The most visible customer support tools in France, October 2026

October 2026 · 15 questions asked from France in French and English · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 60 answers read

Leader

Zendesk

46Heralded Score, range 27–70

Most cited source

apogea.fr

7citations

From Google AI Mode, Gemini and Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

HubSpot Service Hub

1/4engines put it in their top three

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

Brands

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Search Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
1 Zendesk US New entry 46 , range 27–70 53#1 35#1
46
  • : score 46 · #1
41% 14% First reading
2 Freshdesk US New entry 34 , range 26–69 50#2 5= #16
34
  • : score 34 · #2
31% 19% First reading
3 HubSpot Service Hub US New entry 30 , range 21–60 40#3 12#6
30
  • : score 30 · #3
20% 15% First reading
4 Freshworks US New entry 28 , range 14–56 35#7 17#4
28
  • : score 28 · #4
14% 12% First reading
5 Intercom US New entry 27 , range 19–57 37#5 11#7
27
  • : score 27 · #5
21% 7% First reading
6 Help Scout US New entry 26 , range 20–58 40#4 2= #44
26
  • : score 26 · #6
21% 11% First reading
7 Front US New entry 23 , range 16–55 36#6 2= #44
23
  • : score 23 · #7
18% 7% First reading
8 Crisp FR New entry 23 , range 10–54 33#8 5= #18
23
  • : score 23 · #8
15% 7% First reading
9 Zoho Desk IN New entry 23 , range 4–51 20#9 28#2
23
  • : score 23 · #9
11% 5% First reading
10 Tidio US New entry 11 , range 3–49 13#10 7= #10
11
  • : score 11 · #10
9% 3% 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 and Search give each brand’s score and rank on that side alone. 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 laposte.fr Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 2 Not read
12 lengow.com Vendor site 3.3% 2 of 4 1 5
13 reddit.com Community 3.3% 2 of 4 2 Not read
14 service-sens.com Consultancy 3.3% 2 of 4 1 6
15 tajo.io Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 2 Not read
16 toolradar.com Review site 3.3% 1 of 4 2 Not read
17 zapier.com Vendor site 3.3% 2 of 4 1 13
18 absyscyborg.com Consultancy 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
19 adaptistconsulting.com Consultancy 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
20 agentstack.build Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
best customer support tools for small support teams English Freshdesk, Help Scout and Intercom, tied
customer support software for teams answering customer questions English Freshdesk 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 Front, HubSpot Service Hub and Zendesk, tied
shared inbox vs help desk software for support teams English Freshdesk, Freshworks, 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