ChatGPT answers, unedited

If you mean YouTube, vidIQ is probably the closest fit.

• vidIQ Optimize can analyze your existing video library, score titles/thumbnails/SEO, and let you sort videos to identify which ones need attention first. vidiq.com
• vidIQ Channel Audit looks at channel-level performance and engagement to surface improvement opportunities. support.vidiq.com
• vidIQ AI Coach uses your channel context and performance data to recommend specific next actions, including diagnosing stalled videos and prioritizing channel fixes. vidiq.com
• It also tracks the effects of title/thumbnail changes, which is useful for deciding whether an older "evergreen" video is worth re-packaging. support.vidiq.com

TubeBuddy is the other strong option. Its Opportunity Finder analyzes video performance and provides optimization suggestions, while its broader channel-management tools are geared toward working through an existing video library. www.tubebuddy.com

One caveat: neither tool can perfectly label a video "evergreen" in the strict sense. I'd define evergreen candidates using signals such as steady recent views, search traffic, sustained watch time, topic durability, and declining CTR despite continued demand. YouTube itself notes that old videos can regain traction when interest in their topic increases or new viewers discover them. support.google.com

My pick: vidIQ if your goal is "scan my channel → find promising old videos → tell me what to optimize first." TubeBuddy is more compelling if you want heavier bulk/channel-management workflows. support.vidiq.comvidiq.com

vidIQ Optimize
vidIQ AI Coach
TubeBuddy Opportunity Finder

If you mean a tool that can scan your existing YouTube library and tell you which older videos are worth re-optimizing first, I’d look at vidIQ first.

• vidIQ Channel Audit — probably the closest match. Its Channel Audit analyzes channel/video performance, identifies strong and weak content, and surfaces optimization issues across titles, descriptions, thumbnails, tags, cards, end screens, and playlists. support.vidiq.comsupport.google.com
• TubeBuddy Opportunity Finder — good for finding individual videos with optimization opportunities and generating suggestions intended to improve views/engagement. www.tubebuddy.com
• TubeBuddy Best Practice Audit — better for systematically auditing your library for things like titles, thumbnails, cards, end screens, captions, playlists, and SEO issues. www.tubebuddy.com
• YouTube Studio Advanced Mode — useful as the underlying source of truth. It lets you compare individual videos and export analytics, but it doesn't automatically give you the same kind of re-optimization priority list. support.google.com

For your specific use case

I'd choose vidIQ if your goal is something like:

“Find my evergreen videos that still have demand, determine which ones have the biggest upside, and rank them so I know which thumbnails/titles/metadata to fix first.”

One caveat: “evergreen” isn't really a single metric that these tools automatically label perfectly. The strongest workflow is to combine age + sustained views/search traffic + retention/watch time + current impressions/CTR + topic durability, then prioritize videos where a packaging/SEO change could plausibly unlock more traffic.

If you tell me your channel niche and roughly how many videos you have, I can also recommend the best tool/workflow for automatically producing a “Top 20 videos to re-optimize” queue.

If you mean a tool that automatically scans your existing YouTube library, finds older videos that still have ongoing demand, and then tells you which ones to optimize first, I’d look at vidIQ first.

• vidiq.com — analyzes channel performance, including VPH, watch time, retention, subscriber growth, traffic sources, and underperforming videos, then surfaces optimization opportunities. vidIQ vidIQ Help Center
• vidIQ Optimize can then sort your video library and prioritize videos with weak title/thumbnail scores, with recommendations for titles, thumbnails, SEO, and content. vidIQ Help Center
• tubebuddy.com is a strong alternative. It analyzes videos for optimization opportunities such as retention problems, tags, cards, and other engagement issues. TubeBuddy
• tubebuddy.com is particularly useful for systematically auditing an older library—checking titles, descriptions, thumbnails, cards, end screens, captions, and playlists. TubeBuddy

For your specific use case

I'd choose vidIQ if the goal is:

Evergreen candidate → current performance → optimization gap → priority ranking → recommended title/thumbnail/SEO changes.

One caveat: these tools don't necessarily have a single button literally called “find my evergreen videos.” The strongest approach is to use their channel-performance data to identify videos with persistent/recent views despite being old, then use the optimization scores to prioritize them. YouTube Studio's Advanced Mode can also provide the underlying video-level data for this analysis. support.google.com

If you tell me your channel size/niche and whether you're looking for a free or paid tool, I can narrow this down to the best option and explain exactly how I'd set up the evergreen-priority workflow.

If you mean “automatically find old videos that still have demand (evergreen potential) and tell me which ones to update first,” there are a few tools that get close:

For a true evergreen re-optimization workflow, I’d usually combine:

1. YouTube Studio → find candidates:
   • videos 6+ months old
   • still getting search/browse traffic
   • high average view duration
   • declining impressions or CTR

2. TubeBuddy or vidIQ → diagnose:
   • outdated titles
   • weak keywords
   • missing tags/chapters
   • thumbnail problems

3. AI analysis layer → prioritize:
   • “Update this video first because it has high historical demand but declining packaging”
   • “Refresh these 10 thumbnails”
   • “Rewrite these titles around current search intent”

If you want a mostly automated “rank my backlog by ROI” system, look for a tool that can access YouTube Analytics API data (especially impressions, CTR, traffic sources, and watch time). Public channel auditors can estimate opportunities, but they cannot see the private metrics that matter most for deciding which old videos are worth refreshing. viewmize.com

For most established channels, the closest practical setup today is YouTube Studio + TubeBuddy/vidIQ rather than a single fully autonomous evergreen optimizer.

If you want automatic identification of evergreen videos + a ranked re-optimization queue, I’d pick vidIQ.

• Channel Audit identifies strong/weak videos using views, watch time, subscribers gained, retention, traffic sources, etc. vidiq.com
• Optimize then scores individual videos and lets you sort by the weakest title/thumbnail scores, with AI recommendations for titles, thumbnails, SEO, and content. vidiq.com
• Its Scorecard also tracks how title/thumbnail changes affect the video's views over time. support.vidiq.com

One caveat: vidIQ doesn't appear to have a dedicated button called “identify evergreen videos.” You'd infer evergreen candidates from videos that continue generating views over long periods, especially via Search/Suggested traffic, then use Channel Audit + Optimize to prioritize them.

TubeBuddy is the other strong option. Its Opportunity Finder and analytics tools are good for finding optimization opportunities, while its SEO Studio focuses on improving titles, descriptions, and tags. www.tubebuddy.com

My choice: vidIQ if your goal is specifically “scan my existing library and tell me what to fix first.”

If you mean “scan my existing YouTube library, find videos that still have durable demand, then tell me which ones are most worth updating,” the closest fit is vidIQ.

• vidIQ Channel Audit identifies your strongest and weakest videos using views, watch time, retention, subscriber growth, traffic sources, and search terms, then surfaces optimization issues with titles, descriptions, thumbnails, cards, end screens, and playlists. vidiq.com
• Its AI Coach can turn your channel data into prioritized recommendations—e.g., which videos to fix first and how to improve packaging. vidiq.com
• TubeBuddy is a strong alternative if your emphasis is actually executing the re-optimization. Its audits check titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, cards, end screens, captions, and playlists, while its analytics surface videos and opportunities worth acting on. www.tubebuddy.com

Important distinction: neither tool appears to have a single native feature literally called “Evergreen Video Detector.” You'd identify evergreen candidates from signals such as older videos that continue generating views/search traffic, then use the audit/optimization features to prioritize them.

My pick: vidIQ for “what should I optimize first?”; TubeBuddy for “how do I systematically optimize a large back catalog?”

vidIQ Channel Audit
TubeBuddy Channel Audit

If you tell me your channel niche and roughly how many videos you have, I can also give you a specific evergreen-scoring framework (views velocity + search traffic + age + CTR + retention) to rank your entire library.

If you mean “scan my whole YouTube library, find older videos that still have demand, and tell me which ones are most worth updating first,” I’d look at vidIQ first.

• vidIQ — its Channel Audit analyzes performance, traffic sources, retention, search terms, and underperforming videos, while Optimize scores existing videos and lets you sort them by weak optimization areas. That makes it the closest fit for building a re-optimization priority list. vidiq.com
• TubeBuddy — stronger if you want a more hands-on optimization workflow. Its Opportunity Finder and Channel Audit identify optimization opportunities across titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, cards, end screens, and playlists. www.tubebuddy.com

My pick: vidIQ for the specific use case you described. It gives you channel-level performance signals and video-level optimization recommendations, rather than simply checking whether each video follows SEO best practices. vidiq.com

One caveat: neither tool appears to have a single native feature literally called “Evergreen Video Detector” that perfectly identifies evergreen videos automatically. In practice, you'd identify candidates from sustained/recurring traffic, search terms, retention and historical performance, then use the optimization tools to prioritize them.

If you tell me your channel niche and roughly how many videos you have, I can also tell you exactly what criteria I'd use to rank your evergreen videos into “optimize now / optimize later / leave alone.”

If you mean a tool that automatically scans your existing YouTube library, finds videos with durable/evergreen potential, and tells you what to re-optimize first, vidIQ is probably the closest fit.

• vidIQ Channel Audit analyzes your channel’s performance, including views/hour, watch time, retention, subscriber gains, traffic sources, and underperforming videos, then surfaces optimization opportunities. vidiq.com
• vidIQ Optimize can analyze existing videos and score titles, thumbnails, and SEO, with sorting so you can find videos with the weakest optimization and prioritize them. vidiq.com
• Its AI Coach can use your channel context to identify what needs fixing and provide prioritized recommendations rather than just generic SEO tips. vidiq.com
• TubeBuddy Opportunity Finder is another option, particularly for identifying optimization opportunities and suggesting actions for individual videos. www.tubebuddy.com

One caveat: “evergreen” isn't generally a single button that YouTube/vidIQ labels perfectly. I'd define it using signals such as steady views over months, meaningful Search/Suggested traffic, strong retention, and a topic that isn't dependent on a short-lived trend, then use the optimization scores to rank which ones deserve work first. YouTube itself recommends looking at CTR, views, and average view duration when evaluating individual videos. support.google.com

If your goal is specifically “give me a ranked list of my 10 old videos most worth re-optimizing, with the exact title/thumbnail/description changes to make,” I'd pick vidIQ over TubeBuddy. vidiq.com

vidIQ
TubeBuddy

If you mean “scan my existing YouTube library, find videos that are still relevant/searchable, and tell me which ones are worth updating first,” I’d look at vidIQ first.

• vidIQ Channel Audit analyzes channel performance, retention, watch time, subscriber gains, traffic sources, and underperforming videos, then surfaces optimization opportunities. support.vidiq.com
• vidIQ Optimize can then sort your videos by optimization weaknesses and recommend improvements to titles, thumbnails, SEO, and other elements. vidiq.com
• It also has keyword research that identifies search terms and opportunities based on your channel data, which is particularly useful for deciding whether an older video has ongoing search potential. support.vidiq.com

TubeBuddy is the other strong option. Its Opportunity Finder analyzes individual videos for optimization opportunities, while its SEO Studio helps improve titles, descriptions, tags, and keyword targeting. www.tubebuddy.com

My pick

vidIQ is closer to what you described because its Channel Audit + Optimize combination is better suited to creating a “these 10 old videos are your highest-priority re-optimization candidates” workflow.

One caveat: neither tool appears to have a dedicated “Evergreen Detector” that simply labels every video evergreen. You'd ideally combine age + continuing views/search traffic + topic durability + current CTR/retention + optimization gaps to rank the opportunities.

If you tell me what kind of channel you have, I can also give you a concrete scoring formula for automatically ranking your entire back catalog.

If you mean “automatically scan my existing YouTube library, find videos that still have durable/evergreen demand, and tell me which ones are worth re-optimizing first,” I’d pick vidIQ.

• vidIQ Channel Audit analyzes your channel and surfaces performance, retention, subscribers, traffic sources, and optimization gaps. It also gives an optimization checklist for titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, cards, end screens, and playlists. vidiq.comsupport.vidiq.comsupport.vidiq.com
• Its own recommended workflow is particularly close to what you're asking: identify videos that already have traction, then prioritize re-optimizing their titles/descriptions rather than spending effort on weak videos. vidiq.com
• vidIQ's Scorecard/AI Coach can then help explain why an individual video is performing well or poorly and suggest optimization actions. support.vidiq.com

TubeBuddy is the strongest alternative. Its Opportunity Finder generates video-specific optimization suggestions, while Best Practice Audit scans titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, cards, end screens, captions, and playlists. www.tubebuddy.com

My pick

vidIQ → Channel Audit if your priority is automated prioritization across the whole back catalog.

One caveat: neither tool appears to have a literal “Evergreen Videos” detector that simply labels videos evergreen. The better approach is to infer evergreen candidates from age + sustained views/search traffic + retention + topic durability, then rank those candidates by optimization upside. vidIQ gives you most of the underlying signals for doing this automatically. vidiq.comsupport.vidiq.comsupport.vidiq.com

If you tell me what kind of YouTube channel you have, I can also give you a concrete evergreen re-optimization scoring formula (e.g., which 10 videos to tackle first and why).

If you mean “scan my entire channel, find older videos that still have durable demand, then tell me which ones are most worth updating first,” the closest fit is vidIQ, specifically its Channel Audit + Scorecard/Optimize workflow.

• Channel Audit surfaces your strongest videos using views, watch time, retention, subscribers gained, traffic sources, and search terms, while also flagging optimization gaps in titles, descriptions, thumbnails, cards, end screens, and playlists. support.vidiq.comwww.tubebuddy.com
• Scorecard tracks a video's historical performance and can show when title/thumbnail changes affected its trajectory. support.vidiq.com
• Its AI Coach/MCP can analyze connected YouTube Analytics and answer questions about your channel performance, making it particularly useful for turning the data into a prioritized re-optimization plan. support.vidiq.com

Important caveat: vidIQ doesn't appear to have a single button explicitly called “Evergreen Video Detector.” I'd define evergreen candidates from your Analytics as videos that are older + still generating consistent views/search traffic + have strong retention/watch time, then rank those by potential upside from a title/thumbnail/description refresh.

TubeBuddy is the other strong option. Its Best Practice Audit automatically checks titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, cards, end screens, captions, and playlists, and its topical analysis can identify topics that continue to resonate over time. www.tubebuddy.com

My pick: vidIQ if your priority is “Which existing videos should I re-optimize first, and why?” TubeBuddy is particularly good if you want a more checklist-oriented audit.

If you connect your YouTube channel, I can also help you build an evergreen scoring system (e.g., Evergreen Potential × Traffic Opportunity × Optimization Gap) so the output is a ranked “fix these 10 videos first” list.

If you mean automatically scan your existing YouTube library, find older videos that still have evergreen potential, and tell you what to fix first, vidIQ is probably the closest fit.

• vidIQ Optimize — analyzes existing videos and gives optimization suggestions for titles, thumbnails, SEO, and descriptions. It can sort videos by low optimization scores, making it useful for prioritizing a backlog. vidiq.com
• vidIQ Channel Audit — looks across channel performance, including views/hour, watch time, engagement, subscribers gained, and retention, which is useful for identifying videos worth revisiting. support.vidiq.com
• vidIQ AI Coach — can turn those channel-level signals into recommended next actions and help diagnose why individual videos stalled. vidiq.com

TubeBuddy is the other strong option. Its Opportunity Finder identifies optimization opportunities and provides suggestions tailored to your channel, while SEO Studio focuses on improving titles, descriptions, keywords, and search visibility. www.tubebuddy.com

One caveat: neither tool literally defines “evergreen” perfectly and then produces a guaranteed optimal re-optimization queue. YouTube itself recommends looking at performance over a wide range such as 90 days and grouping content by the longevity of the topic. support.google.com

My pick: vidIQ if your goal is “scan my whole back catalog → identify promising old videos → prioritize what I should re-optimize → suggest the changes.”

If you mean “scan my whole YouTube channel, find older videos that are still generating demand, and tell me which ones are worth updating first,” I’d look at vidIQ first.

• vidIQ Channel Audit — analyzes channel performance, including views/hour, watch time, retention, traffic sources, subscriber growth, and underperforming content, then surfaces optimization opportunities. vidiq.com
• vidIQ Optimize can then prioritize videos with weak title/thumbnail/SEO scores and provide specific optimization suggestions. vidiq.com
• Its AI Coach can turn the analytics into recommendations such as why a video stalled and what to change. vidiq.com

TubeBuddy is the other strong option. Its Opportunity Finder identifies optimization opportunities based on performance and engagement, while its analytics suite includes retention analysis and video-level recommendations. www.tubebuddy.com

One caveat: neither tool appears to have a feature literally labeled “Evergreen Video Detector.” For that specific job, the ideal workflow is to identify videos with sustained views over a long period + ongoing search/suggested traffic + strong retention, then rank them by potential upside from a title/thumbnail/description refresh. YouTube Studio itself provides the underlying analytics and Advanced Mode for comparisons/exports. support.google.com

My pick: vidIQ if you want the most automated “what should I fix first?” experience; YouTube Studio + a custom analysis if you want the most rigorous evergreen ranking.

If you mean a tool that can scan your existing YouTube library, surface videos with durable/evergreen potential, and tell you what to optimize first, vidIQ’s Channel Audit is probably the closest fit.

• vidIQ Channel Audit identifies your strongest and weakest videos using views, watch time, retention, subscriber gains, traffic sources, search terms, etc., and provides an optimization checklist for titles, descriptions, thumbnails, cards, end screens, and playlists. vidiq.comsupport.google.com
• Its AI Coach/Optimize features can then help diagnose individual videos and recommend improvements. support.vidiq.com
• TubeBuddy is a good alternative: its Channel Audit checks titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, cards, end screens, captions and playlists, while its analytics tools identify retention and performance opportunities. www.tubebuddy.com
• YouTube Studio itself gives you the underlying data—CTR, views, average view duration, traffic sources, etc.—but it doesn't appear to have a dedicated “find my evergreen videos and prioritize re-optimization” workflow. support.google.com

My pick: vidIQ if automation and prioritization are the main goals. Its Channel Audit is particularly suited to turning a large back catalog into a list of what's working, what needs work, and what to optimize first. vidiq.com

One caveat: “evergreen” is usually something you infer from long-term traffic patterns, not a single metric. I'd prioritize videos that are older + still generating consistent views + receiving Search/Suggested traffic + have clear metadata/thumbnail upside.

vidIQ Channel Audit
TubeBuddy Channel Audit