# The Trade Desk vs Demandbase: which do AI models recommend for programmatic, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Programmatic and display advertising. One of twelve models named The Trade Desk first on the direct prompt; zero named Demandbase. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/marketing/programmatic-and-display-advertising/the-trade-desk-vs-demandbase/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Trade Desk | 11% | #3 of 14 | 41% | 56 | 12 of 12 |
| Demandbase | 2% | #5 of 14 | 29% | 17 | 9 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Qwen 3.7 Flash: the trade desk first (first choices: The Trade Desk) (alternatives: Demandbase, Google Display & Video 360, Zeta Global)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither first, one named (first choices: AdRoll ABM) (alternatives: 6sense, Demandbase)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither first, one named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: Basis, DV360, Demandbase, The Trade Desk)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: Demandbase, Google Display & Video 360, Hey Sid, LinkedIn Campaign Manager)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: AdRoll ABM, Demandbase, Hey Sid, LinkedIn Campaign Manager)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: Google Display & Video 360, Hey Sid, The Trade Desk)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: AdRoll ABM, Hey Sid, LinkedIn Campaign Manager)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: AdRoll ABM, Choozle, Metadata.io)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: AdRoll ABM, Hey Sid)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: StackAdapt)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: AdRoll ABM, Hey Sid)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: AdRoll ABM, Amazon DSP, Google Display & Video 360)

## What the models said about The Trade Desk

- "Avoid DV360/Trade Desk/Amazon DSP: High mins ($25K–$50K/month), fees make them unviable below that." (Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "Avoid Demandbase or The Trade Desk unless your budget is comfortably into six figures annually" (Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt, hard negative)
- "Platforms to Avoid (for Mid-Market) | The Trade Desk | Requires ~$20K+/month minimum" (Kimi K2, direct prompt, hard negative)
- "The Trade Desk is often a strong starting point because it excels at ABM, offers granular targeting, has competitive pricing with lower minimum commitments" (Claude Haiku 4.5, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "The Trade Desk is the largest independent DSP on the market... champion of the "open web," offering unbiased attribution." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "The Trade Desk and DV360 are the main choices when you want broad reach across many publishers and premium CTV." (Perplexity Sonar, comparative prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Demandbase

- "Platforms to Avoid for Mid-Market B2B ... Demandbase/6sense: Enterprise pricing ($50K+/year minimum)" (Mistral Small, direct prompt, hard negative)

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.