AI Index / B2B lead generation tools / History

B2B lead generation tools — AI Recommendation History

What AI assistants recommended for b2b lead generation tools, date by date. Every ranking we publish is frozen the day it publishes, so this is a record of what was said — not a re-computation of what today's data would say about the past.

Record: 26 dated snapshots · Aug 14, 2026 – Sep 8, 2026

Answer archive Methodology Data studies JSON

What changed

Computed by comparing each dated snapshot with the one before it. Share moves smaller than 1pp are treated as noise and left out — the same threshold that suppresses trend arrows on the ranking.

Sep 8, 2026vs Sep 7, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 7, 2026vs Sep 6, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 6, 2026vs Sep 5, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 5, 2026vs Sep 4, 2026

▲Lusha moved #5 → #4
▼Clay moved #4 → #5
▼Clay -2.6pp (51.8% → 49.2%)
▲Outreach.io +2.2pp (23.2% → 25.4%)
▲RocketReach +1.8pp (26.8% → 28.6%)
▼Cognism -1.2pp (67.9% → 66.7%)
▼ZoomInfo -1pp (80.4% → 79.4%)

Sep 4, 2026vs Sep 3, 2026

▲ INSeamless.AI entered the top 10 (#12 → #10)
▼ OUTSnov.io left the top 10 (#10 → #13)
▼Snov.io moved #10 → #13
▲Seamless.AI moved #12 → #10
▲Clay moved #5 → #4
▼Lusha moved #4 → #5
▲Hunter moved #7 → #6
▼UpLead moved #6 → #7
▲Cognism +14.3pp (53.6% → 67.9%)
▲ZoomInfo +12.5pp (67.9% → 80.4%)
▲Apollo AI +10.7pp (64.3% → 75%)
▲Clay +8.9pp (42.9% → 51.8%)
▲Hunter +7.2pp (32.1% → 39.3%)
▼Outreach.io -5.4pp (28.6% → 23.2%)
▲Lusha +3.6pp (46.4% → 50%)
▲Seamless.AI +3.6pp (14.3% → 17.9%)
▲UpLead +1.8pp (32.1% → 33.9%)
▼RocketReach -1.8pp (28.6% → 26.8%)
▼Snov.io -1.8pp (17.9% → 16.1%)

Sep 3, 2026vs Sep 2, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 2, 2026vs Sep 1, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 1, 2026vs Aug 31, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 31, 2026vs Aug 30, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 30, 2026vs Aug 29, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 29, 2026vs Aug 28, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 28, 2026vs Aug 27, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 27, 2026vs Aug 26, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 26, 2026vs Aug 25, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 25, 2026vs Aug 24, 2026

Methodology change: extraction rules 4-7 → 7 between these dates. Differences below may reflect the rule change rather than a change in what AI recommends — see the methodology changelog.

▲ INSnov.io entered the top 10 (#11 → #10)
▼ OUTLead411 left the top 10 (#10 → #11)
▲RocketReach moved #9 → #8
▼Outreach.io moved #8 → #9
▲Snov.io moved #11 → #10
▼Lead411 moved #10 → #11
▼Lead411 -2.8pp (20.7% → 17.9%)
▼UpLead -2.4pp (34.5% → 32.1%)
▼Outreach.io -2.4pp (31% → 28.6%)
▼Lusha -1.9pp (48.3% → 46.4%)
▼Clay -1.9pp (44.8% → 42.9%)
▼Cognism -1.6pp (55.2% → 53.6%)
▼Apollo AI -1.2pp (65.5% → 64.3%)
▼ZoomInfo -1.1pp (69% → 67.9%)
▲Hunter +1.1pp (31% → 32.1%)
▲RocketReach +1pp (27.6% → 28.6%)

Aug 24, 2026vs Aug 23, 2026

▲ INLead411 entered the top 10 (#12 → #10)
▼ OUTSeamless.AI left the top 10 (#10 → #14)
▼Seamless.AI moved #10 → #14
▼Outreach.io moved #5 → #8
▲UpLead moved #8 → #6
▲Lead411 moved #12 → #10
▲ZoomInfo moved #2 → #1
▼Apollo AI moved #1 → #2
▲Clay moved #6 → #5
▼Outreach.io -10.9pp (41.9% → 31%)
▼Hunter -8.5pp (39.5% → 31%)
▼Seamless.AI -7.1pp (20.9% → 13.8%)
▼Cognism -5.3pp (60.5% → 55.2%)
▲Lead411 +4.4pp (16.3% → 20.7%)
▲Clay +2.9pp (41.9% → 44.8%)
▼UpLead -2.7pp (37.2% → 34.5%)
▼RocketReach -2.6pp (30.2% → 27.6%)
▼Apollo AI -1.9pp (67.4% → 65.5%)
▲ZoomInfo +1.6pp (67.4% → 69%)

Aug 23, 2026vs Aug 22, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 22, 2026vs Aug 21, 2026

▲ INSeamless.AI entered the top 10 (#11 → #10)
▼ OUTSnov.io left the top 10 (#10 → #11)
▲Apollo AI moved #2 → #1
▼ZoomInfo moved #1 → #2
▲Outreach.io moved #6 → #5
▼Clay moved #5 → #6
▲Seamless.AI moved #11 → #10
▼Snov.io moved #10 → #11
▼Lusha -7pp (55.8% → 48.8%)
▼ZoomInfo -2.4pp (69.8% → 67.4%)
▲Cognism +2.4pp (58.1% → 60.5%)
▼Hunter -2.4pp (41.9% → 39.5%)
▼RocketReach -2.4pp (32.6% → 30.2%)
▼UpLead -2.3pp (39.5% → 37.2%)
▲Seamless.AI +2.3pp (18.6% → 20.9%)
▼Snov.io -2.3pp (20.9% → 18.6%)

Aug 21, 2026vs Aug 20, 2026

Methodology change: extraction rules 4 → 4-7 between these dates. Differences below may reflect the rule change rather than a change in what AI recommends — see the methodology changelog.

▲ INSnov.io entered the top 10 (#16 → #10)
▼ OUTSeamless.AI left the top 10 (#10 → #11)
▲Snov.io moved #16 → #10
▲Clay moved #8 → #5
▲ZoomInfo moved #3 → #1
▼Outreach.io moved #4 → #6
▼Apollo AI moved #1 → #2
▼Cognism moved #2 → #3
▲Lusha moved #5 → #4
▼Hunter moved #6 → #7
▼UpLead moved #7 → #8
▼Seamless.AI moved #10 → #11
▼Outreach.io -27.1pp (69% → 41.9%)
▼Cognism -17.8pp (75.9% → 58.1%)
▼Hunter -16.7pp (58.6% → 41.9%)
▼Seamless.AI -12.4pp (31% → 18.6%)
▼Apollo AI -11.9pp (79.3% → 67.4%)
▼UpLead -8.8pp (48.3% → 39.5%)
▼Lusha -6.3pp (62.1% → 55.8%)
▼Snov.io -3.2pp (24.1% → 20.9%)
▼ZoomInfo -2.6pp (72.4% → 69.8%)
▼RocketReach -1.9pp (34.5% → 32.6%)

Aug 20, 2026vs Aug 19, 2026

▲ INSeamless.AI entered the top 10 (#13 → #10)
▼ OUTCleanlist left the top 10 (#10 → #11)
▲Seamless.AI moved #13 → #10
▲Cognism moved #4 → #2
▼ZoomInfo moved #2 → #3
▼Outreach.io moved #3 → #4
▲Hunter moved #7 → #6
▼UpLead moved #6 → #7
▲Clay moved #9 → #8
▼RocketReach moved #8 → #9
▼Cleanlist moved #10 → #11
▼UpLead -7.5pp (55.8% → 48.3%)
▲Clay +6.5pp (34.9% → 41.4%)
▼Outreach.io -5.4pp (74.4% → 69%)
▲Seamless.AI +5.4pp (25.6% → 31%)
▲Hunter +5.1pp (53.5% → 58.6%)
▼RocketReach -5pp (39.5% → 34.5%)
▼Cleanlist -5pp (32.6% → 27.6%)
▼ZoomInfo -4.3pp (76.7% → 72.4%)
▼Lusha -3pp (65.1% → 62.1%)
▼Apollo AI -2.1pp (81.4% → 79.3%)
▲Cognism +1.5pp (74.4% → 75.9%)

Aug 19, 2026vs Aug 18, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 18, 2026vs Aug 17, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 17, 2026vs Aug 16, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 16, 2026vs Aug 15, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 15, 2026vs Aug 14, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

The ranking, date by date

Top 10 on each archived date, exactly as published. Cite a date and it stays true: snapshots are append-only, and a correction appends a new revision rather than overwriting the original.

Sep 8, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-11 – 2026-09-08 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo79.4%
#2Apollo AI74.6%
#3Cognism66.7%
#4Lusha50.8%
#5Clay49.2%
#6Hunter39.7%
#7UpLead33.3%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io25.4%
#10Seamless.AI17.5%

Sep 7, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-10 – 2026-09-07 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo79.4%
#2Apollo AI74.6%
#3Cognism66.7%
#4Lusha50.8%
#5Clay49.2%
#6Hunter39.7%
#7UpLead33.3%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io25.4%
#10Seamless.AI17.5%

Sep 6, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-09 – 2026-09-06 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo79.4%
#2Apollo AI74.6%
#3Cognism66.7%
#4Lusha50.8%
#5Clay49.2%
#6Hunter39.7%
#7UpLead33.3%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io25.4%
#10Seamless.AI17.5%

Sep 5, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-08 – 2026-09-05 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo79.4%
#2Apollo AI74.6%
#3Cognism66.7%
#4Lusha50.8%
#5Clay49.2%
#6Hunter39.7%
#7UpLead33.3%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io25.4%
#10Seamless.AI17.5%

Sep 4, 202656 sampled answers · window 2026-08-07 – 2026-09-04 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo80.4%
#2Apollo AI75%
#3Cognism67.9%
#4Clay51.8%
#5Lusha50%
#6Hunter39.3%
#7UpLead33.9%
#8RocketReach26.8%
#9Outreach.io23.2%
#10Seamless.AI17.9%

Sep 3, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-08-06 – 2026-09-03 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Sep 2, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-08-05 – 2026-09-02 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Sep 1, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-08-04 – 2026-09-01 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Aug 31, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-08-03 – 2026-08-31 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Aug 30, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-08-02 – 2026-08-30 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Aug 29, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-08-01 – 2026-08-29 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Aug 28, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-07-31 – 2026-08-28 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Aug 27, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-07-30 – 2026-08-27 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Aug 26, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-07-29 – 2026-08-26 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Aug 25, 202628 sampled answers · window 2026-07-28 – 2026-08-25 · rules v7

#1ZoomInfo67.9%
#2Apollo AI64.3%
#3Cognism53.6%
#4Lusha46.4%
#5Clay42.9%
#6UpLead32.1%
#7Hunter32.1%
#8RocketReach28.6%
#9Outreach.io28.6%
#10Snov.io17.9%

Aug 24, 202629 sampled answers · window 2026-07-27 – 2026-08-24 · rules v4-7

#1ZoomInfo69%
#2Apollo AI65.5%
#3Cognism55.2%
#4Lusha48.3%
#5Clay44.8%
#6UpLead34.5%
#7Hunter31%
#8Outreach.io31%
#9RocketReach27.6%
#10Lead41120.7%

Aug 23, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-26 – 2026-08-23 · rules v4-7

#1Apollo AI67.4%
#2ZoomInfo67.4%
#3Cognism60.5%
#4Lusha48.8%
#5Outreach.io41.9%
#6Clay41.9%
#7Hunter39.5%
#8UpLead37.2%
#9RocketReach30.2%
#10Seamless.AI20.9%

Aug 22, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-25 – 2026-08-22 · rules v4-7

#1Apollo AI67.4%
#2ZoomInfo67.4%
#3Cognism60.5%
#4Lusha48.8%
#5Outreach.io41.9%
#6Clay41.9%
#7Hunter39.5%
#8UpLead37.2%
#9RocketReach30.2%
#10Seamless.AI20.9%

Aug 21, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-24 – 2026-08-21 · rules v4-7

#1ZoomInfo69.8%
#2Apollo AI67.4%
#3Cognism58.1%
#4Lusha55.8%
#5Clay41.9%
#6Outreach.io41.9%
#7Hunter41.9%
#8UpLead39.5%
#9RocketReach32.6%
#10Snov.io20.9%

Aug 20, 202629 sampled answers · window 2026-07-23 – 2026-08-20 · rules v4

#1Apollo AI79.3%
#2Cognism75.9%
#3ZoomInfo72.4%
#4Outreach.io69%
#5Lusha62.1%
#6Hunter58.6%
#7UpLead48.3%
#8Clay41.4%
#9RocketReach34.5%
#10Seamless.AI31%

Aug 19, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-22 – 2026-08-19 · rules v4

#1Apollo AI81.4%
#2ZoomInfo76.7%
#3Outreach.io74.4%
#4Cognism74.4%
#5Lusha65.1%
#6UpLead55.8%
#7Hunter53.5%
#8RocketReach39.5%
#9Clay34.9%
#10Cleanlist32.6%

Aug 18, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-21 – 2026-08-18 · rules v4

#1Apollo AI81.4%
#2ZoomInfo76.7%
#3Outreach.io74.4%
#4Cognism74.4%
#5Lusha65.1%
#6UpLead55.8%
#7Hunter53.5%
#8RocketReach39.5%
#9Clay34.9%
#10Cleanlist32.6%

Aug 17, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-20 – 2026-08-17 · rules v4

#1Apollo AI81.4%
#2ZoomInfo76.7%
#3Outreach.io74.4%
#4Cognism74.4%
#5Lusha65.1%
#6UpLead55.8%
#7Hunter53.5%
#8RocketReach39.5%
#9Clay34.9%
#10Cleanlist32.6%

Aug 16, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-19 – 2026-08-16 · rules v4

#1Apollo AI81.4%
#2ZoomInfo76.7%
#3Outreach.io74.4%
#4Cognism74.4%
#5Lusha65.1%
#6UpLead55.8%
#7Hunter53.5%
#8RocketReach39.5%
#9Clay34.9%
#10Cleanlist32.6%

Aug 15, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-18 – 2026-08-15 · rules v4

#1Apollo AI81.4%
#2ZoomInfo76.7%
#3Outreach.io74.4%
#4Cognism74.4%
#5Lusha65.1%
#6UpLead55.8%
#7Hunter53.5%
#8RocketReach39.5%
#9Clay34.9%
#10Cleanlist32.6%

Aug 14, 202643 sampled answers · window 2026-07-17 – 2026-08-14 · rules v4

#1Apollo AI81.4%
#2ZoomInfo76.7%
#3Outreach.io74.4%
#4Cognism74.4%
#5Lusha65.1%
#6UpLead55.8%
#7Hunter53.5%
#8RocketReach39.5%
#9Clay34.9%
#10Cleanlist32.6%

Read any date directly

Every archived date is machine-readable at /api/index/b2b-lead-generation-tools/as-of/<YYYY-MM-DD>, which returns the ranking as it stood, with the extraction version and revision it was published under. Dates before the record begins return no_record rather than a recomputation — we do not reconstruct history on demand and present it as what we said. See what the engines actually said.

[ORBATOR]