The most visible customer support tools in Europe, October 2026

October 2026 · 105 questions asked from 7 countries · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 420 answers read

Leader

Zendesk

53Heralded Score, range 49–59

Where engines disagree most

HubSpot Service Hub

1/4engines put it in their top three

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

Brands

Search is not measured for this board yet, so it ranks on AI answers.

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
– Hesk Cloud SI Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– Hornbill GB Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– iAdvize FR Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– Inbenta ES Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– indigo.ai IT Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– It Helpdesk Manager Pro Software Ticket Sla Crm Invoice App Windows Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– IT Helpdesk Manager Pro Software | Ticket SLA Tracker CRM Asset Inventory (Windows/Mac) Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– Ivanti US Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– JivoChat RU Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% None First reading
– Kapture CX IN Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% 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. AI gives each brand’s score and rank from the engines’ answers; Search is not measured for this board yet. 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
11 wiley.com Reference 1.4% 1 of 4 4 Not read
12 xurrent.com Vendor site 2.1% 1 of 4 1 10
13 linkedin.com Social 1.7% 1 of 4 7 Not read
14 tajo.io Vendor site 1.4% 1 of 4 8 Not read
15 apogea.fr Consultancy 1.4% 3 of 4 2 9
16 ibm.com Vendor site 1.7% 3 of 4 4 Not read
17 sciencedirect.com Reference 1.2% 1 of 4 4 Not read
18 serif.ai Vendor site 1.7% 2 of 4 2 Not read
19 cloudtalk.io Vendor site 1.4% 3 of 4 6 Not read
20 initdesk.com Vendor site 1.4% 2 of 4 1 5

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
Is geautomatiseerde of handmatige klantenservice beter voor teams? Dutch No brand recommended
Wat zijn alternatieven voor het beheren van klantverzoeken via e-mail? Dutch Freshdesk
Wat zijn alternatieven voor het handmatig beantwoorden van klantvragen? Dutch No brand recommended
Ik werk in een supportteam van drie. Hoe kunnen we meer verzoeken afhandelen? Dutch Zendesk
Ik heb een klein bedrijf en wil klanten via e-mail en chat antwoorden. Welke tool kan ik het beste gebruiken? Dutch Crisp, Freshdesk, Help Scout and Tidio, tied
best customer support tools for small support teams English Help Scout, Intercom and Zoho Desk, tied
customer support software for teams answering customer questions English Freshdesk, Help Scout, Hiver, Intercom and Zendesk, tied
how can a support team resolve customer questions faster English No brand recommended
how to keep customer support requests from getting lost English Freshdesk, Front and Zendesk, tied
shared inbox vs help desk software for support teams English Freshdesk, Front, Help Scout, Hiver and Zendesk, tied

Each engine's top three

Method

Each leaderboard ranks brands on two sides. AI is how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode answer the board's buyer questions. Search is Google's top 10 results for the keywords behind those questions. All combines the two, where Search is measured.

For the AI side, 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