# ESG and carbon reporting: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "ESG reporting software" and as "carbon accounting platform", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/corporate/esg-and-carbon-reporting/2026-10

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/corporate/esg-and-carbon-reporting/index.md

**Standing:** Greenly leads with 36% of first choices; verdict contested. 59 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Greenly](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/greenly/index.md) | 36% | 6% | 36 |
| 2 | [Sweep](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/sweep/index.md) | 10% | 4% | 23 |
| 3 | [Coolset](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/coolset/index.md) | 7% | 9% | 11 |
| 4 | [Persefoni](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/persefoni/index.md) | 5% | 3% | 30 |
| 5 | [Watershed](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/watershed/index.md) | 3% | 23% | 30 |
| 6 | [Novisto](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/novisto/index.md) | 3% | 7% | 14 |
| 7 | [Plan A](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/plan-a/index.md) | 3% | 0% | 11 |
| 8 | [Workiva ESG](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/workiva-esg/index.md) | 3% | 40% | 30 |
| 11 | [Novata](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/novata/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 12 |
| 24 | [Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/microsoft-cloud-for-sustainability/index.md) | 0% | 8% | 13 |
| 25 | [Normative](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/normative/index.md) | 0% | 14% | 14 |
| 26 | [SpheraCloud Corporate Sustainability](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/spheracloud-corporate-sustainability/index.md) | 0% | 17% | 12 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 109 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: EcoOnline ESG; alternatives Coolset, Novata, Sweep
- GPT-5.4 mini: Workiva ESG; alternatives Credibl ESG, IBM Envizi, Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Coolset, Greenly; alternatives Gravity, KEY ESG, Novata, Sweep
- Perplexity Sonar: Greenly; alternatives EcoOnline ESG, Novata, Novisto, Sweep
- Grok 4.20: Greenly, Sweep; alternatives Horizon ESG, cubemos
- Mistral Small: Sweep; alternatives EcoOnline ESG, Novata
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Sweep; alternatives Coolset, Greenly, Novisto
- Llama 4 Maverick: Sweep; alternatives EcoOnline ESG, Novata
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Watershed; alternatives Carbon Cloud, Enablon, Persefoni, PlanA
- Kimi K2: Novata, Position Green; alternatives Greenly, Novisto, Workiva ESG
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Workiva ESG; alternatives Greenly, Measurabl, Novisto, Persefoni
- MiniMax M2.5: Plan A, Sweep; alternatives EcoOnline ESG, Novata
- GPT-6 Luna: Greenly; alternatives Novisto, Workiva ESG
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Novisto, Sweep; alternatives Coolset, Novata

## Sources the answers cite

77 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- onestopesg.com: 41 answers, 48 citations
- guideflow.com: 29 answers, 39 citations
- coolset.com: 27 answers, 27 citations
- fanruan.com: 26 answers, 33 citations
- g2.com: 21 answers, 46 citations
- persefoni.com: 17 answers, 20 citations
- techtarget.com: 17 answers, 18 citations
- manglai.io: 15 answers, 16 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://guideflow.com/blog/esg-reporting-software (27 answers)
- https://onestopesg.com/esg-resources/best-esg-reporting-software (25 answers)
- https://coolset.com/academy/best-esg-reporting-software-tools (22 answers)
- https://fanruan.com/en/blog/top-sustainability-reporting-tools (18 answers)
- https://tracera.com/best-esg-software-platforms (15 answers)
- https://emissiontwin.com/blog/best-esg-reporting-software (12 answers)
- https://csr-tools.com/en/blog-en/top-8-esg-software-solutions-for-more-sustainability-in-2024 (11 answers)
- https://pulsora.com/blog/best-esg-reporting-software (10 answers)
- https://councilfire.org/guides/top-5-esg-frameworks-for-smes (9 answers)
- https://energycap.com/blog/sustainability-reporting-platform (9 answers)

## Warned against

- Workiva ESG: 12 of 30 labels negative. "Avoid paying for enterprise platforms like Workiva unless you have complex disclosure, assurance, or multi-framework requirements" (Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt)
- Watershed: 7 of 30 labels negative. "What to Avoid - Watershed — Excellent but typically over $50K–$250K/year; better suited for large enterprises" (Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt)
- IBM Envizi: 6 of 17 labels negative. "Avoid massive enterprise platforms (like Salesforce Net Zero Cloud or IBM Envizi)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt)
- MSCI: 3 of 5 labels negative. "MSCI's 40/30/30 weighting (Environmental/Social/Governance) can overemphasize environmental factors, potentially masking social and governance risks" (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 10 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: Sweep (25%) to Greenly (33%). Margin 23 points, beyond the floor.

- Greenly: 13% to 33%, +20. Cleared the floor by 10 points · rank 2 → 1 of 95.
- Sweep: 25% to 10%, −15. Cleared the floor by 5 points · rank 1 → 2 of 95.
- Novisto: 10% to 2%, −8. Inside the floor by 2 points · rank 3 → 11 of 95.
- Plan A: 10% to 4%, −6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 4 → 6 of 95.
- EcoOnline ESG: 8% to 2%, −6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 6 → 12 of 95.
- Watershed: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 15 → 5 of 95.
- Persefoni: 6% to 4%, −2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 7 → 4 of 95.
- Novata: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 22 → 10 of 95.
- Coolset: 8% to 8%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 5 → 3 of 95.
- Workiva ESG: 4% to 4%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 9 → 7 of 95.
- Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 67 → 23 of 95.
- Normative: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 18 → 24 of 95.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/finance.