Referral and partner programs
Asked as “referral program software”, and as “partner ecosystem and referral tracking tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 48 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
01The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
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
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
11Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative30%
Key
01PartnerStack19%
PartnerStack19%02Referral Rock15%
Referral Rock15%03ReferralCandy10%
ReferralCandy10%04Ambassador8%
Ambassador8%05Viral Loops4%
Viral Loops4%06FirstPromoter2%
FirstPromoter2%07Referral Factory2%
Referral Factory2%08GrowSurf0%
GrowSurf0%09Friendbuy0%
Friendbuy0%10Extole0%
Extole0%11Talkable0%
Talkable0%02What they warned about
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.
Friendbuy15%
4 of 26 labels negative · 4 of 6 models · 2 hard negative
“here are the tools you should avoid or scrutinize closely: ### 1. Friendbuy ... frequently flagged for "contractual friction."” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
Viral Loops20%
4 of 20 labels negative · 3 of 6 models · 2 hard negative
“Multiple reports of billing issues ... 1-star reviews highlight "deceptive practices" and "waste of money."[” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt
Ambassador9%
2 of 22 labels negative · 2 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Some 1-star reviews describe it as "HORRIBLE" with poor handling of migrations.” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt
Extole12%
2 of 16 labels negative · 2 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“High Barrier to Entry ... Users describe the dashboard as "clunky" and non-intuitive.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
03What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: four of the six in this edition.
Sites the answers cite
22 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 4 of 6 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. 188 links across 94 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 2 models searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.
vendor site · ReferralCandy6 answers · 9 citations · 3 models
vendor site · Tremendous6 answers · 6 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Extole5 answers · 6 citations · 2 models
5 answers · 5 citations · 1 model
vendor site · Capterra4 answers · 4 citations · 3 models
vendor site · CustomerGauge4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models
vendor site · LinkJolt4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Open Loyalty4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Introw3 answers · 4 citations · 2 models
3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models
3 answers · 3 citations · 1 model
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.
6 answers · 2 models
4 answers · 2 models
4 answers · 2 models
3 answers · 2 models
3 answers · 1 model
3 answers · 2 models
3 answers · 2 models
3 answers · 1 model
3 answers · 1 model
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 referral program software for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which partner ecosystem and referral tracking tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top referral program tools and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best referral program software for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a referral program software. What should we look at?”Negative“Which referral program tools should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Claude Opus 4.8no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-6 Astrano first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-5.6 Solno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.1 Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Perplexity Sonar Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
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
Zero rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|
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
Ambassador.io
Copy Paste Profit System
Crossbeam + Cosell Signals
Draftboard
EasyAffiliate
EmployeeReferrals
Erinf
GrowSurf DIY
LaunchList
LinkJilt
OSI Affiliate Software
Real Links
ReferPro
SparkLoop
TalentLyft
Tango Card
WP Referral
WinWinKit
Workboard
Yotpo Loyalty and Referrals
Zoho People
impact.com Advocacy
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.