# Smile.io vs GrowSurf: which do AI models recommend for loyalty, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Loyalty, advocacy and referrals. Zero of twelve models named Smile.io first on the direct prompt; two named GrowSurf. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/marketing/loyalty-advocacy-and-referrals/smile-io-vs-growsurf/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smile.io | 24% | #1 of 18 | 19% | 36 | 12 of 12 |
| GrowSurf | 5% | #4 of 18 | 0% | 14 | 10 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Mistral Small: growsurf first (first choices: GrowSurf) (alternatives: PartnerStack, True Loyal)
- MiniMax M2.5: growsurf first (first choices: GrowSurf, Referral Rock) (alternatives: FirstPromoter, Kademi, Zinrelo)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: CustomerGauge) (alternatives: GrowSurf, Referral Rock, Salesforce Loyalty Management, Zinrelo)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither first, one named (alternatives: GrowSurf, Referral Rock)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Ambassador) (alternatives: CustomerGauge, Referral Factory, Salesforce Loyalty Management)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: Referral Rock) (alternatives: Annex Cloud, Influitive, PartnerStack, SaaSquatch)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: CustomerGauge, Open Loyalty) (alternatives: Talon.One)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither named (first choices: Influitive) (alternatives: Ambassador, Referral Rock, TrueLoyal)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Ambassador) (alternatives: CustomerGauge, PartnerStack, Referral Rock)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: Influitive) (alternatives: Ambassador, CustomerGauge)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Referral Rock, Zinrelo) (alternatives: Kademi, PartnerStack)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither named (first choices: True Loyal) (alternatives: Annex Cloud, Open Loyalty, Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals)

## What the models said about Smile.io

- "Billing complaints: Multiple merchants report being charged even after cancelling their free plan" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Billing disputes (charges post-cancel, free plan limits eroding, overcharges on order counts); support delays on refunds" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "various tiers of Smile.io) have been flagged by users for aggressive pricing behaviors" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Smile.io (Best for $0 Budget) ... the only major loyalty platform with a permanently free plan that actually includes referrals" (MiniMax M2.5, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Smile.io stands out as the best customer loyalty and referral platform for companies with a limited budget." (Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt, first choice)
- "The best customer loyalty and referral platform for a company with a limited budget is Smile.io" (Llama 4 Maverick, budget prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about GrowSurf

- "I'd recommend Referral Rock or GrowSurf as your top choices" (MiniMax M2.5, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Best Overall for Mid-Market B2B: GrowSurf" (Mistral Small, direct prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.