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The most visible customer support tools, October 2026

October 2026 · 12 questions asked in English, worldwide · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 96 answers read

Leader

Zendesk

86%of answers name it

Where engines disagree most

Zoho Desk

1/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on Gemini, not on Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT

Brands

Rank Brand Heralded Score Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
1 Zendesk US 82 , range 76–87 86% 55% First reading
2 Freshdesk US 77 , range 71–83 74% 52% First reading
3 Intercom US 55 , range 45–69 50% 32% First reading
4 HubSpot Service Hub US 53 , range 44–68 51% 29% First reading
5 Zoho Desk IN 47 , range 40–60 44% 26% First reading
6 Help Scout US 45 , range 38–55 41% 23% First reading
7 Salesforce Service Cloud US 44 , range 37–54 43% 20% First reading
8 Gorgias US 34 , range 27–42 22% 17% First reading
9 Front US 29 , range 20–36 18% 9% First reading
10 Kustomer US 15 , range 10–27 7% 4% None First reading

“=” marks brands whose score ranges overlap, so the test cannot separate them. Every brand named in at least three answers is ranked. By engine has one dot per engine (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode), darker the more often it names the brand.

Most cited sources

Rank Source Type Cited in Engines Pages cited Brands its pages mention
1 g2.com Review site 18.8% 4 of 4 5 0
2 capterra.com Review site 3.1% 2 of 4 4 0
3Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
4Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
5Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
6 appvizer.com Review site 1.0% 1 of 4 1 0
7Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
8Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
9Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
10Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.

The questions, and who wins each

QuestionLanguageWins it
best customer support software for a e-commerce company English Gorgias
customer support software recommendations for a head of support English Freshdesk
top customer support software English HubSpot Service Hub
how to choose customer support software English Zendesk and Zoho Desk, tied
what to look for in customer support software English No brand recommended
customer support software for a team of 20 to 200 English Freshdesk and Zendesk, tied
customer support software that integrates with Slack English Zendesk
customer support software with GDPR-compliant hosting English Dixa, Freshdesk, Intercom and Zendesk, tied
customer support software for travel English Zendesk
most reliable customer support software English Freshdesk

Each engine's top three

Method

Each month Heralded asks every engine the same buyer questions, twice each, and reads every answer. An answer counts 0 for a brand it leaves out, 50 for a brand it names and 100 for a brand it recommends, and the Heralded Score is built from those. A brand named in at least three answers gets a score and a place.

How the leaderboards are measured