# Referral Rock vs Referral Factory: 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 Referral Factory. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/partner/referral-and-partner-programs/referral-rock-vs-referral-factory/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referral Rock | 15% | #2 of 11 | 3% | 34 | 12 of 12 |
| Referral Factory | 2% | #7 of 11 | 15% | 13 | 9 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 Referral Factory

- "*Caution for high-value or cash reward programs* — No automated fraud screening" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Referral Factory & Viral Loops (Missing Critical Features)" (Kimi K2, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "single best answer for most companies with a limited budget, I'd pick Referral Factory for general use" (Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Referral Factory for fast no-code setup" (Perplexity Sonar, 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.