Who AI search surfaces for email marketing software
Aggregators dominate the top two slots across 4 of 5 queries, but brands hold 75% of unique domains in this vertical's retrieval pool
| # | Domain | Type | Queries | Mean pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | emailtooltester.com | Aggregator | 4/5 | 3.17 |
| 2 | emailvendorselection.com | Aggregator | 4/5 | 2.6 |
| 3 | zapier.com | Editorial | 4/5 | 7.3 |
| 4 | mailchimp.com | Brand | 2/5 | 4.33 |
| 5 | sender.net | Brand | 2/5 | 8 |
| 6 | insiderone.com | Brand | 2/5 | 3 |
| 7 | brevo.com | Brand | 2/5 | 3.5 |
| 8 | moosend.com | Brand | 2/5 | 5 |
| 9 | maropost.com | Brand | 2/5 | 6.5 |
| 10 | salesforce.com | Brand | 2/5 | 7.5 |
| 11 | encharge.io | Brand | 2/5 | 7.5 |
| 12 | mailerlite.com | Brand | 1/5 | 1 |
“Queries” = how many of the 5 sampled queries surfaced this domain in the top 10 (across 3 samples). Position is the mean rank when present.
By unique domain count, this vertical is 75.0% brand (18 of 24 domains), 16.7% aggregator (4 domains), and 8.3% editorial (2 domains). Pooled by appearances, the picture shifts: brands fall to 61.5% of appearances (83 of 135), aggregators rise to 28.9% (39), and editorial holds at 9.6% (13). The gap between unique-domain share and appearance share is the key signal: a small number of aggregator and editorial domains are being retrieved repeatedly and broadly, while the large brand majority appear only once or twice. Aggregators punch far above their weight in retrieval frequency, meaning AI search engines draw on them disproportionately relative to how many of them there are.
Two aggregators, emailtooltester.com and emailvendorselection.com, are surfaced in 4 of 5 queries each and hold the #1 position in their respective best-position records, with emailvendorselection.com averaging position 2.6 and emailtooltester.com position 3.17. Zapier (editorial) also surfaces in 4 of 5 queries at a mean position of 7.3. Among brands, mailchimp.com, brevo.com, insiderone.com, moosend.com, maropost.com, sender.net, and salesforce.com each appear in 2 queries, while klaviyo.com and mailerlite.com each appear in 1, showing the brand field is spread thin rather than concentrated in one dominant vendor.
If you are an email marketing brand competing for AI search visibility, getting placed (accurately and favourably) on emailtooltester.com and emailvendorselection.com is higher-leverage than any on-site optimisation alone. Both aggregators surface across the full range of query intent, from broad 'best email marketing software' to niche segments like 'ecommerce automation' and 'cheapest' options. Audit which of their roundup pages rank for your target queries, then prioritise outreach and accurate product representation on those specific pages. On-site content is still worth doing (brands hold 61.5% of pooled appearances), but the two top-ranked spots in this retrieval landscape are controlled by third parties you do not own. Zapier's editorial coverage (4 queries, mean position 7.3) is a secondary target worth pursuing via product integrations that attract editorial write-ups. Note: this analysis is based on 5 queries, a snapshot not a census, so validate against your own priority queries before committing budget.
Methodology & limits: This vertical was sampled across 5 queries. Five queries is a useful snapshot of the retrieval landscape but is not a statistically representative census of the full query space for email marketing software. The leaderboard is rated 'strong' (Jaccard stability 0.9667), meaning the top-domain ordering is consistent across these 5 queries, so the rankings shown are reliable within this sample. However, query selection shapes what appears, and different or additional queries may surface different domains. Treat all percentages and rankings as directional intelligence from a specific sample, not as definitive market-wide measurements. This data maps organic web-search results (the candidate pool AI search engines draw from), not a direct log of which pages any specific AI system cited.
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Which domains are most consistently surfaced by AI search engines for email marketing software queries?
Based on a 5-query retrieval landscape sample, emailtooltester.com and emailvendorselection.com (both aggregators) appear in 4 of 5 queries and hold top-2 best positions. Zapier (editorial) also surfaces in 4 of 5 queries. Among vendor brands, mailchimp.com, brevo.com, and insiderone.com each appear in 2 of 5 queries. The leaderboard stability score (Jaccard 0.9667) is strong, meaning these rankings are consistent across the sampled queries.
Should email marketing brands focus GEO effort on their own website or on third-party review sites?
Both matter, but aggregators are disproportionately influential. While 75% of unique domains in the retrieval pool are brand-owned, aggregators (16.7% of domains) account for 28.9% of all appearances, meaning they are retrieved far more frequently than their raw count suggests. Getting placed on the two dominant aggregators (emailtooltester.com and emailvendorselection.com) is likely higher-leverage than on-site work alone, especially for cross-intent queries. On-site investment is still justified given brands hold 61.5% of pooled appearances, but the top retrieval slots are controlled by third parties.
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