Sales engagement platforms
Asked as “sales engagement platform”, and as “sales engagement tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 55 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
35%
Contested · Salesloft 25%
35Apollo.io25Salesloft20HubSpot Sales Hub20others
35% of first choices, contested.
Since September 2026↗new leaderNew leader since September 2026: Apollo.io (35%) replaces Salesloft (35% then, 21% now), 15 points clear, past the 12-point floor.Apollo.io leads at 35%, replacing Salesloft, which led at 35% and stands at 21% now: 15 points clear, past the 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
Apollo.io35%14%66endorsed leader▲+2Since September 2026: 33% → 35%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.33% → 35%
Apollo.io35%14%66endorsed leader▲+2Since September 2026: 33% → 35%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.33% → 35%02
Salesloft25%27%64criticized challenger▼−15Since September 2026: 35% → 21%, −15 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.35% → 21%
Salesloft25%27%64criticized challenger▼−15Since September 2026: 35% → 21%, −15 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.35% → 21%03
HubSpot Sales Hub20%4%57accepted challenger▲+12Since September 2026: 8% → 21%, +12 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.8% → 21%
HubSpot Sales Hub20%4%57accepted challenger▲+12Since September 2026: 8% → 21%, +12 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.8% → 21%04
Outreach9%35%62criticized challenger▼−4Since September 2026: 15% → 10%, −4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.15% → 10%
Outreach9%35%62criticized challenger▼−4Since September 2026: 15% → 10%, −4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.15% → 10%05
Instantly2%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%
Instantly2%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 six products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
11
Salesforce Sales Engagement0%42%12criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Salesforce Sales Engagement0%42%12criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%10
Lemlist0%33%12criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Lemlist0%33%12criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%08
Reply.io0%12%17accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Reply.io0%12%17accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%06
Klenty0%0%14accepted challenger▼−4Since September 2026: 4% → 0%, −4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 0%
Klenty0%0%14accepted challenger▼−4Since September 2026: 4% → 0%, −4 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 0%07
Groove0%0%11accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Groove0%0%11accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%09
ZoomInfo Engage0%0%10accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
ZoomInfo Engage0%0%10accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 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.
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 →
0102030405060708091011Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%
Key
01Apollo.io35%
Apollo.io35%02Salesloft25%
Salesloft25%03HubSpot Sales Hub20%
HubSpot Sales Hub20%04Outreach9%
Outreach9%05Instantly2%
Instantly2%06Klenty0%
Klenty0%07Groove0%
Groove0%08Reply.io0%
Reply.io0%09ZoomInfo Engage0%
ZoomInfo Engage0%10Lemlist0%
Lemlist0%11Salesforce Sales Engagement0%
Salesforce Sales Engagement0%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.
Outreach35%
22 of 62 labels negative · 13 of 6 models · 7 hard negative
“This applies to Outreach, SalesLoft, and any tool that encourages high-volume, automated outreach — those platforms are now risking your domain reputation” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
Salesloft27%
17 of 64 labels negative · 13 of 6 models · 7 hard negative
“In August 2025, attackers stole OAuth tokens from Salesloft's Drift chatbot integration... FINRA issued a cybersecurity alert telling member firms to disconnect Salesloft integrations” Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt
Apollo.io14%
9 of 66 labels negative · 8 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Credit system is deceptive ... they profit when your data is wrong because you burn more credits.” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
Salesforce Sales Engagement42%
5 of 12 labels negative · 5 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Tools with Significant User Complaints - Salesforce Sales Engagement – Users report: Steep learning curve... $50+/user/month with hidden add-ons” GLM 4.7 FlashX, 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
75 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. 1051 links across 238 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 · HubSpot38 answers · 44 citations · 12 models
vendor site · ZoomInfo37 answers · 62 citations · 11 models
26 answers · 54 citations · 12 models
vendor site · Avoma25 answers · 25 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Rox24 answers · 24 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Rework23 answers · 37 citations · 8 models
vendor site · CloudTalk22 answers · 22 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Apollo.io21 answers · 37 citations · 9 models
20 answers · 21 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Artisan19 answers · 19 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Salesforge17 answers · 27 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Klenty14 answers · 20 citations · 5 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.
34 answers · 10 models
25 answers · 10 models
22 answers · 10 models
21 answers · 9 models
20 answers · 9 models
19 answers · 10 models
19 answers · 9 models
18 answers · 9 models
18 answers · 8 models
13 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 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo.io apollo.io | 35% | 1000 | 33,100 | 396 | 111,608 | 94 | ||
| Salesloft salesloft.com | 25% | 284 | 18,100 | 445 | 52,058 | $4,229 | 74 | 5 |
| HubSpot parent site HubSpot Sales Hub 20% | 20% | 693 | 368,000 | 9,776 | ||||
| Outreach outreach.ai | 9% | 287 | 33,100 | 9,282 | 27,855 | $143 | 51 | |
| Instantly instantly.ai | 2% | 106 | 74,000 | 87,944 | 59,881 | $986 | 17 | |
| Yesware yesware.com | 2% | 20 | 1,900 | 37 | 79,195 | 24 | ||
| SmartReach.io smartreach.io | 2% | 13 | 40 | 0 | 42,870 | 0 | ||
| Saleshandy saleshandy.com | 2% | 42 | 2,400 | 20 | 193,553 | 2 | ||
| HubSpot Sales | 2% | |||||||
| Zoho parent site Zoho SalesIQ 2% | 2% | 14 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 11 sites; 2 of them are among the sites the models cited here (learn.g2.com, pipeline.zoominfo.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
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 sales engagement platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which sales engagement tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B 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 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 |
|---|
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
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
Clari read as Groove
Gong read as Gong Engage
HubSpot read as HubSpot Sales Hub
ZoomInfo read as ZoomInfo Engage
ZoomInfo Sales read as ZoomInfo Engage
Unresolved, counted raw
Cisco Sales Engagement
HubSpot Pipeline
HubSpot Sales
InsideSales.com (ISquared)
PersistIQ
Pipedrive Sales Engagement
RingCentral DNA / Guided Selling
Sales Engagement Software
SalesHive
Salesforce Inbox
Salesgear
Salesloft – now Salesloft-Clari
Waterfall.io
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.