Cross-border intelligence

AI maturity in marketing: What the research reveals

AI maturity explains why 98% of marketing teams now use AI in some way, yet only 10% report transformational results, according to our 2026 State of AI in Marketing research. AI maturity measures how consistently a customer-facing team turn

Scrunch vs. Semrush: Which tracks AI visibility better?

Over the past few months, the HubSpot Blog team has been testing and comparing various AEO tools, including Scrunch vs. Semrush, and here’s the high-level takeaway if you’re trying to choose: Scrunch is a dedicated answer engine optimizatio

ChatGPT Ads vs. Google Search ads: 5 differences to consider in your strategy

It’s hard to believe anything could rival Google’s impact on our digital lives and habits, but ChatGPT is on its tail — especially now that it shows ads. For many marketers and businesses, this means debating ChatGPT Ads vs Google Search Ad

Claude marketing plugins worth adding to your stack in 2026

Claude marketing plugins extend Claude into workflows for content creation, campaign planning, brand management, reporting, and publishing. The best options connect Claude with the tools and business data marketers already use, so the right

How often to run AEO prompt tracking: A cadence guide

There’s no single right answer to how often you should run AEO prompt tracking, because the answer depends on what you’re trying to detect. But the question has two parts that people often blur together: how often data gets collected, and h

Profound vs. Peec AI: Which is right for your team?

Profound and Peec AI are two of the most frequently compared tools in the AEO category right now, and the decision isn’t so straightforward. The two platforms take different approaches to data collection, pricing, and what happens after you

Profound vs. Semrush for AEO: Specialist or SEO suite?

Buyers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity for recommendations before they ever open a search results page, and marketers need a way to see whether their brand shows up in those answers. That’s why Profound vs Semrush for AEO lands on s

AEO analysis tools reviewed: What actually works in 2026

The way people search for information is changing. Instead of scrolling through a list of blue links, more users are turning to AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Perplexity that deliver direct answers to questions.

How to create Claude skills: What your team actually needs

Claude skills help teams save repeatable workflows as instructions that apply automatically — without pasting a long prompt into every chat. A team writes the workflow once, and Claude applies the skill every time.

Profound vs. Bluefish AI for AEO: Which tool wins for marketers?

Profound and Bluefish AI both help marketing teams measure how brands appear in AI-generated answers, including visibility, citations, and competitive presence. Profound and Bluefish AI differ in their approach to engine coverage, prompt co

How to identify content gaps for AI visibility

Learning how to identify content gaps for AI visibility starts with a question that traditional content gap analysis doesn’t always answer: where could a brand contribute something useful to an AI-generated answer, but isn’t being mentioned

Which AI prompts should you track? A practical guide

For most teams, the answer to “which prompts should I track?” is this: track a representative sample of branded, unbranded, and competitor prompts across buyer stages, personas, and priority markets. Don’t fall into the trap of tracking eve

8 LLM visibility tools to track your brand across answer engines

Large language model (LLM) visibility tools track brand mentions, citations, and share of voice across answer engines. According to Digitaloft, 80% of users rely on zero-click results at least 40% of the time, meaning they often get what th

Ahrefs Brand Radar vs. Profound: Which fits your team?

Marketers choosing between Ahrefs Brand Radar and Profound are really asking whether AI visibility belongs in your SEO suite or in a dedicated AEO platform. Brand Radar is the first option, Profound is the second, and HubSpot AEO is a third

Profound vs. Scrunch: Which AEO tool fits your team?

If you’re comparing Profound vs. Scrunch, the buying decision usually comes down to where your AEO workflow stalls, not which tool tracks more answer engines. Both Profound and Scrunch measure how AI answers cite your brand, but they’re bui

How to build an AI agent: from goal to live deployment

Building an AI agent is a multi-step process. Marketers need to define the agent’s task, connect approved data and tools, and set limits on its actions. Once they master the basics, anyone — marketers, sales reps, or customer teams — can bu

What options exist for running AEO without a large team?

Companies without the internal resources or budget to build a dedicated search department still need to know what options exist for running AEO without a large team. Answer Engine Optimization is no longer optional for companies that rely o

Best Claude skills for marketing and sales teams

The best Claude skills for marketing and sales teams turn recurring work into reusable processes with defined instructions, inputs, and outputs. Claude skills are reusable instruction sets for tasks such as campaign planning, sales call rec

What actually happened when our blog went AI-first: A manager's account

When our blog team made the switch to an AI-first writing model in June 2025, my reaction was split. There was excitement on one side: I could see the inefficiencies in our process that AI might actually fix. On the other, anxiety. And whil

The marketing automation model that drove 9x qualified lead growth in a secondary market

When we reviewed our Japan marketing automation programs last year, the picture wasn’t pretty. Our automated emails were generating about 12 qualified leads per month against a goal of 160. That’s a huge gap.

Transactional email: What it is and how it works

Transactional emails are automated messages triggered by a specific action a customer takes, sent to help that person complete or follow up on something already in progress. An order receipt, a password reset confirmation, or a shipping not

Claude skills vs. plugins vs. MCP connectors: A simple guide

If you’ve opened Claude’s Customize settings and weren’t sure whether a task called for a Skill, a connector, or a Plugin, you’re not alone.

Tracking AI Overviews: What the data actually shows

AI Overviews have shifted how audiences discover brands. Gone are the days when users would click through multiple search results until they found what they’re looking for. Now, AI Overviews answers questions directly on the results page, m

AEO for digital PR: How to build earned media presence that shows up in AI results