# Retail, proximity and IoT marketing: what AI models recommend, September 2026

Gane Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "proximity marketing platform" and as "location-based and in-store marketing tool", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/retail-proximity-and-iot-marketing/2026-09

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 15, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/retail-proximity-and-iot-marketing/index.md

**Standing:** Radar leads with 19% of first choices; verdict contested. 47 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Radar](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/radar/index.md) | 19% | 6% | 31 |
| 2 | [Foursquare Proximity](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/foursquare-proximity/index.md) | 9% | 4% | 27 |
| 3 | [GroundTruth](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/groundtruth/index.md) | 9% | 0% | 15 |
| 4 | [PlotProjects](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/plotprojects/index.md) | 6% | 0% | 20 |
| 10 | [Kontakt.io](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/kontakt-io/index.md) | 2% | 7% | 27 |
| 11 | [Estimote](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/estimote/index.md) | 2% | 5% | 21 |
| 13 | [InMarket](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/inmarket/index.md) | 2% | 10% | 10 |
| 25 | [Bluedot](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/bluedot/index.md) | 0% | 8% | 13 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 128 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: Gimbal, GroundTruth, Simpli.fi
- GPT-5.4 mini: Foursquare Proximity; alternatives 6sense, Demandbase
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Uniqode; alternatives Purple, Radar
- Perplexity Sonar: Propensity; alternatives Estimote, InMarket
- Grok 4.20: CleverTap; alternatives PlotProjects, Simpli.fi
- Mistral Small: Foursquare Proximity, Radar; alternatives CleverTap, Insider, Kontakt.io, Kumulos
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: GroundTruth, StackAdapt; alternatives Hey Sid, InZynk, Radar
- Llama 4 Maverick: InMarket; alternatives Apollo.io, Foursquare Proximity
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Radar; alternatives Foursquare Proximity, Kontakt.io
- Kimi K2: Radar; alternatives AdRoll ABM, Phunware, PlotProjects
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Radar; alternatives InMarket
- MiniMax M2.5: Radar

## Sources the answers cite

22 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- g2.com: 10 answers, 14 citations
- thecmo.com: 8 answers, 10 citations
- gartner.com: 6 answers, 8 citations
- clevertap.com: 5 answers, 7 citations
- f6s.com: 5 answers, 7 citations
- turboanchor.com: 5 answers, 5 citations
- verifiedmarketresearch.com: 5 answers, 5 citations
- reddit.com: 4 answers, 6 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://thecmo.com/tools/best-proximity-marketing-software (8 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/location-based-marketing-software (6 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/mobile-marketing/f/proximity-marketing (5 answers)
- https://verifiedmarketresearch.com/blog/top-proximity-marketing-companies (5 answers)
- https://clevertap.com/blog/location-based-marketing-platform (4 answers)
- https://f6s.com/software/category/proximity-marketing (4 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/location-based-marketing (4 answers)
- https://mobileappdaily.com/products/top-proximity-marketing-apps (4 answers)
- https://turboanchor.com/blog/proximity-marketing-solutions (4 answers)
- https://luc.edu/digitalethics/researchinitiatives/essays/archive/2017/proximitymarketingoftencreepybutitdoesnthavetobe (3 answers)

## Warned against

- Simpli.fi: 3 of 7 labels negative. "Most major geofencing ad networks (like Simpli.fi) require minimum monthly spends of $10,000+" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt)
- Gravy Analytics / Venntel: 2 of 2 labels negative. "(2025: prohibited from sensitive location sales, e.g., near health facilities or worship sites)" (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- InMarket Media: 2 of 2 labels negative. "FTC injunctive orders (January 2024) - prohibited from selling precise location data" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)
- Kochava / Collective Data Solutions: 2 of 2 labels negative. "Banned from selling sensitive location data without affirmative express consent (FTC settlement, May 2026)" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)

## Record

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