GTM AI Index
Index Marketing Paid ads › Small business September 2026 Edition

Search and social advertising platforms for small business buyers

Asked as “paid search and social ads management platform”, and as “PPC and paid social campaign management tool”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 55 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing
Contested
16% of first choices, contested.

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.

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
01Google Ads16%4%48accepted challenger
02Optmyzr7%13%38accepted challenger
03Adzooma7%5%20accepted challenger
04AdEspresso7%19%32accepted challenger
05LinkedIn Campaign Manager7%13%23accepted challenger
06Meta Ads4%7%30accepted challenger
07Ryze AI4%0%11accepted challenger
08Semrush2%0%10accepted challenger
09WordStream2%52%23criticized challenger
Show the five products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
14Skai0%71%17criticized challenger
13Smartly0%69%13criticized challenger
12Marin Software0%56%16criticized challenger
10Madgicx0%16%19accepted challenger
11Opteo0%14%14accepted 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.

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 →
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative30%
Key
01Google Ads16%
02Optmyzr7%
03Adzooma7%
04AdEspresso7%
05LinkedIn Campaign Manager7%
06Meta Ads4%
07Ryze AI4%
08Semrush2%
09WordStream2%
10Madgicx0%
11Opteo0%
12Marin Software0%
13Smartly0%
14Skai0%

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.
Skai
71%
12 of 17 labels negative · 9 of 12 models · 7 hard negative
“legacy, enterprise-level search and social PPC management platforms. They require high ad spend minimums” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
Marin Software
56%
9 of 16 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 4 hard negative
“legacy, enterprise-level search and social PPC management platforms. They require high ad spend minimums” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
Smartly
69%
9 of 13 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 6 hard negative
“Enterprise-Grade Third-Party Ad Management Tools (Avoid Entirely)... typically charging 3% to 5% of your total connected ad spend plus steep monthly minimums” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
WordStream
52%
12 of 23 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 7 hard negative
“Be especially wary of **WordStream/LocaliQ** (lock-in managed service with a legacy reputation problem)” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative 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. 190 links across 112 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.

vendor site · Clicks Geek8 answers · 22 citations · 2 models
6 answers · 8 citations · 2 models
6 answers · 7 citations · 3 models
5 answers · 6 citations · 2 models
4 answers · 6 citations · 2 models
4 answers · 5 citations · 1 model
vendor site · Cometly4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Google Search3 answers · 5 citations · 1 model
vendor site · AdFlint3 answers · 4 citations · 1 model
3 answers · 3 citations · 1 model
3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Microsoft2 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.

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 paid search and social ads management platform for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which PPC and paid social campaign management tool would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top paid search and social ads management platforms for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best paid search and social ads management platform for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a paid search and social ads management platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which paid search and social ads management platforms should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5Google Ads
Three alternativesAdRoll, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Microsoft Advertising
against: Madgicx
no first choiceChanged
Four alternativesGoogle Ads, HubSpot Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Microsoft Advertising
Buffer AI, Semrush
Six alternativesAdControlCenter, Adzooma, Marin Software, Opteo, WordStream Advisor, Zoho Social
Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising
Four alternativesBuffer, Hootsuite, Later, Lyfe Marketing
no first choiceagainst: Google Display & Video 360, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, The Trade Desk, TikTok Ads
GPT-5.4 miniOptmyzr
One alternativeMarin Software
against: HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot AdsChanged
One alternativeAdRoll
Google Ads
Six alternativesAdpulse, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Meta Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft Advertising Editor, TikTok Ads
against: Google Search Ads 360
Google Ads Smart Campaigns
One alternativeMeta Ads
no first choiceagainst: Google Ad Manager / Ad Manager 360, Microsoft Monetize / Microsoft Invest / Xandr-style enterprise inventory platforms
Gemini 3.5 FlashHubSpot Marketing Hub
Three alternativesCometly, Optmyzr, Ryze AI
against: 6sense, AdEspresso, Adzooma, Demandbase, Metadata.io
HubSpot’s Ad Management ToolChanged
Two alternativesAdzooma, Optmyzr
against: Metadata.io, Skai
Optmyzr
Five alternativesAdzooma, Birch, Madgicx, Plai, Ryze AI
Adzooma
Four alternativesAdControlCenter, AdEspresso, Google Ads, Meta Ads
Birch, Ryze AI
Six alternativesAdBot, AdEspresso, Adzooma, Madgicx, Opteo, Optmyzr
against: Skai, Smartly
against: 6sense, Demandbase, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Marin Software, Pinterest, Skai, Smartly, Sprinklr, Terminus, TikTok Ads, X (formerly Twitter) Ads
Perplexity SonarGoogle Ads, HubSpot Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager
Two alternativesOptmyzr, WordStream
against: 6sense, AdRoll ABM, Demandbase
LinkedIn Campaign Manager, OptmyzrChanged
One alternativeAdFlint
Opteo, WordStream
Four alternativesAdEspresso, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Meta Ads, Optmyzr
Google Ads, Meta Ads
One alternativeAdFlint
no first choiceagainst: Adext AI, Albert.ai, ClickGUARD, Marin Software, Perpetua, Shape, Skai, Smartly, Trapica
Grok 4.1 FastWask
Four alternativesAdEspresso, Google Ads, Meta Ads, Revealbot
against: WordStream
AdzoomaChanged
One alternativeHubSpot Ads
against: AdEspresso, Optmyzr, Smartly, WordStream
Adzooma
Six alternativesAdEspresso, Bïrch, Opteo, Ryze AI, Semrush, WordStream
against: Optmyzr, Skaji
AdFlint, Adzooma
Two alternativesAdControlCenter, Wask
against: AdEspresso, Fiverr, Google Ads, Meta Ads, Opteo, Optmyzr, WordStream
no first choiceagainst: AdEspresso, Albert.ai, Google Performance Max, Madgicx, Marin Software, Skai, Smartly, WordStream
Mistral SmallAdEspresso, Optymyzr
Four alternativesContactLevel, Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Semrush
Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaign ManagerChanged
Three alternativesAdEspresso, Swydo, Zapier
Google Ads, Meta Ads
Six alternativesAdEspresso, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Optmyzr, Semrush PPC Toolkit, TikTok Ads, WordStream Advisor
AdFlint, Google Ads, Meta Ads
Four alternativesAdEspresso, Adzooma Free Plan, Optmyzr, Semrush PPC Toolkit
no first choice
Five alternativesAdEspresso, Adzooma, AgencyAnalytics, Optmyzr, WordStream
against: Anoox Ads Network, Google Ads, Meta, RichAds, WordStream
DeepSeek V4 FlashRyze AI
Three alternativesAdzooma, Opteo, Optmyzr
against: WordStream
OptmyzrChanged
Three alternativesAdEspresso, HubSpot's built-in ad management, Semrush
against: WordStream
Semrush Advertising Toolkit
Four alternativesAdEspresso, AdRoll, Madgicx, Optmyzr
against: WordStream
Wask
Two alternativesAdzooma, Ryze AI
against: AdEspresso, Adalysis, Birch, Madgicx, Opteo
Optmyzr
Three alternativesAdEspresso, Adalysis, Semrush
against: Marin Software, SA360, Skai
against: AdRoll, WordStream
Llama 4 MaverickClicks Geek
Two alternativesMeta Ads, Opteo
LinkedIn Ads ManagerChanged
Five alternativesArcads.ai, Birch, Google Ads, Metaflow AI, WordStream
no first choiceLocaliQ
Four alternativesClicks Geek, Hibu, JumpFly, KlientBoost
no first choiceagainst: AdEspresso, Albert.ai, Copy.ai, Google Performance Max, Jasper, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Marin Software, Skai
Qwen 3.7 FlashWordStream
Three alternativesAdFlint, Google Search, LinkedIn Campaign Manager
ON24Changed
Four alternativesHubSpot Ads Integration, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Qeryx, Semrush
HubSpot Advertising, Madgicx, Optmyzr
One alternativeSmartly
against: Marin Software, Skai
Wask
Three alternativesGoogle Ads, Meta Ads Manager / Business Suite, Ryze AI
Wevion
Three alternativesOptmyzr, Pace Ads, Shape
against: AdStellar, Celtra
against: ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Ads, Optmyzr, Salesforce, Smartly
Kimi K2AdEspresso, HubSpot Ads
Four alternativesAdzooma, Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, WordStream Advisor
HubSpot's Ad Management SoftwareChanged
Three alternativesAdFlint, Fibbler, Optmyzr
Adalysis, Hootsuite, Madgicx, Opteo
Seven alternativesAdEspresso, AdFlint, Adzooma, Google Ads, Meta Ads, Optmyzr, Ryze AI
against: Buffer, Marin Software, Skai, Sprout Social
AdFlint
Five alternativesAdzooma, Google Ads, Madgicx, Meta Ads, PPC.io
against: Optmyzr, Smartly, Trapica, WordStream
no first choiceagainst: AdRoll, AdRoll ABM, Albert.ai, Google Performance Max, Marin Software, Skai, Smartly, WordStream
GLM 4.7 FlashXHubSpot Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager
Four alternativesAdEspresso, AdRoll, Adalysis, Optmyzr
AdEspressoChanged
Five alternativesGoogle Ads, LinkedIn Ads Manager, Meta Ads, Microsoft Advertising, ReportGarden
Meta Ads, Opteo
Seven alternativesAdEspresso, Adalysis, Adzooma, Birch, Google Ads, Madgicx, Optmyzr
Adzooma, Google Ads Smart Campaigns
Two alternativesBuffer, WordStream
no first choiceagainst: Emplifi, Hootsuite, Skai, Smartly, Sprinklr
MiniMax M2.5Google Ads
One alternativeLinkedIn Campaign Manager
against: Meta Ads
Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads ManagerChanged
Two alternativesLooker Studio, Ruler Analytics
Buffer, Hootsuite
Six alternativesGoogle Ads, Meta Ads, ReportGarden, Ryze AI, Semrush, Sprout Social
Google Ads
Two alternativesAdFlint, Meta Business Suite
AdEspresso, Semrush
Two alternativesMarin Software, Optmyzr
against: Acquisio, Albert.ai, Copy.ai, Google Performance Max, Jasper, Marin Software, Skai, WordStream
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.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-14 23:04yes57 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-14 23:49yes35 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-14 23:37yes1221 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-15 03:48yes196 s
Direct recommendationGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 00:37yes011 s
Direct recommendationMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 02:19yes010 s
Direct recommendationDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-09-15 04:47yes037 s
Direct recommendationLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 00:59yes02 s
Direct recommendationQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-14 23:54yes030 s
Direct recommendationKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 02:55yes034 s
Direct recommendationGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 04:58yes066 s
Direct recommendationMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 04:15yes022 s
ParaphraseClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-14 23:06no04 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-15 02:54yes24 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-15 00:34yes1624 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-15 02:19yes205 s
ParaphraseGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 04:55yes09 s
ParaphraseMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 04:47yes06 s
ParaphraseDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-09-15 00:24yes040 s
ParaphraseLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 01:21yes02 s
ParaphraseQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 04:36no046 s
ParaphraseKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 04:34yes028 s
ParaphraseGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 04:11yes012 s
ParaphraseMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-14 23:35yes09 s
ComparativeClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-15 04:14yes1211 s
ComparativeGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-15 04:19yes613 s
ComparativeGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-15 02:38yes1925 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-15 04:28yes206 s
ComparativeGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 02:51yes010 s
ComparativeMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 02:55yes010 s
ComparativeDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-09-15 00:59yes086 s
ComparativeLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 00:31yes01 s
ComparativeQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 04:18no040 s
ComparativeKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 04:42yes061 s
ComparativeGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 04:07yes032 s
ComparativeMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 02:17yes021 s
Budget constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-15 00:38yes76 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-15 01:27yes34 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-15 01:31yes1620 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-15 02:15yes207 s
Budget constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-14 23:23yes08 s
Budget constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 00:05yes09 s
Budget constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-09-14 23:30yes039 s
Budget constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 03:05yes01 s
Budget constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 02:30yes034 s
Budget constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 01:19yes027 s
Budget constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 01:39yes084 s
Budget constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 02:06yes010 s
Scale constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-15 04:55no05 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-15 03:18no07 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-14 23:49yes1126 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-15 04:58yes207 s
Scale constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 00:00yes07 s
Scale constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 01:06yes011 s
Scale constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-15 02:15yes016 s
Scale constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 01:51yes03 s
Scale constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 04:29yes031 s
Scale constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 01:49yes042 s
Scale constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 04:14yes036 s
Scale constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 00:03yes020 s
Negative framingClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-15 01:02yes3014 s
Negative framingGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-15 01:31yes35 s
Negative framingGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-14 23:09yes1324 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-14 23:08yes205 s
Negative framingGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 01:21yes010 s
Negative framingMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 03:53yes011 s
Negative framingDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-15 01:26yes021 s
Negative framingLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 03:19yes02 s
Negative framingQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 00:45yes031 s
Negative framingKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 00:28yes056 s
Negative framingGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-14 23:31yes020 s
Negative framingMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 04:07yes038 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
HubSpot read as HubSpot Ads
LinkedIn read as LinkedIn Campaign Manager
TikTok read as TikTok Ads
Unresolved, counted raw
99 Dollar Social
AdBot
Adzooma Free Plan
AgencyAnalytics
Amazon Ads Console
Anoox Ads Network
Buffer AI
Celtra
ClicksGeek
Google Ad Manager / Ad Manager 360
HubSpot Ads Add-on
HubSpot Ads Integration
HubSpot Advertising
HubSpot's Ad Management Software
HubSpot's built-in ad management
HubSpot’s Ad Management Tool
JumpFly
Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
Meta (Facebook/Instagram)
Meta Ads Manager / Business Suite
Microsoft Monetize / Microsoft Invest / Xandr-style enterprise inventory platforms
Optymyzr
PPC Entourage
Pace Ads
Qeryx
Salesforce
Semrush Advertising Hub
Semrush Advertising Toolkit
Shown
Skaji
SocialOomph
Swydo
TikTok Promote
Wevion
WordStream Free Tools
X (formerly Twitter) Ads
groas
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.
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