Thunderdome B2B SaaS AI Visibility Index

← Publishing & Newsletters ranking

Startup & small team · Prompt 4 of 8 · September 2026

A real buyer question from the September 2026 snapshot, asked 3× to each of the three models. 9 answers recorded.

“Which newsletter platform is best for a creator just starting out?”

ChatGPT answered 3× this snapshot

For a creator just starting out, Substack is usually the easiest default choice, but the best platform depends on your goals. Best simple answer Best for total beginners: Substack Best if you want more control/branding: Beehiiv Best if you already have a website/business and want marketing tools: ConvertKit Quick breakdown Substack Best for: writers and creators who want to start fast Pros: Very easy to use Built-in…

Named across its answers: 1. Substack2. Beehiiv3. Kit4. Mailchimp

Verbatim excerpt from one collected ChatGPT answer; formatting flattened, words untouched.

Substack and Beehiiv together dominate every single answer, with Substack edging ahead on first-mention frequency and a 1.4 average position versus Beehiiv's 1.6. For any brand not named on this question, that gap matters because AI models are effectively pre-selecting two winners before a new creator even visits a website.

AI-generated read of the September 2026 measurements.

Who wins this question

Contested Consensus

All three models name Substack, Beehiiv and Kit on this question.

ChatGPTClaudeGemini mentioned · first · avg. pos
Substack 122221111 9/9 · 5× first · #1.4
Beehiiv 211112222 9/9 · 4× first · #1.6
Kit 333433333 9/9 · never first · #3.1
Mailchimp 43 2/9 · never first · #3.5
Ghost 4 1/9 · never first · #4
Shopify 4 1/9 · never first · #4
Gumroad 5 1/9 · never first · #5

Each square is one collected answer; the number is the brand's position in that answer. Lime = the very first recommendation. Unlinked brands were named by the models here but sit outside this category's published top 15 overall. Never mentioned here: WordPress, Buttondown, Medium, Adobe Experience Manager, MailerLite, Contentful, LinkedIn, Webflow, HubSpot, Sitecore.

Build variants of this question: the Publishing & Newsletters prompt tree → ← Previous prompt Next prompt →

Part of the Publishing & Newsletters snapshot: 72 answers across 8 prompts. Full category ranking · Compare brands head-to-head · Methodology.