Index › Marketing › Proximity › Small business › September 2026 Edition

Retail, proximity and IoT marketing for small business buyers

Asked as “proximity marketing platform”, and as “location-based and in-store marketing tool”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 42 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

Google Business Profile

Contested

12% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 73 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

Google Business Profile12%ContestedThis page Mid-market

Radar19%ContestedStanding →Enterprise

Radar24%ContestedStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

Google Business Profile0%11accepted challenger

02PlotProjects0%13accepted challenger

Propulso0%15accepted challenger

Estimote18%17accepted challenger

Radar12%25accepted challenger

Foursquare21%19accepted challenger

Show the one product at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Kontakt.io11%19accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

Radar vs GroundTruth Radar vs Foursquare GroundTruth vs Foursquare

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default

Negative label rate →

P02

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative30%

Key

Google Business Profile12%

02PlotProjects10%

Propulso5%

Estimote5%

Radar2%

Foursquare2%

Kontakt.io0%

02What they warned about

Zero of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.

InMarket

83%

5 of 6 labels negative · 4 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“The FTC’s action against InMarket is a strong example of why small businesses should avoid vendors with unclear data-sharing practices.” GPT-5.4 mini, negative prompt

ReachLocal

100%

3 of 3 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 3 hard negative

“Hundreds of complaints across BBB, Trustpilot, and PissedConsumer about fraud, zero leads despite high costs” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt

Foursquare

21%

4 of 19 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“Most small teams should avoid enterprise platforms like Foursquare or Simpli.fi due to complexity and cost” Mistral Small, comparative prompt

Braze

75%

3 of 4 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“Avoid enterprise-heavy options like Foursquare or Braze” Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: four of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

21 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 214 links across 103 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 8 models searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.

thecmo.com

10 answers · 14 citations · 2 models

g2.com

7 answers · 16 citations · 3 models

clevertap.com

vendor site · CleverTap6 answers · 10 citations · 2 models

f6s.com

5 answers · 11 citations · 1 model

mobilozophy.com

5 answers · 7 citations · 2 models

mobileappdaily.com

5 answers · 6 citations · 2 models

guideflow.com

vendor site · Guideflow4 answers · 5 citations · 1 model

upwardengine.com

4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models

us.fitgap.com

3 answers · 4 citations · 1 model

gartner.com

vendor site · Gartner3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models

monday.com

vendor site · Monday.com3 answers · 3 citations · 1 model

worldmetrics.org

3 answers · 3 citations · 1 model

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

thecmo.com/tools/best-proximity-marketing-software

9 answers · 2 models

g2.com/categories/location-based-marketing

5 answers · 3 models

mobileappdaily.com/products/top-proximity-marketing-apps

5 answers · 2 models

f6s.com/software/category/proximity-marketing

4 answers · 1 model

guideflow.com/blog/local-marketing-software

4 answers · 1 model

thecmo.com/tools/best-local-marketing-software

4 answers · 2 models

upwardengine.com/blog/proximity-marketing-local-businesses

4 answers · 2 models

clevertap.com/blog/location-based-marketing-platform

3 answers · 1 model

f6s.com/software/category/location-based-marketing

3 answers · 1 model

mobilozophy.com/products/automation/engagement/proximity-marketing-platform…

3 answers · 1 model

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.

ModelDirect“What is the best proximity marketing platform for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which location-based and in-store marketing tool would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top proximity marketing platforms for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best proximity marketing platform for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a proximity marketing platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which proximity marketing platforms should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5no first choiceGoogle My BusinessChanged

One alternative

Google Business Profile Posts

Insider

One alternative

CleverTap

against: BrazeGroundTruth

One alternative

Paige

no first choicenothing named

GPT-5.4 miniNotificare

One alternative

Foursquare Proximity

against: ProximityFoursquare Attribution / Foursquare ProximityChanged

One alternative

Vendasta

Bluedot / Rezolve

One alternative

Kontakt.io

against: Bluetooth-native / beacon ecosystem approachesno first choiceno first choiceagainst: InMarket

Gemini 3.5 FlashQujam

Three alternatives

Beambox, Uniqode, Wave Connect

against: AdLib, Simpli.fiBeambox, QujamChanged

One alternative

ScreenCloud

AdLib, Beambox, Radar

Three alternatives

Estimote, Kumulos, MyWiFi Networks

Beambox, CaptiFi

Four alternatives

GroundTruth, Radar, SnapGlyph, qrcode.io

against: CleverTap, Gimbal, Uniqodeno first choice

Five alternatives

Beambox, Flame Analytics, Talkable, Vibes, aiwifi

against: Adobe, Brazeagainst: Asirvia, Royaltie Gems

Perplexity SonarPropulso

Four alternatives

Birdeye, LocaliQ, Presence Engage, YOOSE

against: InMarketContactIDChanged

Two alternatives

Surefire Local, Yext

PlotProjects

Five alternatives

Bubbl, Estimote, Foursquare, Kontakt.io, Radar

Propulso

One alternative

Foursquare

no first choicenothing named

Grok 4.1 FastPlotProjects

Four alternatives

PromoInCloud, Propulso, Radar, Wilio

against: InMarket, SOCiGeofli, PlotProjectsChanged

Two alternatives

BuzzBlender, Google Business Profile

against: RadarPropulso

Four alternatives

Estimote, Kontakt.io, Radar, YOOSE

PlotProjects

Two alternatives

Propulso, Radar

against: Braze, Estimote, Foursquare, Kontakt.iono first choiceagainst: Proximedia, ReachLocal, Yext, Yodle

Mistral SmallCleverTap

Four alternatives

ContactID, Google Business Profile, Kontakt.io, Radar

Google Business ProfileChanged

Two alternatives

Facebook Business Page, LinkedIn Company Page

MobiLynk, Radar

Three alternatives

CleverTap, Kontakt.io, PlotProjects

against: Foursquare, Simpli.fiWhats-OUT!

Four alternatives

Alberta Beacons and Geofencing Inc., IjasApp Physical Web, NearBee, Proximity Hero

no first choiceagainst: Bluedot Innovation, Estimote, MobiLynk, Radius Networks, Yelp Advertising

DeepSeek V4 FlashRadar

Two alternatives

PlotProjects, Propulso

against: FoursquareInZynkChanged

Three alternatives

Google Business Profile, PiSignage, Pickcel

against: Surefire LocalEstimote, Radar

Four alternatives

Bluedot, Google Ads Local, Meta, MobiLynk

against: Beaconinside, Foursquare, InMarketEstimote

Two alternatives

Google Ads, Meta (Facebook) Ads

against: InMarket, Shopkickno first choiceagainst: Euclid Analytics, Facebook Bluetooth Beacon / Place Tips, Fosbury, Gimbal, Google Nearby Notifications, HomeAdvisor / Angi, Roximity, Shopkick, Swirl Networks

Llama 4 Maverickno first choiceBirdeyeChanged

Two alternatives

Foursquare, Surefire Local

no first choiceGoogle Business Profile

Two alternatives

BrightLocal, NiceJob

no first choiceagainst: Friender, Yubo

Qwen 3.7 FlashThinaire, Wilio

Two alternatives

Kontakt.io, Kumulos

Google Ads Location Targeting, Google Business ProfileChanged

One alternative

Foursquare PlaceIQ

Radar

Two alternatives

Kontakt.io, Propulso

Facebook / Google Geofencing, Surefire Local

Three alternatives

NearBee, Propulso, Square Online

no first choiceagainst: Beacons.ai

Kimi K2PlotProjects

One alternative

Radar

against: Uniqodeno first choiceChangedPlotProjects, Radar

Five alternatives

Cidewalk, Makeitapp, Propellant Media, Thinaire, YOOSE

against: Aisle411, GimbalNearBee

Three alternatives

Google Business Profile, HERE Location Services, Propulso

against: Radarno first choiceagainst: Beacons, Estimote, Kontakt.io

GLM 4.7 FlashXBubbl

Two alternatives

Estimote, Promolayer

against: RadarEstimote, GimbalChangedKontakt.io

Five alternatives

Foursquare, PlotProjects, PromoInCloud, Propulso, YOOSE

Whats-out!

One alternative

Proximity Hero

no first choiceagainst: Best Version Media, Proximedia, ReachLocal, Royaltie, Uberall, Yext

MiniMax M2.5Google Business Profile, Meta Ads

Two alternatives

InZynk, Radar

against: The Trade DeskGoogle Business Profile, Surefire LocalChangedFoursquare, Radar

Four alternatives

Bluedot, Gimbal, Kontakt.io, PlotProjects

Foursquare, Google Ads with Location Targeting

Three alternatives

Estimote, Nextdoor Ads, Surefire Local

no first choiceagainst: 411 Locals, Friender, Proximity, ReachLocal, Yubo

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 02:04	yes	16	8 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 03:43	yes	3	5 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 04:24	yes	14	21 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-14 23:21	yes	20	8 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-14 23:47	yes	0	11 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 00:44	yes	0	9 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 01:14	yes	0	56 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 00:41	yes	0	1 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 03:44	yes	0	39 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 04:46	yes	0	33 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 00:35	yes	0	117 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 02:21	yes	0	30 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 00:05	no	0	4 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 04:20	yes	2	5 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 02:29	yes	15	24 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 02:54	yes	20	4 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 02:00	yes	0	11 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:28	no	0	2 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 02:11	yes	0	64 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 01:16	yes	0	1 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 04:14	yes	0	31 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 04:14	no	0	114 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 23:40	yes	0	14 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 02:45	yes	0	45 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 04:29	yes	32	17 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 00:46	yes	5	6 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 04:30	yes	28	26 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 02:36	yes	20	6 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 00:03	yes	0	11 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 04:44	yes	0	10 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 03:05	yes	0	20 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 01:56	yes	0	2 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-14 23:46	yes	0	71 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 05:06	yes	0	65 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 03:18	yes	0	18 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 02:41	yes	0	24 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-14 23:05	yes	8	6 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 00:31	yes	5	5 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 03:58	yes	21	21 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 03:46	yes	20	4 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-14 23:56	yes	0	8 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-14 23:43	yes	0	8 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 01:11	yes	0	99 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 00:52	yes	0	2 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 04:12	yes	0	39 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 03:22	yes	0	32 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 23:36	yes	0	69 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 00:15	yes	0	21 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 02:22	no	0	5 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 01:13	no	0	6 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 04:04	yes	12	28 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 03:56	yes	20	9 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-14 23:50	yes	0	7 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:35	no	0	8 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 03:56	yes	0	34 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-14 23:29	yes	0	3 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 01:23	no	0	34 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-14 23:06	yes	0	31 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 23:09	yes	0	24 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 00:21	yes	0	14 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 01:30	yes	18	10 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 01:19	yes	5	6 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 03:04	yes	15	24 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 03:06	yes	20	8 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 04:00	yes	0	11 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 00:15	yes	0	16 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 04:22	yes	0	63 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 02:56	yes	0	2 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 00:40	yes	0	36 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 01:57	yes	0	85 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 23:15	yes	0	79 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:27	yes	0	17 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

None. Every name in this category resolved on its own.

Unresolved, counted raw

411 Locals

Adobe

Alberta Beacons and Geofencing Inc.

Apple Business Connect

Beaconinside

Beacons (beacons.ai)

Best Version Media (BVM)

Bitly Pro Trial

Bluedot / Rezolve

Bluedot Innovation

Bluetooth-native / beacon ecosystem approaches

BuzzBlender

CaptiFi

Euclid Analytics

Facebook / Google Geofencing

Facebook Bluetooth Beacon / Place Tips

Facebook Business Page

Facebook/Instagram location-based ads

Fosbury

Foursquare Attribution / Foursquare Proximity

Foursquare PlaceIQ

Foursquare Places API

Geofli

Google Ads Local

Google Ads Local Services

Google Ads Location Targeting

Google Ads location extensions

Google Ads with Location Targeting

Google Business Messages

Google Business Profile Posts

Google My Business

HERE Location Services

HomeAdvisor / Angi

IjasApp Physical Web

LinkedIn Company Page

LinkedIn geo-targeting

LiteBeacon Proximity Marketing App

Makeitapp

Retail, proximity and IoT marketing for small business buyers

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in marketing