What CRM should a small business start with?
Answers vary from one ask to the next, and the apps can search the web and remember the person asking. That is why we ask each question 90 times without web search and 36 times with it.
Salesforce is the biggest CRM. AI sends most buyers to HubSpot.
HubSpot comes first in 66% of answers without web search and 51% with it, Salesforce in 21% and 25%. Salesforce keeps large companies: 90 of 90 answers without web search, 35 of 36 with it.
Global
CRM software
Salesforce is the biggest CRM. AI sends most buyers to HubSpot.
Measured without web search. The search run comes in the next edition.
The brands AI names first most often, plus any this finding is about.
Named firstNamed at all
| Brand | Named first | Named at all |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | 97% | |
| Salesforce | 73% | |
| Pipedrive | 71% | |
| Zoho | 49% | |
| Freshsales | 14% | |
| Monday | 12% | |
| Microsoft Dynamics | 24% | |
| Attio | 14% | |
| SugarCRM | 1% | |
| Creatio | <1% |
720 answers across ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude together, October 2026. These are AI answers, not market shares. The three assistants share a favorite on 7 of 8 questions.
Seven of eight questions without web search, six of eight when we asked again, five of eight with web search.
By assistant, and on your own buyers' questions: that is a Position Map. See a Position Map
With web search · All eight questions
| Brand | Named first | Named at all |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | 96% | |
| Salesforce | 68% | |
| Pipedrive | 66% | |
| Zoho | 63% | |
| Attio | 19% | |
| Freshsales | 16% | |
| Microsoft Dynamics | 22% | |
| Monday | 12% | |
| Creatio | 5% | |
| SugarCRM | 1% |
288 answers across ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude together, October 2026. These are AI answers, not market shares. The three assistants share a favorite on 5 of 8 questions.
Who sells, and who AI names first.
Places count every brand AI names, so the numbers can jump. "=" is a tie. "–" means AI never names it first.
What it means.
AI has largely decided this market, and we would not expect a challenger to win the general question soon. The openings are specific: on B2B sales pipelines Pipedrive is level with HubSpot from memory, 40% to 38%, and leads clearly when AI searches, 23 answers of 36 against 10 for Salesforce. The decision for a challenger is which situation to own.
The eight questions.
We manage sales in spreadsheets and it is breaking down, which CRM should we move to?
What is the best CRM right now?
Cheapest CRM that is actually good?
Best CRM for a fast growing startup?
Best enterprise CRM platform?
Without web search
SalesforceAll three agree.
With web search
SalesforceAll three agree.
CRM with the best marketing automation built in?
Best CRM for B2B sales pipeline management?
Is your company missing or measured under the wrong name? Tell us. We correct facts at any time. Results change only in the next edition, for everyone.
Edition 1, Q4 2026. Next edition: January 2027.
Eight buying questions per market, each asked in six wordings of ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude: five times without web search (720 answers per market, 14,400 in all) and twice with it (288 per market, 4,600 in all, in sixteen of the twenty markets so far). Measured 25 to 30 October 2026. Kesterley.
Your own questions, not ours. Position Map: where you stand on the questions your buyers ask, why AI puts a rival first, and what to do first. From $2,500. Two weeks.
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