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September 2026 Edition, expanded tier · The six flagship models on every category, as published . The public index runs on the standard tier; this record is what the Expanded Edition Pack delivers on one category. The category page →
Index › GTM › Sales › Sales engagement · September 2026 Edition

Sales engagement platforms

Asked as “sales engagement platform”, and as “sales engagement tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 27 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
48%
Salesloft
Clear leader
48Salesloft26Apollo.io19Outreach07others

48% of first choices, clear leader.

ShowinginAll 112 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

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
01Salesloft48%30%33criticized defaultnewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 48% now.
02Apollo.io26%15%33accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 26% now.
03Outreach19%38%32criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 19% now.
Show the two products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
05Groove0%30%10criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
04HubSpot Sales Hub0%0%26accepted 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.
Head to head
Salesloft vs Apollo.ioSalesloft vs OutreachApollo.io vs Outreach

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
03
04
05
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative60%
Key
01Salesloft48%
02Apollo.io26%
03Outreach19%
04HubSpot Sales Hub0%
05Groove0%

What they warned about

Three of six models held their first choice under the paraphrase. GPT-6 Astra, Gemini 3.1 Pro and Perplexity Sonar 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.
Outreach
38%
12 of 32 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 3 hard negative
“Avoid Outreach and Salesloft if budget is the main constraint” Perplexity Sonar Pro, budget prompt
Salesloft
30%
10 of 33 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 2 hard negative
“Avoid Outreach and Salesloft if budget is the main constraint” Perplexity Sonar Pro, budget prompt
Apollo.io
15%
5 of 33 labels negative · 5 of 6 models
“Apollo has drawn frequent criticism here) make it easy to sign up but harder to downgrade or cancel, with auto-renewing annual contracts” Claude Opus 4.8, negative prompt
Groove
30%
3 of 10 labels negative · 3 of 6 models · 2 hard negative
“flags Groove, ToutApp, and Mixmax as acquired and shut down, so they should be avoided” Perplexity Sonar Pro, 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

33 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. 575 links across 202 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.

apollo.io
vendor site · Apollo.io17 answers · 24 citations · 5 models
forecastio.ai
vendor site · Forecastio14 answers · 14 citations · 3 models
g2.com
13 answers · 20 citations · 4 models
salesloft.com
vendor site · Salesloft13 answers · 18 citations · 5 models
marketbetter.ai
vendor site · MarketBetter11 answers · 14 citations · 4 models
salesforce.com
vendor site · Salesforce11 answers · 11 citations · 5 models
pipeline.zoominfo.com
vendor site · ZoomInfo9 answers · 19 citations · 3 models
avoma.com
vendor site · Avoma9 answers · 10 citations · 3 models
klenty.com
vendor site · Klenty9 answers · 10 citations · 3 models
outreachbloom.com
8 answers · 8 citations · 3 models
buzzlead.io
7 answers · 22 citations · 2 models
salesforge.ai
vendor site · Salesforge7 answers · 13 citations · 3 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.

forecastio.ai/blog/best-sales-engagement-software
14 answers · 3 models
g2.com/categories/sales-engagement
9 answers · 4 models
klenty.com/blog/sales-engagement-platform-tools
9 answers · 3 models
avoma.com/blog/best-sales-engagement-platforms
8 answers · 3 models
marketbetter.ai/blog/best-sales-engagement-software-2026
8 answers · 3 models
outreachbloom.com/sales-engagement-platforms
8 answers · 3 models
salesloft.com/platform/sales-engagement-software
7 answers · 2 models
sybill.ai/blogs/best-sales-engagement-tools
7 answers · 3 models
buzzlead.io/blogs/best-sales-engagement-platforms-2026-outreach-vs-saleslof…
6 answers · 2 models
buzzlead.io/blogs/blogs-hubspot-vs-salesloft-vs-outreach-vs-apollo-the-sale…
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 sales engagement platform”, “sales engagement 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 productsShareOwn site citedName searches, GoogleAI search demand, est.Organic visitsPaid search a month, est.Google ads, last 30 daysBest Google position
Salesloft salesloft.com48%29218,10044552,058$4,229745
Apollo.io apollo.io26%101033,100396111,60894
Outreach outreach.ai19%26933,1009,28227,855$14351
Klenty klenty.com4%454801020,0661
Amplemarket amplemarket.com4%253,600812,0678
HubSpot parent site
HubSpot Sales Hub 0%		0%687368,0009,776
Gong gong.io
Gong Engage 0%		0%3074,00013,36152,787 company$1,556120
Salesforce parent site
Salesforce Sales Engagement 0%, Salesforce Sales Cloud 0%		0%318550,00060,632
Lemlist lemlist.com0%858,1008923,60828
Mixmax mixmax.com0%503,6008115,5184

Google's top ten for the two searches hold 11 sites; 4 of them are among the sites the models cited here (forecastio.ai, pipeline.zoominfo.com, salesforce.com, salesloft.com). The first result for “best sales engagement platform” is forecastio.ai.

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
ModelDirect“What is the best sales engagement platform for a mid-market B2B software company?”Paraphrase“Which sales engagement tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B software company?”Comparative“What are the top sales engagement platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best sales engagement platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a sales engagement platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which sales engagement platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5Salesloft
Four alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Klenty, Outreach
SalesloftHeld
Two alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub
against: OutreachApollo.io, Outreach, Salesloft
Three alternativesHubSpot Sales Hub, Klenty, Mixmax
against: Instantly, SmartleadApollo.io
Five alternativesBigin by Zoho, Instantly, Klenty, Reply.io, Yesware
against: Outreach, SalesloftOutreach, Salesloft
Four alternativesApollo.io, Gong Engage, HubSpot Sales Hub, Salesforce Sales Engagement
against: Grooveagainst: Apollo.io, Salesloft, ZoomInfo Engage
Claude Opus 4.8Salesloft
Two alternativesApollo.io, Outreach
SalesloftHeld
Three alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Outreach
Outreach, Salesloft
Four alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Mixmax, Revenue.io
Klenty
Three alternativesMixmax, Reply.io, Salesmate
against: Outreach, Salesloftno first choiceagainst: Apollo.io, Outreach, Salesloft, ZoomInfo Engage
GPT-6 AstraSalesloft
Three alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Outreach
OutreachChanged
Three alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Salesloft
Outreach, Salesloft
Five alternativesApollo.io, Gong Engage, HubSpot Sales Hub, Reply.io, Salesforce Sales Engagement
Apollo.io
Two alternativesHubSpot Sales Hub, Saleshandy
Outreach, Salesloft
Four alternativesApollo.io, Gong Engage, HubSpot Sales Hub, Salesforce Sales Engagement
against: Apollo.io, Outreach, Salesforce Sales Engagement, Salesloft
GPT-5.6 SolSalesloft
Three alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Outreach
SalesloftHeld
Two alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub
against: OutreachOutreach, Salesloft
Eight alternativesApollo.io, Gong Engage, Groove, HubSpot Sales Hub, Instantly, Lemlist, Salesforce Sales Cloud, ZoomInfo Engage
Apollo.io
Two alternativesInstantly, Saleshandy
against: Reply.ioOutreach, Salesloft
Four alternativesApollo.io, Gong Engage, HubSpot Sales Hub, Salesforce Sales Engagement
against: Apollo.io, Instantly, Outreach, Salesloft, Smartlead, ZoomInfo Engage
Gemini 3.1 ProApollo.io
Four alternativesGong Engage, HubSpot Sales Hub, Outreach, Salesloft
Apollo.io, SalesloftChanged
Two alternativesAmplemarket, HubSpot Sales Hub
against: OutreachOutreach, Salesloft
Two alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub
Apollo.io
Six alternativesHubSpot Sales Hub, Instantly, Lemlist, Mixmax, Smartlead, Yesware
against: Groove, Outreach, SalesloftOutreach, Salesloft
Three alternativesApollo.io, Groove, HubSpot Sales Hub
against: Apollo.io, Gong Engage, Outreach, Salesloft
Perplexity Sonar ProAmplemarket
Two alternativesApollo.io, Salesloft
SalesloftChanged
Four alternativesApollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Klenty, Outreach
no first choiceApollo.io
Five alternativesHubSpot Sales Hub, Lemlist, Mixmax, SmartReach.io, Yesware
against: Outreach, Salesloftno first choiceagainst: Groove, Mixmax, Outreach, Salesloft, ToutApp
Bold 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.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 12:05yes2253 s
Direct recommendationClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 12:09yes35237 s
Direct recommendationGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 12:10yes643 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 12:11yes556 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 12:10yes943 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 12:09yes207 s
ParaphraseClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 12:12yes3755 s
ParaphraseClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 12:13no018 s
ParaphraseGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 12:14yes634 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 12:15yes539 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 12:13yes941 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 12:13yes206 s
ComparativeClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 12:16yes2865 s
ComparativeClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 12:17yes3652 s
ComparativeGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 12:18yes752 s
ComparativeGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 12:20yes1092 s
ComparativeGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 12:17yes732 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 12:17yes2010 s
Budget constrainedClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 12:21yes3253 s
Budget constrainedClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 12:22yes1956 s
Budget constrainedGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 12:23yes432 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 12:24yes237 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 12:23yes631 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 12:22yes206 s
Scale constrainedClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 12:25yes2977 s
Scale constrainedClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 12:26no028 s
Scale constrainedGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 12:27yes540 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 12:28yes874 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 12:26no031 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 12:26yes198 s
Negative framingClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 12:30yes4276 s
Negative framingClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 12:31yes4471 s
Negative framingGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 12:32yes640 s
Negative framingGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 12:34yes9111 s
Negative framingGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 12:32yes2838 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 12:31yes209 s

Noise floor in this category

Flips between the edition run and its calibration repeat. Six prompts per model is a small sample; the index-wide floor is the number to trust.

ShowHide
Claude Opus 5
2 of 5 flipped
Claude Opus 4.8
3 of 4 flipped
GPT-6 Astra
1 of 5 flipped
GPT-5.6 Sol
2 of 5 flipped
Gemini 3.1 Pro
4 of 5 flipped
Perplexity Sonar Pro
0 of 3 flipped

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
HubSpot read as HubSpot Sales Hub
Salesforce read as Salesforce Sales Engagement
ZoomInfo read as ZoomInfo Engage
ZoomInfo Sales read as ZoomInfo Engage
ZoomInfo’s engagement bundle read as ZoomInfo Engage
Unresolved, counted raw
None awaiting human review.
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.

Also in sales

The other categories of this function, with the leader in each.
← Sales enablementSales gamification →