Sales engagement platforms
Asked as “sales engagement platform”, and as “sales engagement tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 48 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing
Contested
48% of first choices and a 30% negative rate: a criticized default. Every model recommends it, and every model lists its problems.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.
01The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor 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 →
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%
Key
01Salesloft35%
Salesloft35%02Apollo.io33%
Apollo.io33%03Outreach15%
Outreach15%04HubSpot Sales Hub8%
HubSpot Sales Hub8%05Klenty4%
Klenty4%06Instantly2%
Instantly2%07Reply.io0%
Reply.io0%08Mixmax0%
Mixmax0%09Groove0%
Groove0%10ZoomInfo0%
ZoomInfo0%02What they warned about
Five of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Mistral Small, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 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.
Outreach31%
19 of 62 labels negative · 11 of 12 models · 8 hard negative
“**Red flags**: Poor customer support (slow responses, ticket-only), steep learning curve, integration issues ... **Avoid if**: Non-Salesforce CRM, small team, or high-volume cold email” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt
Salesloft25%
16 of 64 labels negative · 11 of 12 models · 7 hard negative
“**Avoid if**: Cold email/calling heavy, regulated industry (security concerns), or budget-sensitive (hidden fees stack up).” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt
Apollo.io16%
9 of 57 labels negative · 8 of 12 models
“**Data Quality Issues**: Frequently reports inaccurate or outdated contact records ... Best for: Lead enrichment, but verify data before use” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt
Salesforce Sales Engagement50%
4 of 8 labels negative · 4 of 12 models
“**Complexity Issues**: Requires significant operational discipline ... Only if your team is ready for complex implementation” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt
03What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: four of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.
Sites the answers cite
22 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 183 links across 78 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 8 models searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.
vendor site · Forecastio10 answers · 10 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Klenty7 answers · 7 citations · 2 models
vendor site · ZoomInfo6 answers · 8 citations · 2 models
vendor site · HubSpot5 answers · 7 citations · 2 models
5 answers · 6 citations · 3 models
vendor site · Guideflow5 answers · 5 citations · 2 models
vendor site · La Growth Machine4 answers · 6 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Gartner4 answers · 5 citations · 3 models
vendor site · Clay4 answers · 4 citations · 1 model
vendor site · Hey Sid4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Kixie4 answers · 4 citations · 1 model
vendor site · MarketBetter4 answers · 4 citations · 2 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.
10 answers · 2 models
6 answers · 2 models
6 answers · 2 models
5 answers · 2 models
5 answers · 2 models
5 answers · 3 models
4 answers · 1 model
4 answers · 1 model
4 answers · 2 models
4 answers · 1 model
04How 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.
ModelDirect“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 Haiku 4.5no first choiceApollo.io, HubSpot Sales HubChangedKlenty, Mailshake, Reply.ioKlentyno first choiceagainst: Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Koncert, Outreach, Reply.io, Salesforce Sales Engagement, Salesloft
Four alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Outreach, SalesloftOne alternative
SalesloftFour alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Outreach, SalesloftThree alternatives
Apollo.io, Mailshake, Reply.ioGPT-5.4 miniSalesloftSalesloftHeldOutreachHubSpot Sales Hubno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, OutreachTwo alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, OutreachFive alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Lemlist, Mailshake, SalesloftOne alternative
Zoho CRM Plus / Zoho CRM ecosystemGemini 3.5 FlashSalesloftagainst: OutreachApollo.ioChangedOutreach, Salesloftagainst: Instantly, SmartleadApollo.ioagainst: Outreach, SalesloftOutreach, Salesloftagainst: Apollo.io, Outreach, Salesforce Sales Engagement, Salesloft, Zoho CRM
Two alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales HubThree alternatives
Amplemarket, HubSpot Sales Hub, SalesloftFive alternatives
Amplemarket, Apollo.io, Gong Engage, HubSpot Sales Hub, NooksThree alternatives
Lemlist, Mailshake, MixmaxFour alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Nooks, OrumPerplexity SonarSalesloftSalesloftHeldno first choiceApollo.iono first choiceagainst: Apollo.io, Outreach, Salesforce Sales Engagement, Salesloft
Three alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, OutreachFour alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Klenty, OutreachThree alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, Mixmax, YeswareGrok 4.1 FastSalesloftagainst: OutreachSalesloftHeldno first choiceApollo.ioagainst: Outreach, SalesloftApollo.io, Outreach, Salesloftagainst: Apollo.io, Outreach, Salesloft
Two alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales HubThree alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, OutreachFive alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, Instantly, Mailshake, Mixmax, SmartReach.ioOne alternative
GrooveMistral SmallApollo.ioHubSpot Sales HubChangedOutreach, SalesloftInstantlyagainst: Outreach, Salesloftno first choiceagainst: Air.ai, Assurance IQ, MediaAlpha, Reply.io, Response Tree LLC, Salesloft
Two alternatives
Outreach, SalesloftThree alternatives
Apollo.io, Outreach, SalesloftSeven alternatives
Apollo.io, Close, Groove, HubSpot Sales Hub, Instantly, Reply.io, YeswareEight alternatives
Apollo.io, Bigin by Zoho, HubSpot Sales Hub, Lemlist, Mailshake, Mixmax, Reply.io, SmartReach.ioDeepSeek V4 FlashApollo.ioagainst: OutreachApollo.ioHeldOutreachUnify GTMagainst: Apollo.io, Outreach, SalesloftOutreach, Salesloftagainst: Klenty, Mixmaxagainst: Apollo.io, Instantly, Outreach, Salesloft, ZoomInfo
Three alternatives
Groove, HubSpot Sales Hub, SalesloftFour alternatives
Klenty, Outreach, Reply.io, SalesloftFive alternatives
Apollo.io, Close, HubSpot Sales Hub, Reply.io, SalesloftSeven alternatives
Bigin by Zoho, Close, HubSpot Sales Hub, Instantly, Mixmax, SmartReach.io, YeswareTwo alternatives
Apollo.io, GrooveLlama 4 MaverickApollo.io, Outreach, SalesloftSalesloftChangedno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceagainst: Outreach, Salesloft
Four alternatives
Apollo.io, Bigin by Zoho, Klenty, MixmaxQwen 3.7 FlashSalesloftHubSpot Sales HubChangedOutreach, SalesloftKlentyagainst: Outreach, SalesloftSalesloftagainst: Apollo.io, Outreach, Salesloft, ZoomInfo
Three alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, Klenty, OutreachFour alternatives
Apollo.io, Outreach, Salesforce Pardot / Sales Cloud Engage, SalesloftFour alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Salesforce Sales Engagement, Sequences.aiFive alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, Instantly, La Growth Machine, Mailshake, Reply.ioThree alternatives
Apollo.io, Outreach, SeismicKimi K2Apollo.ioApollo.ioHeldagainst: OutreachApollo.ioApollo.ioSalesloftagainst: Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Instantly, Lemlist, Outreach, Salesloft, ZoomInfo SalesOS / GTM Workspace
Two alternatives
Outreach, SalesloftTwo alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, SalesloftFour alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, Outreach, Salesloft, ZoomInfoTwo alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, YeswareThree alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, OutreachGLM 4.7 FlashXApollo.ioagainst: OutreachSalesloftChangedagainst: WoodpeckerOutreachApollo.ioOutreachagainst: Apollo.io, Groove, Mixmax, Salesforce Sales Engagement, Salesloft, ToutApp
One alternative
SalesloftTwo alternatives
HubSpot Sales Hub, OutreachFour alternatives
Amplemarket, Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, SalesloftTwo alternatives
Close, HubSpot Sales HubFour alternatives
Apollo.io, HubSpot Sales Hub, Reply.io, SalesloftMiniMax M2.5OutreachOutreach, SalesloftChangedno first choiceApollo.iono first choiceagainst: Dux-Soup, Outreach, Phantombuster, Salesloft
Two alternatives
Apollo.io, SalesloftOne alternative
HubSpot Sales HubTen alternatives
Apollo.io, Close, Gong Engage, Groove, HubSpot Sales Hub, Klenty, Outreach, Salesloft, Yesware, ZoomInfoFour alternatives
Bigin by Zoho, Klenty, La Growth Machine, MixmaxBold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
05The 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
Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct recommendation | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-15 02:31 | yes | 7 | 8 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-15 04:50 | yes | 3 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-15 00:30 | yes | 12 | 22 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-15 05:03 | yes | 18 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-14 23:24 | yes | 0 | 7 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-15 00:13 | yes | 0 | 8 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-15 02:11 | yes | 0 | 40 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-15 02:10 | yes | 0 | 2 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-15 05:00 | yes | 0 | 24 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-15 04:25 | yes | 0 | 28 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-15 03:00 | yes | 0 | 18 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-15 00:11 | yes | 0 | 9 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-15 01:21 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-14 23:46 | yes | 3 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-15 00:47 | yes | 11 | 22 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-15 01:54 | yes | 20 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-15 04:32 | yes | 0 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-15 02:52 | yes | 0 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-15 00:34 | yes | 0 | 28 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-15 04:53 | yes | 0 | 2 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-14 23:16 | no | 0 | 28 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-15 00:13 | yes | 0 | 38 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-15 04:19 | no | 0 | 11 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-14 23:22 | no | 0 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-15 00:20 | yes | 7 | 8 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-14 23:15 | yes | 4 | 8 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-15 00:48 | yes | 17 | 22 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-15 02:57 | yes | 20 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-15 00:58 | yes | 0 | 6 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-15 02:37 | yes | 0 | 9 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-15 04:25 | yes | 0 | 45 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-14 22:57 | yes | 0 | 2 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-15 01:18 | no | 0 | 33 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-15 05:08 | yes | 0 | 47 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-15 04:17 | yes | 0 | 24 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-15 02:28 | yes | 0 | 20 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-14 23:59 | yes | 12 | 10 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-15 02:51 | yes | 4 | 4 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-15 00:06 | yes | 18 | 23 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-14 23:38 | yes | 20 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-15 03:48 | yes | 0 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-15 03:13 | yes | 0 | 8 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-15 00:40 | yes | 0 | 26 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-15 01:10 | yes | 0 | 2 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-14 23:02 | yes | 0 | 32 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-15 01:06 | yes | 0 | 64 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-15 02:38 | yes | 0 | 50 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-15 00:34 | yes | 0 | 16 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-15 04:54 | no | 0 | 8 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-15 03:54 | no | 0 | 8 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-15 01:47 | yes | 14 | 23 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-14 23:59 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-14 23:42 | yes | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-15 01:31 | yes | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-15 00:16 | yes | 0 | 53 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-14 23:31 | yes | 0 | 2 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-15 04:11 | no | 0 | 42 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-15 02:11 | yes | 0 | 26 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-15 03:01 | yes | 0 | 96 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-15 04:42 | yes | 0 | 17 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-15 01:15 | yes | 12 | 10 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-15 01:34 | yes | 4 | 7 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-15 04:16 | yes | 22 | 23 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-14 23:53 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-15 04:00 | yes | 0 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-15 02:33 | yes | 0 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-15 02:52 | yes | 0 | 31 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-15 00:56 | yes | 0 | 2 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-14 23:54 | yes | 0 | 30 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-14 23:58 | yes | 0 | 57 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-14 23:23 | yes | 0 | 63 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-15 03:37 | yes | 0 | 19 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.
Claude Haiku 4.5
4 of 4 flipped
GPT-5.4 mini
3 of 4 flipped
Gemini 3.5 Flash
2 of 5 flipped
Perplexity Sonar
0 of 3 flipped
Grok 4.1 Fast
4 of 6 flipped
Mistral Small
4 of 5 flipped
DeepSeek V4 Flash
3 of 5 flipped
Llama 4 Maverick
1 of 3 flipped
Qwen 3.7 Flash
4 of 5 flipped
Kimi K2
4 of 6 flipped
GLM 4.7 FlashX
6 of 6 flipped
MiniMax M2.5
4 of 4 flipped
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
Category-scoped readings
Clari read as Groove
Gong read as Gong Engage
HubSpot read as HubSpot Sales Hub
HubSpot (Marketing & Sales Hub) read as HubSpot Sales Hub
Salesforce (Sales Engagement) read as Salesforce Sales Engagement
Unresolved, counted raw
Assurance IQ
ConnectSafely
FlashIntel
MediaAlpha
Response Tree LLC
SF Sales Engagement
Salesforce Pardot / Sales Cloud Engage
SmartReach
Unify GTM
Zoho CRM Plus / Zoho CRM ecosystem
ZoomInfo Engage
ZoomInfo SalesOS / GTM Workspace
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.