# Referral Rock vs FirstPromoter: which do AI models recommend for referrals, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Referral and partner programs. Seven of twelve models named Referral Rock first on the direct prompt; zero named FirstPromoter. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/partner/referral-and-partner-programs/referral-rock-vs-firstpromoter/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referral Rock | 15% | #2 of 11 | 3% | 34 | 12 of 12 |
| FirstPromoter | 2% | #6 of 11 | 6% | 16 | 8 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- GPT-5.4 mini: referral rock first (first choices: Referral Rock) (alternatives: Friendbuy, Referral Factory)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: referral rock first (first choices: Referral Rock) (alternatives: GrowSurf, PartnerStack, impact.com Advocate)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: referral rock first (first choices: Referral Rock) (alternatives: Ambassador, GrowSurf, Influitive)
- Mistral Small: referral rock first (first choices: Referral Rock) (alternatives: Ambassador, Cello, GrowSurf)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: referral rock first (first choices: Referral Rock) (alternatives: Ambassador, GrowSurf)
- Kimi K2: referral rock first (first choices: Referral Rock) (alternatives: Ambassador, GrowSurf, Influitive)
- MiniMax M2.5: referral rock first (first choices: Referral Rock) (alternatives: Mention Me, impact.com)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Cello) (alternatives: Friendbuy, Influitive, Partnero, Referral Rock)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither first, one named (first choices: Ambassador) (alternatives: CustomerGauge, GrowSurf, Referral Rock)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Cello) (alternatives: Friendbuy, GrowSurf, Referral Rock)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Ambassador, PartnerStack) (alternatives: GrowSurf, Referral Rock, impact.com)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named

## What the models said about Referral Rock

- "ReferralRock – $175/mo (budget flex if you have it)" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, budget prompt, soft negative)
- "Referral Rock offers the best balance of B2B-specific features, CRM integrations, transparent pricing, and scalability" (Kimi K2, direct prompt, first choice)
- "If you want a quick launch with robust CRM tracking and high-quality advocate portals, choose Referral Rock." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, direct prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about FirstPromoter

- "rely on cookies that get stripped by Safari ITP and ad blockers" (Kimi K2, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Top Recommendation: FirstPromoter ($49/month) - Most practical option for small businesses" (MiniMax M2.5, budget prompt, first choice)
- "If you run SaaS, choose FirstPromoter (for deep billing logic)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, comparative prompt, first choice)

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.