Knowledge base and self-service
Asked as “knowledge base software”, and as “customer self-service help center tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 58 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
21%
Contested · Document360 17%
21Notion17Document36014Freshdesk48others
21% of first choices, contested.
Since September 2026▲+4Since September 2026: 18% → 22%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Notion held the lead, +4 points on 18%, inside the 12-point floor.
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
01
Notion21%30%50criticized challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 18% → 22%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.18% → 22%
Notion21%30%50criticized challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 18% → 22%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.18% → 22%02
Document36017%2%42accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 14% → 14%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.14% → 14%
Document36017%2%42accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 14% → 14%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.14% → 14%03
Freshdesk14%4%23accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 12% → 12%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.12% → 12%
Freshdesk14%4%23accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 12% → 12%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.12% → 12%04
Zendesk Guide7%10%40accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 6% → 8%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.6% → 8%
Zendesk Guide7%10%40accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 6% → 8%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.6% → 8%05
Confluence5%15%46accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 6% → 4%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.6% → 4%
Confluence5%15%46accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 6% → 4%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.6% → 4%06
Slite3%8%26accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 2% → 4%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 4%
Slite3%8%26accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 2% → 4%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 4%07
Helpjuice3%5%19accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 4% → 4%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 4%
Helpjuice3%5%19accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 4% → 4%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 4%08
HubSpot Service Hub3%0%10accepted challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 0% → 4%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 4%
HubSpot Service Hub3%0%10accepted challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 0% → 4%, +4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 4%09
Guru2%7%28accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 4% → 2%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 2%
Guru2%7%28accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 4% → 2%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 2%10
Help Scout Docs2%6%18accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%
Help Scout Docs2%6%18accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%11
ClickUp2%8%12accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 2% → 2%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 2%
ClickUp2%8%12accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 2% → 2%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 2%Show the one product at 0%, ordered by negative rate
12
Intercom Articles0%0%13accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%
Intercom Articles0%0%13accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%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 is noise, and both are shown. 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 ten head-to-head pages: the top five 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 →
010203040506070809101112Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%
Key
01Notion21%
Notion21%02Document36017%
Document36017%03Freshdesk14%
Freshdesk14%04Zendesk Guide7%
Zendesk Guide7%05Confluence5%
Confluence5%06Slite3%
Slite3%07Helpjuice3%
Helpjuice3%08HubSpot Service Hub3%
HubSpot Service Hub3%09Guru2%
Guru2%10Help Scout Docs2%
Help Scout Docs2%11ClickUp2%
ClickUp2%12Intercom Articles0%
Intercom Articles0%What they warned about
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.
Notion30%
15 of 50 labels negative · 11 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“it falls short as a dedicated knowledge base due to its weak search, lack of version control, and missing customer-focused features” Llama 4 Maverick, negative prompt
Confluence15%
7 of 46 labels negative · 5 of 6 models
“Search issues: Surfaces archived pages above current ones ... Cost creep: Atlassian pricing changes have frustrated many users” Kimi K2, negative prompt
Zendesk Guide10%
4 of 40 labels negative · 4 of 6 models
“typical enterprise tools (like Zendesk or Salesforce) are often too expensive” Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt
SharePoint60%
3 of 5 labels negative · 3 of 6 models
“notoriously complex to set up. It often requires a dedicated SharePoint administrator” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the six in this edition.
Sites the answers cite
73 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 949 links across 227 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.
38 answers · 43 citations · 13 models
vendor site · Slite34 answers · 48 citations · 11 models
20 answers · 32 citations · 10 models
vendor site · HubSpot20 answers · 25 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Plain17 answers · 20 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Helpjuice17 answers · 18 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Zendesk16 answers · 23 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Document36015 answers · 18 citations · 10 models
vendor site · MangoApps15 answers · 15 citations · 8 models
vendor site · BoldDesk14 answers · 14 citations · 7 models
vendor site · KnowledgeOwl14 answers · 14 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Helply13 answers · 20 citations · 10 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.
32 answers · 11 models
30 answers · 12 models
16 answers · 8 models
15 answers · 8 models
14 answers · 9 models
14 answers · 7 models
13 answers · 10 models
10 answers · 9 models
10 answers · 6 models
10 answers · 7 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 knowledge base software”, “knowledge base software”. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notion notion.com | 21% | 209 | 673,000 | 15,608 | 1,061,466 | 52 | ||
| Document360 document360.com | 17% | 105 | 1,300 | 20 | 15,294 | $648 | 92 | |
| Freshworks freshworks.com Freshdesk 14% | 14% | 283 | 12,100 | 391 | 111,586 company | $14,486 | 113 | |
| Zendesk Guide zendesk.com Zendesk Guide 7%, Zendesk for Customer Service 2% | 9% | 99 | 210 | 1 | 5,365,445 | $16,181 | 63 | |
| Atlassian atlassian.com Confluence 5% | 5% | 130 | 165,000 | 6,617 | 4,724,388 company | $5,906 | 61 | 4 |
| Pylon usepylon.com | 5% | 37 | 40,500 | 3,118 | 29,726 | $166 | 21 | |
| Slite slite.com | 3% | 70 | 2,900 | 70 | 38,045 | 1 | 1 | |
| Helpjuice helpjuice.com | 3% | 48 | 1,300 | 7 | 53,814 | 4 | ||
| HubSpot parent site HubSpot Service Hub 3% | 3% | 235 | 368,000 | 9,776 | ||||
| BookStack bookstackapp.com | 3% | 23 | 12,100 | 98 | 9,396 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 16 sites; 2 of them are among the sites the models cited here (g2.com, slite.com). The first result for “best knowledge base software” is ferndesk.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 knowledge base software for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which customer self-service help center tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top knowledge base tools and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best knowledge base software for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a knowledge base software. What should we look at?”Negative“Which knowledge base tools should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Claude Opus 4.8no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-6 Astrano first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-5.6 Solno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.1 Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Perplexity Sonar Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
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. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Zero rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|
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
Help Scout read as Help Scout Docs
Help Scout (Docs) read as Help Scout Docs
HubSpot read as HubSpot Service Hub
Intercom read as Intercom Articles
Intercom (Fin) read as Intercom Articles
ServiceNow read as ServiceNow Knowledge Management
Zendesk read as Zendesk Guide
Unresolved, counted raw
BambooHR’s Knowledge Base
Bear
BlueTweak
Freshdesk Knowledge Base
GitLab
Intercom Guide
Jet Admin
Microsoft Discovery Bookshelf / Knowledge Bases
QnA Maker
Salesforce
Stency
Theneo
Vivantio
Zoho Docs
livepro
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.