Affiliate and partner management
Asked as “affiliate marketing platform”, and as “affiliate program management tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 22 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
55%
PartnerStackConsensus
55PartnerStack23GoAffPro09UpPromote14others
55% of first choices, consensus.
The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
Show the six products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
07
Rakuten Advertising0%10%10accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
Rakuten Advertising0%10%10accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one can't be told apart from repeat variation, and both are shown. Each index measures its own floor from its own repeat, over its own categories, so the floor differs from one index to the next. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
One product takes 55% of first choices here, so the chart would put eight markers in one corner and one at the far edge. The two measurements it plots are columns in the standing above: share, and the negative label rate. Three products carry a negative rate above 25% in this category.
What they warned about
Six of six models held their first choice under the paraphrase. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
impact.com28%
7 of 25 labels negative · 5 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“ShareASale / Impact | Usually setup fee + % override — expensive” Claude Opus 5, budget prompt
ClickBank45%
5 of 11 labels negative · 4 of 6 models
“ClickBank itself is established, but offer quality can vary because products come from independent sellers.” GPT-5.6 Sol, negative prompt
ShareASale27%
3 of 11 labels negative · 3 of 6 models · 3 hard negative
“The budget trap to avoid ... Traditional affiliate networks (Impact, ShareASale, CJ, PartnerStack) typically charge a setup fee, a monthly minimum” Claude Opus 5, budget prompt
JVZoo75%
3 of 4 labels negative · 3 of 6 models
“Its affiliate agreement allows payout delays, reserves, refund/chargeback offsets, and withholding during investigations.” GPT-6 Astra, negative prompt
What they cite
Six of the six models returned a source list in this edition: six return the pages they cited.
Sites the answers cite
29 of 36 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 6 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 466 links across 209 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.
vendor site · Rewardful11 answers · 11 citations · 5 models
vendor site · LinkJolt10 answers · 14 citations · 3 models
vendor site · impact.com10 answers · 10 citations · 5 models
vendor site · PartnerStack9 answers · 13 citations · 5 models
vendor site · Post Affiliate Pro8 answers · 14 citations · 3 models
vendor site · Tapfiliate7 answers · 10 citations · 3 models
vendor site · Modash7 answers · 8 citations · 3 models
vendor site · Track3606 answers · 14 citations · 3 models
6 answers · 8 citations · 3 models
vendor site · Digistore246 answers · 7 citations · 3 models
vendor site · Guideflow6 answers · 7 citations · 3 models
vendor site · ReferralCandy6 answers · 7 citations · 3 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
6 answers · 3 models
5 answers · 3 models
5 answers · 2 models
5 answers · 2 models
5 answers · 2 models
5 answers · 3 models
4 answers · 2 models
4 answers · 3 models
4 answers · 2 models
4 answers · 2 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “affiliate marketing platform”, “best affiliate marketing platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PartnerStack partnerstack.com | 55% | 401 | 4,400 | 68 | 27,495 | 16 | 4 | |
| GoAffPro goaffpro.com | 23% | 9 | 2,400 | 41 | 3,858 | 8 | ||
| UpPromote uppromote.com | 9% | 53 | 1,600 | 48 | 10,646 | 0 | ||
| Rewardful rewardful.com | 5% | 105 | 1,600 | 133,645 | 4,378 | 22 | 5 | |
| impact.com impact.com | 5% | 334 | 1,900 | 153 | 111,771 | $3,520 | 117 | 2 |
| Amazon Associates amazon.com | 5% | 21 | 90,500 | 1,060 | 1,681,997,879 | $106,125 | 115 | |
| FirstPromoter firstpromoter.com | 0% | 94 | 590 | 9 | 797 | 12 | ||
| Everflow everflow.io | 0% | 66 | 3,600 | 140 | 1,533 | |||
| Awin awin.com Awin 0%, Awin Access 0% | 0% | 60 | 12,100 | 154 | 15,163 | 14 | ||
| Reditus getreditus.com | 0% | 23 | 390 | 25 | 611 | 1 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 16 sites; 7 of them are among the sites the models cited here (digistore24.com, g2.com, impact.com, linkjolt.io, modash.io, partnerstack.com, rewardful.com). The first result for “affiliate marketing platform” is clickbank.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best affiliate marketing platform for a mid-market B2B software company?”Paraphrase“Which affiliate program management tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B software company?”Comparative“What are the top affiliate marketing platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best affiliate marketing platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating an affiliate marketing platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which affiliate marketing platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5PartnerStackPartnerStackHeldagainst: TUNE, impact.comno first choiceRewardful, UpPromoteagainst: CJ, PartnerStack, ShareASale, impact.comno first choiceagainst: CJ Affiliate
Seven alternatives
Everflow, FirstPromoter, Introw, Reditus, Rewardful, Tolt, impact.comFive alternatives
Everflow, FirstPromoter, Reditus, Rewardful, ToltEleven alternatives
Amazon Associates, Awin, CJ Affiliate, ClickBank, Everflow, PartnerStack, Rakuten Advertising, ShareASale, Tapfiliate, Trackdesk, impact.comFive alternatives
AffiliateWP, FirstPromoter, Shopify Collabs, SliceWP, TrackdeskClaude Opus 4.8PartnerStackagainst: impact.comPartnerStackHeldagainst: impact.comPartnerStack, impact.comGoAffProagainst: Refersion, Tapfiliateno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
Everflow, RewardfulTwo alternatives
Everflow, RewardfulNine alternatives
Amazon Associates, Awin, CJ, ClickBank, FirstPromoter, ReferralCandy, Refersion, Rewardful, TapfiliateTwo alternatives
Systeme.io, UpPromoteGPT-6 AstraPartnerStackPartnerStackHeldno first choiceagainst: ClickBank, ShareASaleGoAffProagainst: UpPromoteno first choiceagainst: ClickBank, Digital Altitude, JVZoo, MOBE, WarriorPlus
Two alternatives
Rewardful, impact.comTwo alternatives
FirstPromoter, impact.comOne alternative
RewardfulTwo alternatives
Affiliatly, RewardfulGPT-5.6 SolPartnerStackPartnerStackHeldagainst: impact.comimpact.comagainst: Shopify CollabsGoAffProagainst: FirstPromoterno first choiceagainst: Amazon Associates, ClickBank, JVZoo, ShareASale, WarriorPlus
Three alternatives
FirstPromoter, Rewardful, impact.comTwo alternatives
FirstPromoter, RewardfulSeven alternatives
Amazon Associates, Awin, CJ Affiliate, Everflow, PartnerStack, Refersion, RewardfulTwo alternatives
Rewardful, UpPromoteGemini 3.1 ProPartnerStackPartnerStackHeldAmazon AssociatesGoAffProagainst: CJ Affiliate, Rakuten Advertising, impact.comimpact.comagainst: Affilomania / TrafficOn, Belboon, ClickBank, Digital Altitude, JVZoo, MOBE, WarriorPlus
Four alternatives
FirstPromoter, Kiflo, Reditus, impact.comFour alternatives
FirstPromoter, Kiflo PRM, Reditus, RewardfulSix alternatives
CJ Affiliate, ClickBank, PartnerStack, Rakuten Advertising, ShareASale, impact.comFive alternatives
Affiliatly, Awin Access, ClickBank, Rewardful, ShareASaleFive alternatives
CJ Affiliate, Everflow, Partnerize, Rakuten Advertising, TUNEPerplexity Sonar ProPartnerStackPartnerStackHeldno first choiceAmazon Associates, GoAffPro, UpPromoteagainst: PartnerStack, impact.comno first choiceagainst: ClickBank, MaxBounty, RedHotPie
Three alternatives
Reditus, Rewardful, impact.comThree alternatives
Reditus, Rewardful, impact.comThree alternatives
PartnerStack, Refersion, impact.comThree alternatives
ClickBank, FirstPromoter, RewardfulBold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency.
Thirty-six rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct recommendation | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 20:29 | yes | 24 | 60 s |
| Direct recommendation | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 20:31 | yes | 29 | 52 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 20:32 | yes | 4 | 25 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 20:34 | yes | 3 | 37 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:30 | no | 0 | 29 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 20:31 | yes | 20 | 8 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 20:35 | yes | 20 | 50 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 20:37 | no | 0 | 16 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 20:38 | yes | 4 | 22 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 20:39 | yes | 5 | 30 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 18:45 | no | 0 | 25 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 20:37 | yes | 20 | 5 s |
| Comparative | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 20:41 | yes | 28 | 54 s |
| Comparative | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 20:48 | yes | 23 | 335 s |
| Comparative | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 20:51 | yes | 9 | 51 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-10 00:38 | yes | 11 | 50 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 18:46 | no | 0 | 20 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 20:49 | yes | 20 | 11 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 20:54 | yes | 42 | 71 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 20:59 | yes | 25 | 224 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-10 00:39 | yes | 4 | 22 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 21:01 | yes | 4 | 20 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 18:47 | no | 0 | 26 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 21:00 | yes | 20 | 4 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 21:03 | yes | 42 | 81 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 21:04 | no | 0 | 25 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 21:06 | yes | 6 | 38 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 21:08 | yes | 3 | 57 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 18:48 | no | 0 | 28 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 21:05 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 21:11 | yes | 20 | 52 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 21:16 | yes | 23 | 233 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 21:17 | yes | 7 | 29 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 21:19 | yes | 9 | 55 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 18:49 | yes | 3 | 39 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 21:16 | yes | 18 | 7 s |
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
Rakuten read as Rakuten Advertising
Unresolved, counted raw
None awaiting human review.
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.