VitallyFour alternatives
ChurnZero, Planhat, Totango, VitallyThree alternatives
ChurnZero, Custify, HiverGPT-6 AstraChurnZeroChurnZeroHeldChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Gainsight Customer Success, Planhat, Totango, VitallyAkitaChurnZero, Planhat, Vitallyagainst: Catalyst, Gainsight Customer Success, Planhat, Totango, Vitally
Two alternatives
Planhat, VitallyTwo alternatives
Gainsight Customer Success, VitallyOne alternative
HubSpot Service HubTwo alternatives
Custify, HubSpot CRMTwo alternatives
Gainsight Customer Success, HubSpot Service HubGPT-5.6 SolChurnZeroagainst: Gainsight Customer SuccessChurnZeroHeldagainst: Gainsight Customer SuccessChurnZero, Gainsight Customer Successagainst: Salesforce Service CloudHubSpot Service Hubno first choiceagainst: ChurnZero, Gainsight Customer Success, Planhat, Totango, Vitally
Two alternatives
Planhat, VitallyThree alternatives
HubSpot Customer Success Workspace, Planhat, VitallySeven alternatives
Catalyst, ClientSuccess, Custify, HubSpot Service Hub, Planhat, Totango, VitallyOne alternative
CustifyGemini 3.1 ProChurnZeroagainst: Gainsight Customer SuccessChurnZero, VitallyChangedagainst: Gainsight Customer Success, TotangoGainsight Customer SuccessCustify, Totango, Vitallyagainst: Gainsight Customer SuccessChurnZeroagainst: Gainsight Customer Successagainst: Amity, Catalyst, Gainsight Customer Success, HubSpot Customer Success Workspace, Salesforce Service Cloud, Strikedeck, Totango, Zendesk
Four alternatives
ClientSuccess, Custify, Planhat, VitallyTwo alternatives
Custify, PlanhatFive alternatives
ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, Planhat, Totango, VitallyFive alternatives
Airtable, Churn Solution, Freshdesk, HubSpot Service Hub, Zoho DeskFour alternatives
Catalyst, Planhat, Totango, VitallyPerplexity Sonar ProChurnZeroagainst: Gainsight Customer SuccessChurnZeroHeldagainst: Gainsight Customer SuccessGainsight Customer SuccessCustify, Totangono first choiceagainst: Gainsight Customer Success
Two alternatives
Planhat, VitallyTwo alternatives
ClientSuccess, VitallyFour alternatives
ChurnZero, Planhat, Totango, VitallyOne alternative
HubSpot Service HubBold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency.
Thirty-six rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct recommendation | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:27 | yes | 36 | 43 s |
| Direct recommendation | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 19:29 | no | 0 | 16 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 19:30 | yes | 5 | 26 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 19:32 | yes | 4 | 47 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:05 | yes | 8 | 28 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 19:29 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:34 | yes | 24 | 46 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 19:35 | yes | 38 | 47 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 19:36 | yes | 6 | 19 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 19:37 | yes | 8 | 30 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:24 | yes | 11 | 102 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-10 00:36 | yes | 20 | 4 s |
| Comparative | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:44 | yes | 34 | 240 s |
| Comparative | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 19:46 | yes | 36 | 49 s |
| Comparative | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 19:49 | yes | 7 | 44 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 19:51 | yes | 9 | 57 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:07 | yes | 7 | 25 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 19:47 | yes | 20 | 10 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:53 | yes | 27 | 40 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 19:55 | yes | 37 | 48 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 19:56 | yes | 4 | 29 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 19:58 | yes | 3 | 25 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:08 | yes | 5 | 29 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 19:55 | yes | 20 | 9 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 20:00 | yes | 42 | 63 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 20:01 | no | 0 | 24 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 20:03 | yes | 5 | 37 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 20:05 | yes | 6 | 51 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:09 | yes | 8 | 34 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 20:02 | yes | 20 | 8 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 20:08 | yes | 34 | 70 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 20:10 | yes | 40 | 50 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 20:12 | yes | 5 | 38 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 20:13 | yes | 5 | 31 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:13 | yes | 15 | 105 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 20:10 | yes | 20 | 7 s |
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
Gainsight read as Gainsight Customer Success
Gainsight Essentials read as Gainsight Customer Success
HubSpot read as HubSpot Customer Success Workspace
Salesforce read as Salesforce Service Cloud
Unresolved, counted raw
None awaiting human review.
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.