Insightly AI Market Strategy Report - CRM Software

Answer Capsule

Insightly shows minimal AI recommendation power in the CRM Software category for June 2026. The brand appears in only 8.0% of AI responses and receives valid recommendations in just 1.4% of observations. Its net sentiment score of 0.35 is the second lowest among measured brands, and its average recommended rank of 5.32 places it well outside the top shortlist positions. Insightly is present in AI conversations but is rarely recommended, and when it is, it appears at the bottom of ranked lists.

Who This Report Is For

This report is for Insightly's marketing, product, and executive teams evaluating the brand's current position in AI-driven buyer discovery and the gap between its market presence and AI recommendation eligibility.

Report Card

• Report type: AI Company Market Strategy Report
• Target company: Insightly
• Category / market studied: CRM Software
• Reporting month: June 2026
• AI platforms tracked: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity
• Public high-intent clusters: 3 (Discovery & Evaluation, Comparison & Alternatives, Pricing & Cost Evaluation)
• AI observations analyzed: 1,475
• Competitors tracked: Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Freshsales, monday CRM, Keap, SugarCRM

Executive Summary

The June 2026 LLM Authority Index benchmark for CRM Software reveals a category where AI recommendation power is concentrated among a small set of consistently recommended platforms. Insightly sits at the bottom of the competitive landscape alongside Keap and SugarCRM, with metrics that indicate near-invisibility to AI-driven buyer discovery.

Insightly appears in 118 of 1,475 total observations, a raw mention presence rate of 8.0%. Of those appearances, 77 are neutral mentions, 41 are positive, and none are negative. The brand receives only 20 valid recommendations across all platforms and clusters, representing a valid recommendation coverage of 1.4%. Its Top 3 rate is 0.3%, and its Rank 1 rate is 0.1%. When Insightly is recommended, its average rank is 5.32, placing it at the bottom of any shortlist it manages to enter.

The brand's strongest cluster is Discovery & Evaluation, where it achieves 1.3% valid recommendation coverage. Its weakest performance by average recommended rank is in the Pricing & Cost Evaluation cluster, where an average rank of 5.57 indicates poor shortlist positioning. Insightly's net sentiment score of 0.35 reflects predominantly neutral framing that does not support buyer confidence.

The modeled monthly AI opportunity value for the CRM Software category is $29.1 million. Insightly captures $63,943 in AI Authority Value, representing 0.2% of the total opportunity. The brand leaves approximately $29.0 million in uncaptured opportunity, the highest gap relative to captured value among all measured brands in this benchmark.

What Insightly Is Winning

Insightly has no negative mentions across any platform or cluster. Every appearance in AI responses is either neutral or positive, which means the brand is not being actively cautioned against or framed as a risk. This is a baseline condition, not a competitive advantage, but it does confirm that the brand's public evidence layer does not contain material causing AI systems to frame it negatively.

Insightly shows its best platform-level performance on Perplexity, where it achieves 2.8% valid recommendation coverage and a net sentiment score of 0.41. This is the one platform where the brand's recommendation rate moves meaningfully above its overall average, suggesting that the source material Perplexity draws on is slightly more favorable to Insightly than sources available to other platforms.

Where Insightly Has the Clearest AI Visibility Gaps

Insightly's primary gap is the distance between raw mention presence and valid recommendation coverage. The brand appears in 8.0% of AI responses but receives recommendations in only 1.4% of observations. In the large majority of cases where Insightly is mentioned, it is not being recommended. It is cited in lists, referenced in comparisons, and included in feature discussions, but AI systems do not rank it as a top option for buyers.

The Comparison & Alternatives cluster illustrates this gap most clearly. Insightly appears in 6.8% of responses in this cluster but achieves only 1.2% valid recommendation coverage, with an average recommended rank of 6.4 when it does appear. Zoho CRM, the cluster leader, achieves 30.4% coverage with an average rank of 2.98. The gap is not marginal. Insightly is being mentioned in the same conversations where Zoho CRM is being recommended.

On ChatGPT, Insightly appears in 13.1% of responses but receives valid recommendations in only 2.0% of observations. Its average recommended rank on this platform is 6.8, the weakest platform-level rank recorded for any brand in the dataset. On Gemini and Google AI Overviews, Insightly receives zero valid recommendations despite appearing in 4.0% and 3.3% of responses respectively. Presence on these platforms is not translating into any recommendation credit.

Insightly's net sentiment score of 0.35 is the second lowest among all measured brands, ahead of only SugarCRM at 0.11. The predominance of neutral framing across platforms indicates that AI systems are including Insightly as a reference point in category discussions rather than positioning it as a recommended choice.

Biggest Opportunity

Insightly's clearest path to improvement is building the public evidence layer that AI systems require to move a brand from referenced to recommended. The gap between mention presence and recommendation coverage is not primarily a brand awareness problem. It is a source quality and framing problem. AI systems can identify Insightly as a CRM platform but lack the authoritative, buyer-oriented source material needed to rank it competitively in shortlist responses.

The Pricing & Cost Evaluation cluster is the most actionable entry point. This cluster carries the highest buyer-stage multiplier in the benchmark at 1.5, meaning recommendations here carry greater commercial weight than in earlier-stage clusters. Insightly currently achieves only 1.6% coverage in this cluster with an average recommended rank of 5.57. The combination of high commercial weight and low current coverage means even modest improvement in source material positioning Insightly as a cost-effective, feature-complete option could move the brand into more competitive shortlist positions without requiring broad authority gains across the entire category.

Prompt Evidence

Perplexity / Discovery & Evaluation Prompt: "What are the best CRM software options for small businesses?" Result: Insightly appeared in the response but was not among the top recommended options, receiving a rank outside the top 3.

ChatGPT / Comparison & Alternatives Prompt: "Compare Insightly vs Zoho CRM for project management features" Result: Insightly was mentioned in a comparative context but received neutral framing that did not result in a recommendation.

Google AI Overviews / Pricing & Cost Evaluation Prompt: "What is the cheapest CRM software with pipeline management?" Result: Insightly was not mentioned in the response, indicating the brand lacks the pricing and feature source material needed for this high-intent query type.

Gemini / Discovery & Evaluation Prompt: "List the top CRM platforms for sales teams" Result: Insightly was not included in the response, showing the brand is absent from AI-generated shortlists on this platform despite appearing in responses elsewhere.

What CiteWorks Studio Would Do Next

Phase 1: AI Market Discovery Audit Map Insightly's current AI recommendation footprint across all six platforms and three public clusters to identify the specific prompts, platforms, and source gaps causing low recommendation conversion.

Phase 2: Recommendation Readiness Plan Identify the public evidence layer gaps preventing AI systems from recommending Insightly, including missing comparison content, thin review profiles, and insufficient structured positioning around pricing and value.

Phase 3: Owned Answer Layer Buildout Develop owned content that positions Insightly as a competitive option in the Pricing & Cost Evaluation cluster, including pricing pages, feature comparisons, and buyer guides structured for AI retrieval.

Phase 4: Citation / Authority Layer Development Strengthen third-party coverage through editorial reviews, comparison articles, and directory listings that give AI systems authoritative source material to draw on when forming recommendations.

Phase 5: Monthly AI Visibility and Recommendation Tracking Monitor Insightly's recommendation coverage, Top 3 rate, average recommended rank, and net sentiment across platforms and clusters to measure progress and adjust strategy as the benchmark evolves.

Why This Matters

AI systems are functioning as the primary shortlist builders for CRM software buyers in 2026. When a buyer asks for the best CRM for a small business or requests a CRM software comparison, the response typically surfaces three to five ranked recommendations. Insightly is appearing in AI responses but is not being recommended. The brand is present in the conversation but absent from the shortlist, and the commercial consequence of that gap is direct and measurable.

The modeled monthly AI opportunity value for the CRM Software category is $29.1 million. Insightly captures $63,943 of that value, representing 0.2% of category opportunity. The remaining $29.0 million represents buyers being directed to competitors at the moment of decision. Improving recommendation-stage visibility requires targeted correction of the prompt response layer, the public evidence layer, and the citation architecture that AI systems draw on when forming buyer shortlists.

Core Metrics

• Mentions: 118
• Valid recommendations: 20
• Top 3 recommendation count: 4
• Rank 1 recommendation count: 2
• Average recommended rank: 5.32
• Positive mentions: 41
• Neutral mentions: 77
• Negative mentions: 0
• Raw mention presence rate: 8.0%
• Valid recommendation coverage: 1.4%
• Top 3 recommendation rate: 0.3%
• Rank 1 recommendation rate: 0.1%
• Strongest cluster by recommendation behavior: Discovery & Evaluation (1.3% valid recommendation coverage)
• Strongest platform by recommendation behavior: Perplexity (2.8% valid recommendation coverage)

Sentiment Score

Sentiment Score = (positive mentions x 1 + neutral mentions x 0 + negative mentions x -1) / total mentions

Insightly Sentiment Score = (41 x 1 + 77 x 0 + 0 x -1) / 118 = 41 / 118 = 0.35

This score matters because unclassified mention counts are misleading. Share of voice is a diagnostic metric, not a business KPI. A positive recommendation, a neutral reference, a cautionary mention, and a competitor-displaced mention are not equivalent signals. Counting all mentions as wins produces a false picture of AI discovery health. Classified sentiment is required before interpreting AI visibility in any commercially meaningful way. Insightly's score of 0.35 confirms that the majority of its AI appearances are neutral, a framing pattern that does not support buyer confidence or shortlist inclusion.

Sentiment by Platform

Methodology

1. This report is an AI Company Market Strategy Report based on the June 2026 LLM Authority Index benchmark for the CRM Software category. It is benchmark-based analysis, not a client implementation case study, and CiteWorks Studio did not cause or influence the benchmark outcomes described.
2. The reporting window is June 2026, based on a snapshot measurement of AI-generated responses across the tracked platforms during that period.
3. AI platforms tracked: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity.
4. Total observations analyzed: 1,475 across three public high-intent clusters.
5. Competitor universe: Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Freshsales, monday CRM, Keap, and SugarCRM. This universe covers the most measured and discussed CRM platforms in the benchmark and is not a full market census.
6. Public high-intent clusters used: Discovery & Evaluation (consideration stage), Comparison & Alternatives (evaluation stage), Pricing & Cost Evaluation (decision stage).
7. The benchmark applies a buyer-stage multiplier to each cluster, with Pricing & Cost Evaluation carrying the highest multiplier at 1.5, reflecting the higher commercial weight of decision-stage recommendations.
8. A mention is recorded any time a brand appears in an AI-generated response, regardless of sentiment, rank, or framing.
9. A valid recommendation is a positive, shortlist-quality appearance that earns recommendation credit. Neutral references, cautionary mentions, and competitor-displaced mentions are not counted as valid recommendations. Visibility is not the same as recommendation credit.
10. Modeled values, including AI Authority Value and captured share of category opportunity, are estimates based on commercial intent signals and platform weights. They are not revenue, pipeline, or booked demand figures.
11. Exact prompt count was not provided in the source data. The 1,475 observation total represents the full measurement window across platforms and clusters.
12. This report is a point-in-time benchmark. AI outputs can change with model updates, source changes, and prompt variation. Some brands may be underrepresented due to prompt selection or platform coverage decisions made at the benchmark level.

See How AI Is Recommending Your Brand

The benchmark identifies which CRM platforms are winning AI-generated shortlists and which are being mentioned without receiving recommendation credit. For Insightly, the gap between 8.0% mention presence and 1.4% valid recommendation coverage represents a specific, measurable risk at the moment buyers are forming shortlists. CiteWorks Studio maps where your brand appears, where competitors are recommended instead, which prompts carry the highest commercial weight, and which source and citation gaps need to be addressed to improve recommendation-stage visibility.