# Address verification tools: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "address verification tool" and as "address validation API", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/gtm-data/address-verification

**Standing:** Smarty leads with 73% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 51 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Smarty](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/smarty/index.md) | 73% | 1% | 69 |
| 2 | [PostGrid Address Verification](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/postgrid-address-verification/index.md) | 10% | 0% | 50 |
| 3 | [Loqate](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/loqate/index.md) | 6% | 5% | 38 |
| 5 | [Lob](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/lob/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 23 |
| 9 | [Melissa Global Address Verification](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/melissa-global-address-verification/index.md) | 0% | 7% | 45 |
| 10 | [Experian Address Validation](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/experian-address-validation/index.md) | 0% | 20% | 10 |
| 11 | [Google Address Validation API](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/google-address-validation-api/index.md) | 0% | 32% | 19 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 69 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: PostGrid Address Verification; alternatives ComplyCube, Experian Address Validation, Melissa Global Address Verification, Smarty
- GPT-5.4 mini: Smarty; alternatives Melissa Global Address Verification, PostGrid Address Verification
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Smarty; alternatives Lob, Loqate, Melissa Global Address Verification
- Perplexity Sonar: Smarty; alternatives Loqate, Melissa Global Address Verification, PostGrid Address Verification
- Grok 4.20: Smarty; alternatives Lob, PostGrid Address Verification
- Mistral Small: Smarty; alternatives Melissa Global Address Verification
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Smarty; alternatives Lob, Loqate, Melissa Global Address Verification, PostGrid Address Verification
- Llama 4 Maverick: Smarty; alternatives Loqate, Melissa Global Address Verification, PostGrid Address Verification, Radar
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Smarty; alternatives Experian Address Validation, Melissa Global Address Verification, PostGrid Address Verification
- Kimi K2: Smarty; alternatives Loqate, PostGrid Address Verification
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Smarty; alternatives Melissa Global Address Verification, PostGrid Address Verification, Shufti Pro
- MiniMax M2.5: Smarty; alternatives Lob, Melissa Global Address Verification, PostGrid Address Verification
- GPT-6 Luna: Smarty; alternatives Loqate, Melissa Global Address Verification
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Smarty; alternatives Loqate, Melissa Global Address Verification, PostGrid Address Verification

## Sources the answers cite

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

- g2.com: 38 answers, 66 citations
- smarty.com: 36 answers, 77 citations
- capterra.com: 27 answers, 35 citations
- melissa.com: 27 answers, 35 citations
- loqate.com: 25 answers, 54 citations
- getapp.com: 21 answers, 26 citations
- postgrid.com: 20 answers, 38 citations
- digi-texx.com: 18 answers, 18 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://g2.com/articles/best-address-verification-software (29 answers)
- https://digi-texx.com/techblog/address-validation-software (18 answers)
- https://capterra.com/address-verification-software (15 answers)
- https://mastercard.com/us/en/news-and-trends/Insights/2024/options-for-global-address-verification-solution-avs.html (13 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/address-verification-software (12 answers)
- https://softwareadvice.co.uk/directory/4463/address-verification/software (12 answers)
- https://capterra.co.uk/directory/33215/address-verification/software (11 answers)
- https://cufinder.io/blog/api/best-address-validation-apis (11 answers)
- https://loqate.com/en-us/address-verification (11 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/address-verification (10 answers)

## Warned against

- Google Address Validation API: 6 of 19 labels negative. "Skip the "free" options like Google's Address Validation API" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, paraphrase prompt)
- Google Maps Address Validation API: 4 of 6 labels negative. "here are address verification tools you should avoid or be cautious about: ## Google Maps Address Validation API" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Melissa Global Address Verification: 3 of 45 labels negative. "consider Loqate or Melissa, but they're usually better fits once budget is less constrained" (GPT-5.4 mini, budget prompt)
- getaddress.io: 2 of 2 labels negative. "Received strong negative feedback, with 100% of AI model labels being negative, indicating reliability concerns." (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Smarty at 73%.

- Smarty: 47% to 73%, +26. Cleared the floor by 15 points · rank 1 of 69, unchanged.
- Melissa Global Address Verification: 13% to 0%, −13. Cleared the floor by 2 points · rank 2 → 9 of 69.
- Google Address Validation API: 4% to 0%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 5 → 11 of 69.
- PostGrid Address Verification: 8% to 10%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 3 → 2 of 69.
- Loqate: 4% to 6%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 4 → 3 of 69.
- Lob: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 19 → 5 of 69.
- Experian Address Validation: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 10 of 69.

## Record

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