# Web analytics for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "web analytics platform" and as "website traffic analytics tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/gtm-data/web-analytics/2026-11/smb

**Standing:** Google Analytics 4 leads with 57% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 61 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Google Analytics 4](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/google-analytics-4/index.md) | 57% | 23% | 78 |
| 2 | [Plausible Analytics](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/plausible-analytics/index.md) | 15% | 2% | 64 |
| 3 | [Fathom](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/fathom/index.md) | 7% | 0% | 22 |
| 4 | [PostHog](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/posthog/index.md) | 5% | 12% | 25 |
| 5 | [Dealfront](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/dealfront/index.md) | 5% | 0% | 14 |
| 6 | [Microsoft Clarity](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/microsoft-clarity/index.md) | 3% | 0% | 24 |
| 7 | [Fathom Analytics](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/fathom-analytics/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 22 |
| 8 | [HubSpot Marketing Hub](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/hubspot-marketing-hub/index.md) | 2% | 27% | 15 |
| 12 | [Matomo](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/matomo/index.md) | 0% | 4% | 50 |
| 14 | [Hotjar](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/hotjar/index.md) | 0% | 18% | 11 |
| 19 | [Mixpanel](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/mixpanel/index.md) | 0% | 42% | 33 |
| 45 | [Amplitude](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/amplitude/index.md) | 0% | 44% | 25 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 64 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: Google Analytics 4; alternatives Amplitude, Hotjar
- GPT-5.4 mini: Plausible Analytics; alternatives Google Analytics 4, Matomo
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: HubSpot Marketing Hub, PostHog; alternatives Dealfront, Google Analytics 4, Koala, Plausible Analytics
- Perplexity Sonar: Google Analytics 4; alternatives Amplitude, Dealfront, Matomo, Microsoft Clarity
- Grok 4.20: PostHog; alternatives Fathom Analytics, Matomo, Plausible Analytics
- Mistral Small: Google Analytics 4; alternatives Clics, Lucky Orange, Plausible Analytics
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Google Analytics 4; alternatives Dealfront, Fathom Analytics, Matomo, Plausible Analytics
- Llama 4 Maverick: Google Analytics 4; alternatives Clics, Dealfront, Matomo, Plausible Analytics
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Google Analytics 4; alternatives Amplitude, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Mixpanel, Plausible Analytics
- Kimi K2: PostHog; alternatives Google Analytics 4, Plausible Analytics
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics 4, Plausible Analytics; alternatives HubSpot Marketing Hub, Matomo, PostHog, Usermaven
- MiniMax M2.5: Plausible Analytics; alternatives Fathom Analytics, Google Analytics 4, Matomo, PostHog
- GPT-6 Luna: Google Analytics 4; alternatives HubSpot Marketing Hub, Mixpanel
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Google Analytics 4; alternatives Dealfront, Fathom Analytics, Matomo, Mixpanel

## Sources the answers cite

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

- spotsaas.com: 30 answers, 33 citations
- linkedin.com: 22 answers, 23 citations
- toolradar.com: 19 answers, 33 citations
- plausible.io: 19 answers, 28 citations
- usermaven.com: 18 answers, 22 citations
- crazyegg.com: 17 answers, 18 citations
- g2.com: 16 answers, 19 citations
- gane.ai/index: 15 answers, 16 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://linkedin.com/pulse/best-web-analytics-tools-rajesh-kumar-d89sc (22 answers)
- https://spotsaas.com/list/web-analytics-software/for-small-business?page=116 (20 answers)
- https://crazyegg.com/blog/web-analytics-tools (17 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/gtm/gtm-data/web-analytics/smb (15 answers)
- https://softwareadvice.com/web-analytics (12 answers)
- https://toolradar.com/best/web-analytics/for/small-business (12 answers)
- https://toolradar.com/best/web-analytics/for/small-businesses (12 answers)
- https://webflow.com/blog/website-analytics-tools (11 answers)
- https://plausible.io/ (10 answers)
- https://usermaven.com/blog/best-website-analytics-tools (10 answers)

## Warned against

- Adobe Analytics: 18 of 20 labels negative. "Adobe Analytics and similar enterprise suites: Often have opaque or enterprise-level pricing, require significant implementation work, and can be excessive for a small site" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)
- Google Analytics 4: 18 of 78 labels negative. "Avoid GA4 unless you specifically need Google Ads integration — the complexity cost is high for small teams." (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Mixpanel: 14 of 33 labels negative. "Mixpanel is often criticized for its complexity and is primarily targeted at larger organizations" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Amplitude: 11 of 25 labels negative. "Enterprise "product analytics" platforms (Amplitude, Heap, Mixpanel at enterprise tiers) ... overkill for most small businesses" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Google Analytics 4 at 57%.

- Dealfront: 13% to 5%, −8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 3 → 5 of 64.
- Google Analytics 4: 52% to 57%, +5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 1 of 64, unchanged.
- Fathom: 2% to 7%, +5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 7 → 3 of 64.
- PostHog: 2% to 5%, +3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 9 → 4 of 64.
- Fathom Analytics: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 13 → 7 of 64.
- Umami: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 15 → 9 of 64.
- Matomo: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 12 of 64.
- Plausible Analytics: 16% to 15%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 2 of 64, unchanged.
- Microsoft Clarity: 2% to 3%, +1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 8 → 6 of 64.
- HubSpot Marketing Hub: 3% to 2%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 4 → 8 of 64.
- Hotjar: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 14 of 64, unchanged.
- Mixpanel: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 42 → 19 of 64.

## 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.