# Retail, proximity and IoT marketing for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

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

**Standing:** Radar leads with 29% of first choices; verdict contested. 52 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) | 29% | 7% | 44 |
| 2 | [Foursquare Proximity](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/foursquare-proximity/index.md) | 6% | 24% | 33 |
| 3 | [GroundTruth](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/groundtruth/index.md) | 4% | 17% | 23 |
| 4 | [PlotProjects](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/plotprojects/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 12 |
| 6 | [CleverTap](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/clevertap/index.md) | 4% | 47% | 19 |
| 7 | [Uniqode](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/uniqode/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 8 | [NearBee](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/nearbee/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 10 | [Google Business Profile](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/google-business-profile/index.md) | 2% | 17% | 12 |
| 38 | [Estimote](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/estimote/index.md) | 0% | 27% | 11 |
| 162 | [Braze](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/braze/index.md) | 0% | 69% | 16 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 162 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: CleverTap; alternatives AdRoll ABM, Estimote
- GPT-5.4 mini: Foursquare Proximity, HubSpot Marketing Hub; alternatives Paige, Pluspoint
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Popl, Uniqode; alternatives GroundTruth, Mobilo, Radar
- Perplexity Sonar: Radar; alternatives Foursquare Proximity
- Grok 4.20: GroundTruth; alternatives Radar
- Mistral Small: Radar; alternatives Foursquare Proximity, GroundTruth
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Radar; alternatives Foursquare Proximity
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Radar; alternatives OneSignal
- Kimi K2: Radar; alternatives Foursquare Proximity, Geofli
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Kumulos; alternatives Foursquare Proximity, GroundTruth, Proxi.cloud, Proximity.space
- MiniMax M2.5: no first choice
- GPT-6 Luna: Insight Media Labs; alternatives Qujam
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Radar; alternatives Foursquare Proximity, GroundTruth

## Sources the answers cite

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

- thecmo.com: 42 answers, 44 citations
- g2.com: 37 answers, 65 citations
- gane.ai/index: 34 answers, 39 citations
- axiobench.com: 28 answers, 33 citations
- sourceforge.net: 27 answers, 49 citations
- f6s.com: 23 answers, 26 citations
- clicksgeek.com: 20 answers, 26 citations
- slashdot.org: 18 answers, 24 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://thecmo.com/tools/best-proximity-marketing-software (41 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/retail-proximity-and-iot-marketing/smb (30 answers)
- https://axiobench.com/best/proximity-marketing-software (24 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/location-based-marketing (16 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/mobile-marketing/f/proximity-marketing (16 answers)
- https://revenuebase.ai/companies/proximity-marketing-platforms/united-states (14 answers)
- https://clicksgeek.com/best-local-advertising-platforms (12 answers)
- https://f6s.com/software/category/proximity-marketing (12 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/location-based-marketing-software (12 answers)
- https://upwardengine.com/blog/proximity-marketing-local-businesses (12 answers)

## Warned against

- Braze: 11 of 16 labels negative. "Avoid committing to beacon hardware rollouts, enterprise omnichannel suites like Braze/CleverTap/Airship/Xtremepush for a single location" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- CleverTap: 9 of 19 labels negative. "Avoid committing to beacon hardware rollouts, enterprise omnichannel suites like Braze/CleverTap/Airship/Xtremepush for a single location" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Airship: 6 of 8 labels negative. "Avoid committing to beacon hardware rollouts, enterprise omnichannel suites like Braze/CleverTap/Airship/Xtremepush for a single location" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Foursquare Proximity: 8 of 33 labels negative. "flagged as a less preferred option for small businesses due to its complexity and lower user satisfaction" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Radar at 29%.

- Radar: 11% to 29%, +18. Cleared the floor by 7 points · rank 1 of 162, unchanged.
- GroundTruth: 9% to 4%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 2 → 3 of 162.
- Estimote: 5% to 0%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 7 → 38 of 162.
- PlotProjects: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 37 → 4 of 162.
- Uniqode: 5% to 2%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 4 → 7 of 162.
- CleverTap: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 9 → 6 of 162.
- NearBee: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 75 → 8 of 162.
- Kontakt.io: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 40 → 14 of 162.
- Foursquare Proximity: 7% to 6%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 3 → 2 of 162.
- Google Business Profile: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 of 162, unchanged.
- Gimbal: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 120 → 160 of 162.
- Airship: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 118 → 161 of 162.

## 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.