If you sell software, buyers are checking G2 and Capterra before they ever talk to your sales team — and if you’re not listed, or your profile is thin, you’re invisible at the exact moment someone is comparing you against competitors. The good news is that getting listed is free and doesn’t take long. The harder part is showing up above bigger, better-funded rivals once you’re there.
This guide walks through creating and claiming profiles on both platforms, building out the assets that actually move your ranking, and the review-collection tactics that let smaller vendors outrank category leaders without breaking either site’s rules.
Quick Answer
Create a vendor account on sell.g2.com and vendors.capterra.com, claim or build your product listing with your official company name and category, then complete your profile with a logo, screenshots, a clear description, and transparent pricing. From there, ranking above bigger competitors comes down to consistently earning recent, detailed reviews, building search visibility for your product name, and picking a category where you can realistically compete.
Step-by-Step: Creating and Claiming Your Profiles
On G2, go to sell.g2.com and create a vendor account, then search for your product — G2 may already have a shell listing built from public data, in which case you can claim it directly instead of starting from scratch. Fill in your product name exactly as it’s branded (no taglines or marketing copy), an accurate description, your website, and the category that matches where your actual competitors are listed. Picking the wrong category is a common mistake: search G2 for three to five direct competitors first and list yourself where they are, since G2’s editors can move you to a different category if your choice doesn’t fit. G2 verifies your claim through a work email tied to your company domain, and approval usually takes a few business days.
On Capterra, sign up at vendors.capterra.com using a company-domain email. Search for your product name first — Capterra often has an existing listing for a product, so claiming it is typically faster than submitting a new one. Verification runs through your company email, and approval is usually quick. Listing itself is free on both platforms; paid add-ons (sponsored placement, enhanced profile features) are optional upsells layered on top.
Once approved, build out the profile completely: a clean logo, several real product screenshots, a short demo video if you have one, a full feature and integrations list, and pricing information. Listing actual pricing — even a starting price or range — outperforms a plain “Contact us,” since buyers favor transparency.
How to Outrank Bigger Competitors
Neither platform ranks purely on company size, which is the opening smaller vendors have. G2’s Grid combines a Satisfaction score, built from review ratings, review depth, and how recent those reviews are, with a Market Presence score that factors in company size, web traffic, and social signals alongside review volume. Because Satisfaction is a major part of the placement, a smaller vendor with fewer but consistently strong, recent reviews can out-rank a larger competitor whose reviews are older or more mixed. Older reviews also count for less over time, so a vendor that stopped collecting reviews a year ago is already losing ground even without new competition.
Capterra’s Shortlist rankings work on two dimensions: Ratings and Popularity. Ratings are based on reviews written in the past 24 months, with average ratings normalized for recency and volume. Popularity is driven mainly by the average monthly search volume for a standardized set of keywords tied to your product and the position of your domain in the search results for those keywords; it also takes into account the number and recency of your reviews from the past 24 months. In other words, Popularity rewards vendors whose product and brand people are actively searching for and who keep earning fresh reviews, not just whoever has the most reviews historically. To be considered for a Shortlist, a product needs at least 20 unique reviews published on Capterra within the 24-month research window, plus minimum thresholds for both rating and popularity.
The practical takeaway: build a repeatable process for asking customers to review you — after a successful onboarding, a support win, or a renewal — rather than a single campaign. Both G2 and Capterra offer native tools for requesting reviews, and a steady flow keeps your recency-weighted ratings healthy even against competitors with a bigger historical review count. Since Capterra’s Popularity component leans on search visibility, having good SEO and brand-search presence for your own product name helps your Capterra ranking too, not just your organic traffic.
Tips and Common Mistakes
Follow the incentive rules exactly. G2 limits the value of review incentives and requires that the same incentive be offered to reviewers regardless of whether their review is positive or negative — you can’t target only happy customers or condition a reward on a good rating. Any incentivized review must be labeled as such, and you should check G2’s current incentive guidelines for the exact limits before running a campaign. Violating the rules gets reviews removed and can get your account penalized, so avoid vendors or agencies promising guaranteed 5-star reviews for a fee.
Don’t leave your profile half-finished. An incomplete profile with no screenshots, no pricing, and a one-line description ranks worse and converts worse, even with decent reviews. Keep the description, features, and pricing synced with your actual product, since stale information hurts trust signals.
Respond to every review, especially negative ones. A thoughtful reply to a critical review often does more for credibility than another 5-star one. Finally, don’t chase every category — get listed in the one or two categories where your product genuinely competes, since spreading reviews thin across too many categories dilutes the review count and recency that drive rankings in each.
Explore more: more growth strategies for software companies.
G2 and Capterra listings FAQs
Is it free to get listed on G2 and Capterra?
Yes, creating a vendor account and listing your product is free on both platforms. Paid options exist for sponsored placement, enhanced profile features, and review campaign tools, but they’re optional.
How many reviews do I need to rank well?
There’s no fixed minimum to appear in a category, but a product needs at least 20 unique reviews published on Capterra within the 24-month research window to be considered for a Capterra Shortlist. On G2, more recent, detailed reviews raise your Satisfaction score. Consistency matters more than a one-time spike.
Can I pay customers to leave reviews?
You can offer incentives within G2’s published limits, as long as the same incentive is offered to all reviewers regardless of sentiment and incentivized reviews are clearly labeled. Paying only for positive reviews or targeting happy customers exclusively violates platform rules and risks review removal.
How long does it take to get approved after claiming a listing?
Approval times vary, but claim requests on both platforms are typically handled within a few business days once you’ve verified with a company-domain email.
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Photo: Esfand / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
