Excel/Google Sheets
Named, too few times to rank.
A product needs 10 labels in a category before a share is stated. Excel/Google Sheets has 8.
Why models recommend it
“Excel or Google Sheets remains the #1 recommended starting point”DeepSeek V4 Flash · Budget-constrained question · first choice
“Use Excel/Google Sheets with custom formulas for MRR, churn, LTV”DeepSeek V4 Flash · Negative question · alternative
“using pre-built Month-End Close Templates”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Budget-constrained question · alternative
What gives them pause
“Relying on Excel/Google Sheets or basic built-in modules in lightweight accounting software seems "free," but it carries significant hidden costs.”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Negative question · warning
“Why to avoid: While fine for micro-businesses with fewer than ~20–50 assets, spreadsheets are one of the leading causes of audit failures”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Negative question · warning
“spreadsheet-based reporting (Excel/Google Sheets) is likely becoming prone to errors, slow to consolidate, and difficult to audit”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Scale-constrained question · warning
“Manual data entry, high risk of error, no real-time updates. Best only for very early-stage startups with simple transactions.”Qwen 3.7 Flash · Budget-constrained question · warning
Also on the shortlist
The products named in the same answers as Excel/Google Sheets, over the 31 answers that named it, and how often each was the first choice instead.
| Product | Named together | Picked instead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 4 | View → | |
| 8 | 0 | View → | |
| 8 | 0 | View → | |
| 7 | 2 | View → | |
| 6 | 0 | View → | |
| 6 | 0 | View → | |
| 5 | 3 | View → | |
| 5 | 0 | View → | |
| 5 | 0 | View → | |
| 4 | 1 | View → |
A side-by-side page exists where both products are among a category's top eight.
How this is measured
Fourteen AI models from 12 labs are asked the same buying questions six ways, for three company sizes. Standings refresh every edition.
Gane sells AI visibility software. No company can pay to change a result.
Read the method →Sources returned with these answers
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted. These counts come from 25 of the 31 answers that named Excel/Google Sheets and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
No domain is on file for Excel/Google Sheets, so its own site is not marked.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
By model
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |