Announced at ContentCon Europe, Contentstack's first standalone product shows how a brand is named, described and cited in AI search, benchmarks it against up to ten competitors, and ends every run with a ranked list of fixes AI agents can act on
Key Facts
- Contentstack's first standalone product, Contentstack Canoe, is an AI visibility tool that shows brands how they appear in the answers AI engines give their buyers.
- With a free plan open to any brand on any website, Contentstack Canoe benchmarks brands against competitors and identifies what to improve next.
- Contentstack Canoe launches alongside self-serve access to Contentstack, giving users their first free way into the platform.
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Contentstack today launched Contentstack Canoe, an AI visibility tool that shows brands how AI search engines describe them and whether their competitors are winning. The company's first standalone product was announced on stage at ContentCon Europe 2026, and it has a free plan open to any brand, whether or not it uses Contentstack.
Buyers increasingly go to AI before they go to a website. Bain found that 80% of consumers rely on AI-written results for at least 40% of their searches, and Gartner found that 45% of B2B buyers used generative AI during a recent purchase, mostly to research vendors. Traditional rank trackers can't see inside those answers, so most brands don't know whether they're being recommended or passed over.
"We've been saying every brand has to inspire humans and inform agents. Until now, there's been no way to see how well you're doing the second part," said Neha Sampat, Founder and CEO of Contentstack. "Your next customer meets an agent before they meet you, and most brands have no idea what that agent is saying. Contentstack Canoe now lets brands see what the agents see, so they can stop chasing rankings and start earning the answer. Every company is working out how to become agentic, including us, and this is a first look at how we're changing."
Contentstack Canoe shows brands how they appear when buyers ask AI for recommendations, who wins the answer and what to improve next.
See What the Agents See: How It Works
Getting started with Contentstack Canoe is easy and begins with a brand’s URL:
- Contentstack Canoe scans the site to identify the business, products, buyer personas and up to ten competitors.
- Users review and edit that information before Contentstack Canoe generates the questions their buyers are likely to ask.
- Each question is tagged by buying stage, from awareness through consideration and decision, and Growth users can edit, add or remove any of them.
- The Free plan runs the generated questions once a month. Growth adds daily or weekly runs, and every plan can run a report on demand after a change.
Each report takes about two minutes and shows whether the brand appeared in AI answers, how it was described, which competitors appeared and which sources the engines cited. Paid plans run ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude side by side in every report, and the Free plan runs ChatGPT and Gemini. Every run ends with a ranked list of what to fix. Every plan also includes a site audit that checks whether AI crawlers can read the brand's site and scores its AI readiness. On paid plans, a remote MCP server lets Contentstack Agent OS, Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients read the report, draft fixes for review and run the analysis again to measure what changed.
"Seeing what AI says about your brand is only the first step. What matters is what your team does next," said Conor Egan, SVP of Product at Contentstack. "Every Contentstack Canoe report ends with a ranked list of fixes and the sources worth going after, so teams know exactly where to start. An agent can pick up that work, draft the fixes for your team to review and run the report again to show what moved. Today that loop starts with individual tasks. Next, it becomes how whole teams work."
Contentstack partner XCentium used Contentstack Canoe during early access.
“We see a lot of potential value in Contentstack Canoe for the clients we work with,” said Meng Hak, Contentstack Practice Director at XCentium. “Teams are trying to understand how their brands are showing up in AI-generated answers and, more importantly, what they can do about it. Contentstack Canoe brings those insights closer to the content and the teams responsible for improving it.”
Contentstack is customer zero. Its digital team runs Contentstack Canoe on contentstack.com, acts on the recommendations each week and measures the movement.
A Season of Firsts
Contentstack also opened self-serve access to the Contentstack platform, letting users sign up, choose a plan and start building without first going through an enterprise sales process. Each launch marks a first for the company: Contentstack Canoe is its first standalone product, and self-serve is its first free way into the platform. Both reflect a company becoming more agentic in how it builds products and goes to market.
Availability and Pricing
Contentstack Canoe is available now with the following plans:
- Free: $0 with no expiration and no credit card
- Growth: $279 per month or $2,790 annually, at limited-time launch pricing
- Enterprise: custom pricing, planned for early 2027
Learn more about Contentstack Canoe at canoe.contentstack.com.
From Here to Agentic
Contentstack Canoe debuted at ContentCon Europe as part of this year's "From Here to Agentic" theme. In her opening keynote, Contentstack Founder and CEO Neha Sampat outlined how AI is changing the way buyers find brands, how marketers work and what customers expect, along with a three-stage roadmap from Speed to Independence to Trust as AI moves from individual tasks to working across teams. The conversation continues at ContentCon US in Chicago, Oct. 27–28, where Contentstack will share more about how the company is evolving for the agentic era. Learn more about ContentCon US at www.contentstack.com/contentcon.
About Contentstack
Contentstack helps brands build digital experiences that inform AI agents and inspire people. As the pioneer of the Agentic Experience Platform (AXP), Contentstack brings together structured content, headless CMS and brand governance (Content Cloud), real-time customer data and omnichannel personalization (Data Cloud), and AI orchestration (Agent OS) in one system. Teams use it to automate the manual work behind every digital experience, keep AI on-brand, show up in AI-generated answers, and deliver personalized experiences that adapt in real time. Leading brands including Steve Madden, LG Electronics, Costco, 1-800-Flowers, Dolce & Gabbana, Sky and ABN AMRO rely on Contentstack to launch faster, reduce operational friction and personalize at scale. Learn more at contentstack.com and follow @Contentstack for what's next.
Media Contact
Payton de los Cobos
Senior Manager, Earned Media & Communications
press@contentstack.com
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Contentstack Canoe?
Contentstack Canoe is Contentstack's AI visibility tool and first standalone product. It runs the questions a brand's buyers ask across AI engines, then shows whether the brand appeared, how it was described, which competitors won the answer, which sources were cited and what to improve.
How much does Contentstack Canoe cost?
Contentstack Canoe has a Free plan at $0 with no expiration, which runs ChatGPT and Gemini. The Growth plan is $279 per month or $2,790 annually and runs all four engines. Existing Contentstack enterprise customers receive Growth entitlements at no additional cost through December 31, 2026.
Who can use Contentstack Canoe?
Any brand can use Contentstack Canoe. It works with any website and does not require a Contentstack implementation.
How does Contentstack Canoe decide which questions to ask?
It drafts its questions from the brand's own website, using its products, customer profiles and up to ten named competitors. Every question is tagged to the awareness, consideration or decision stage of the buyer journey, and Growth users can edit any of them before a run.
Can Contentstack Canoe compare my brand with competitors?
Yes. Contentstack Canoe benchmarks a brand against up to ten named competitors and shows which brands appear in the answers from each AI engine.
Can AI agents act on Contentstack Canoe's recommendations?
Yes. On paid plans, a remote MCP server lets Contentstack Agent OS, Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients read Contentstack Canoe reports, draft fixes for a team to review and run the analysis again to measure what changed. That turns each report from a list of problems into work an agent can start on right away.
What is Contentstack self-serve?
Self-serve lets users sign up, choose a plan and start using Contentstack on their own without first going through an enterprise sales process. It gives users their first free way into the platform, with plans covering the CMS and Agent OS.
How are Contentstack Canoe and self-serve connected?
Contentstack Canoe and self-serve are separate launches. Contentstack Canoe is a standalone product that works with any website, while self-serve gives users a new way to start using the Contentstack platform on their own.
What is ContentCon US?
ContentCon US takes place Oct. 27–28, 2026 at Convene Willis Tower in Chicago. It continues the 2026 "From Here to Agentic" theme, with Contentstack sharing more about how brands can build adaptive, intelligent experiences with people and AI agents working together.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/195076c9-68c0-48e3-a21d-3f220abd63e8.
