# impact.com vs Refersion: which do AI models recommend for affiliate, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Affiliate and partner management. Two of twelve models named impact.com first on the direct prompt; zero named Refersion. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/partner/affiliate-and-partner-management/impact-com-vs-refersion/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| impact.com | 11% | #2 of 13 | 21% | 43 | 11 of 12 |
| Refersion | 2% | #7 of 13 | 29% | 17 | 11 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Perplexity Sonar: impact.com first (first choices: impact.com) (alternatives: FirstPromoter, PartnerStack, Trackdesk)
- MiniMax M2.5: impact.com first (first choices: PartnerStack, impact.com) (alternatives: Modash, ShareASale)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: ShareASale, impact.com)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: FirstPromoter, Rewardful, impact.com)
- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: FirstPromoter, Rewardful, impact.com)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: FirstPromoter, Reditus, Rewardful, impact.com)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: Post Affiliate Pro, impact.com)
- Kimi K2: neither first, one named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: impact.com)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: impact.com)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: Everflow, TUNE)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: FirstPromoter, Reditus)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: PartnerStack) (alternatives: Awin, ShareASale)

## What the models said about impact.com

- "Avoid joining massive networks like Awin, CJ Affiliate, or Impact.com early on" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "Enterprise platforms (PartnerStack, Impact) - Start at $1,000+/month" (Mistral Small, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "The industry giant for enterprise partnerships. Incredible automation, contract management, and influencer integrations, though pricing can be premium" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt, first choice)
- "A Mid-Market/Enterprise DTC Brand | Impact.com | Centralizes traditional affiliates, influencers, and creators with modern tracking." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "Impact.com is the strongest all-around choice if you want one platform to manage multiple partner types at scale" (Perplexity Sonar, direct prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Refersion

- "Avoid pricier ones like Refersion ($99+/month) unless scaling." (Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "or e-comm-focused like Refersion/LeadDyno" (Grok 4.1 Fast, paraphrase prompt, hard negative)
- "look cheap upfront but charge a 2% to 3% transaction fee on all affiliate-referred sales" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt, soft negative)
- "Offers a free plan and is considered one of the best affiliate marketing platforms for beginners." (Llama 4 Maverick, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Tier 1 Solution (like Impact, PartnerStack, Refersion, or Post Affiliate Pro)" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, scale prompt, alternative)
- "Tapfiliate, Refersion, and FirstPromoter make it simple to get started" (Claude Haiku 4.5, budget prompt, alternative)

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.