Characteristic and minimal polynomials determine similarity in dimension three

Over an algebraically closed field, the characteristic polynomial gives the total size of the Jordan blocks for each eigenvalue, while the minimal polynomial gives the largest block size. For total dimension at most three, these two numbers determine the partition into block sizes: a multiplicity-three eigenvalue has partition $3$, $2+1$, or $1+1+1$ according as its largest block has size $3$, $2$, or $1$. Hence two matrices of size at most three with the same characteristic and minimal polynomials are similar.