Research · 20 October 2026
Who ChatGPT and Claude recommend as AI marketing agents
We asked ChatGPT and Claude 12 buyer questions about AI marketing agents and AI CMOs, with web search on: 24 answers. HubSpot was named most. 41 of the 133 pages they cited were 'best X' or comparison lists on vendors' own blogs. Eli, which made this study, was named in none.
Findings
What the 24 answers show.
Counted from the stored answers
- Eli, which made this study, was named in 0 of the 24 answers.
- HubSpot was named in 10 of 24 answers, Salesforce in 6, Profound and Jasper in 4: large, known brands lead, even for questions about autonomous agents.
- 23 of the 24 answers cited sources: 133 different pages on 116 sites. No site appeared in more than 3 answers.
- 41 of those 133 pages were 'best X', 'vs' or alternatives lists on the blog of a company that sells software (50 were list pages of any kind).
- Claude leaned on those vendor lists far more than ChatGPT: 32 of its 69 cited pages, against 9 of ChatGPT's 64.
- None of the 24 answers cited Reddit, YouTube or G2 for these questions, although those sites are large sources in other samples.
The questions
12 questions a B2B buyer asks. Each asked once to ChatGPT and once to Claude.
Asked on 20 October 2026
- AI agent that does marketing for my B2B website autonomously
- AI growth team for B2B SaaS
- best AI agents to get my company recommended in ChatGPT
- done-for-you AI search optimization tool
- AI agent that improves website conversion automatically
- alternative to a marketing agency using AI agents
- best GEO/AEO platforms that execute, not just monitor
- AI marketing team for small B2B company
- Profound alternatives that do the work
- tools that run Meta ads autonomously for B2B
- AI agents that get a B2B company cited in Google AI Overviews and fix its pages
- autonomous AI CMO for startups
Limits
One day.
One answer per question and assistant.
Read it as
A dated snapshot, not a ranking. Answers in the ChatGPT and Claude apps can differ. We ask the same questions again every Monday and will publish what changes, including for Eli.
Named most
Companies named, in how many of the 24 answers
| Company | Answers naming it (of 24) |
|---|---|
| HubSpot | 10 |
| Salesforce | 6 |
| Profound | 4 |
| Jasper | 4 |
| Zapier | 3 |
| Marketo | 3 |
| Surfer | 2 |
| Madgicx | 2 |
| Albert | 2 |
| Demandbase | 2 |
| Eli (made this study) | 0 |
Questions
About this study
Which AI marketing agents do ChatGPT and Claude recommend?
In our 24 answers of 20 October 2026, HubSpot was named most (10 answers), then Salesforce (6), Profound and Jasper (4 each), and Zapier and Marketo (3 each). It is one day and one answer per question and assistant, so treat it as a snapshot.
Where do ChatGPT and Claude get their recommendations for AI marketing tools?
From pages they find with web search. In this sample 41 of the 133 cited pages were 'best X', 'vs' or alternatives lists on vendors' own blogs, sorted by hand from the address and publisher. A company that is not on those pages is rarely named.
How can a small B2B company get named in these answers?
Be on the pages the answers cite: ask the owners of the 'best X' lists to review you, publish an honest comparison of your own category, keep your own pages clear about what you do and for whom, and earn mentions on independent sites. Then ask the same questions again later and compare.
How was this measured?
Each question was sent once to OpenAI's Responses API with web search (gpt-5-mini) and once to Anthropic's Messages API with web search (Claude Sonnet), on 20 October 2026. Where ChatGPT first answered without searching (9 of 12), the question was asked again with search required, and that answer is the one counted. We stored every answer and its cited links and counted names and pages from the stored text. Answers in the ChatGPT and Claude apps can differ by person, location and day.
Every AI marketing agent compared by what it does by itself: the comparison. What an AI marketing agent is: AI marketing agent. More studies: research.
About Eli · facts checked 20 October 2026
What Eli is: AI agents that do your marketing work
Eli is an AI growth team for B2B companies: four autonomous AI agents for AI search, your website, conversions and Meta ads. They work every day; you approve what matters. You do not do the marketing work yourself: Eli's agents do it every day, also when you are not logged in, and ask you only when a decision is yours.
- AI Search Agent: gets you named when buyers ask ChatGPT and Gemini what to buy.
- Website Agent: fixes the pages where buyers decide; changes go live after your yes.
- Conversion Agent: tracks which visits become customers, through the Eli site tag.
- Paid Ads Agent: tests Meta ads inside your budget, after a tracking check.
Eli is for founders of B2B software and service companies, often 11 to 50 people, whose website gets visitors but not enough customers, and who have no marketing team to work on it.
You use Eli from ChatGPT or Claude, through Eli's MCP connector, or in your Eli account at hireeli.io, and Eli sends you one short report a week. There is no new dashboard to learn.
Eli Free is free forever: one website, one full check, no card. Eli is hired on one of two plans, each with all four agents (AI Search, Website, Conversion and Paid Ads for Meta ads): Grow, $599 or €599 a month, set up by you; and Grow Faster, $1,500 or €1,500 a month, set up and run with Eli's team. Both are monthly and can be cancelled anytime. Enterprise is scoped and priced in a call. Your ad budget is separate and goes directly to Meta.
On G2, Eli is rated 4.8 out of 5 from 2 verified reviews (checked 20 October 2026). One reviewer: “I like how ELI has fully automated agents that do the work, so I don't have to do anything.” G2 reviews
You approve Eli's first change and your ad budget. After that you can let Eli improve pages and publish by itself, and you can undo anything. More money or anything new still waits for your yes. "Stop everything" works at any time. Eli never promises a ranking, a revenue figure, a multiple or a date. It tracks conversions, reports what it measured, and says so when it is too early to tell.
How Eli works · Plans and prices · Use Eli in ChatGPT or Claude
See what AI answers say about your company
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