45%
of consumers have used AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6%
BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, February 2026, n=1,002 opt-in panel
90%
of the businesses AI assistants picked were named from their own site
Picks Index, 729 first picks across 139 markets, September 2026
25%
of local business sites let a customer book online
Picked by Agents live sample, 236 sites in Dallas and Phoenix, September 2026
What each of us actually does
The AI Search Grader is free. You enter a company name, location, product and industry, and it asks GPT-5.4 mini, Perplexity and Gemini what they say about you based on their training data. It returns a score out of 100 across sentiment, presence quality, brand recognition, share of voice and market competition. HubSpot calls it a one time snapshot. For ongoing tracking it sells HubSpot AEO, in beta, at $50 a month or $45 billed annually, with no HubSpot subscription required. AEO tracks 25 prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, with a daily visibility score, sentiment, competitor share of voice, citation analysis and prioritized recommendations, and more prompts can be added.
Picked by Agents monitors the questions that decide your customers' choice, on the assistants in our research network, including Meta Muse and Instinct. Monitoring is $79 a month, month to month. The monthly pick report quotes each answer, names the business chosen and records the reason given. White glove programs, where we make the changes, are optional.
Where the two approaches part
- 01
What a model knows vs what it picks
The grader reads what models say about your brand from training data. A customer asking for a plumber today gets an answer built from a live search. We record that answer.
- 02
Brand sentiment vs the local question
AEO scores visibility and sentiment across prompts, which suits a brand. A local owner needs one answer, whether the assistant names them when a nearby customer asks, and what it said about the business it named instead.
- 03
Recommendations vs the stated reason
AEO's recommendations are general moves like a new page or a technical fix. Ours start from what the assistant said when it passed on you, which in our sample is often a price or booking path the site never showed.
When HubSpot is the better choice
If you want a free first look at how AI talks about your brand, run the grader. If you are a marketing team already in HubSpot, or want prompt tracking at $50 a month with recommendations, AEO is a sensible buy and costs less than we do. If you are a local business losing jobs to a competitor the assistants keep naming, we fit.
Switching from HubSpot AEO
Bring your tracked prompts and the competitors in your share of voice view. We rewrite brand prompts as the questions a customer asks near you, with the place, the job and the urgency in them. The place comes from you on the report form, never from your website.
What changes is the unit. Instead of a score we report who was named, word for word, on each question, and the reason the assistant gave. The first report is free and becomes the baseline your monthly reports are measured against.
HubSpot vs Picked by Agents
| HubSpot | Picked by Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A free brand grader and AEO tracking software | AI visibility monitoring, with optional done for you work |
| Price | Grader free, AEO $50 a month or $45 billed annually | $79 a month, month to month |
| Engines | ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity | The assistants in our network, including Muse and Instinct |
| Output | Scores, sentiment, share of voice and recommendations | Who got named on each question, quoted, with the reason |
| Guarantee | None, results are stated as not guaranteed | Named in 90 days or we work free, on the programs |
| Built for | Marketers and brands | Local business owners and the agencies serving them |
Questions we get asked
Is Picked by Agents a HubSpot AI Search Grader alternative?
- They answer different questions. The grader scores your brand from what models learned in training. Our free report records which business the assistants named for your customers' local questions, and why.
HubSpot AEO costs less. Why pay $79?
- If brand prompts and a visibility score are what you need, AEO is the better value. Our monitoring is built around local buying questions, the competitor named instead of you and the assistant's own reason.
Can we use both?
- Yes. We ask for no exclusivity, and the changes we recommend land on your own site and profile, so they should show up in AEO too.
Where do your facts about HubSpot come from?
- The AI Search Grader page and the HubSpot AEO product page, read in October 2026. The 45% is from BrightLocal's published survey, and the 90% and 25% from our Picks Index and live sample. If HubSpot changes either product, tell us and we will correct this page.
Your free report
See who the assistants name when a nearby customer asks.
The first pick report is free and becomes your monitoring baseline. If HubSpot covers what you need, we will say so.
- 01We read your site and work out what your customers ask an assistant for.
- 02We run the top assistants on those requests in your area.
- 03You get where you rank, whether they would book you and why, and what to change first.