Everyone says submit to SaaS directories so AI finds you. I measured 172 citations across 4 categories. Directories got 1.

The advice is everywhere and it sounds right: get listed on G2, Capterra, AlternativeTo, SaaSHub, Crunchbase and Product Hunt, because that is where AI assistants learn which products exist. I believed it enough to block out an afternoon for it. Before spending the afternoon, I measured it. I am glad I did, because in the data I have, the advice is close to backwards. What I measured I run a tool that asks ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the questions buyers actually type, as live web searches, and records the source pages behind each answer. I ran it across four software categories: AI SEO tools Email marketing software Help desk software Social media scheduling tools Two of those, help desk and email marketing, are the classic directory categories. If G2 and Capterra drive AI answers anywhere, it should be there. 172 source citations in total. Here is what the directories got. Category Total citations From SaaS directories AI SEO tools 47 0 Email marketing