# Succession planning for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026 Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "succession planning software" and as "talent review tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/performance/succession-planning/2026-11/smb **Standing:** PerformYard leads with 29% of first choices; verdict contested. 48 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts. ## First-choice share | Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | [PerformYard](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/performyard/index.md) | 29% | 0% | 42 | | 2 | [Teamflect](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/teamflect/index.md) | 12% | 0% | 14 | | 3 | [SuccessionNow](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/successionnow/index.md) | 10% | 12% | 32 | | 6 | [BambooHR](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/bamboohr/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 23 | | 7 | [Lattice](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/lattice/index.md) | 4% | 15% | 27 | | 10 | [Creately](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/creately/index.md) | 2% | 7% | 15 | | 11 | [Maus](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/maus/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 14 | | 12 | [15Five](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/15five/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 | | 15 | [Paycom](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/paycom/index.md) | 2% | 42% | 12 | | 19 | [SuccessionHR](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/successionhr/index.md) | 0% | 20% | 10 | | 101 | [Cornerstone Succession](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/cornerstone-succession/index.md) | 0% | 64% | 11 | | 102 | [Workday Succession Planning](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/workday-succession-planning/index.md) | 0% | 93% | 14 | Rank is by share of first choices among all 103 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: Paycor; alternatives BambooHR, Engagedly, PerformYard, Succession Wizard - GPT-5.4 mini: Paycom; alternatives Cornerstone Succession, Quantum Workplace - Gemini 3.5 Flash: PerformYard; alternatives ChartHop, ClearCompany, Notion, Teamflect - Perplexity Sonar: Lattice; alternatives Leapsome, PerformYard, SuccessionNow, monday work management - Grok 4.20: PerformYard; alternatives ClayHR, Maus, SuccessionNow - Mistral Small: PerformYard; alternatives Maus, SuccessionNow - DeepSeek V4 Flash: PerformYard, SuccessionNow; alternatives Maus - Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice - Qwen 3.7 Flash: PerformYard; alternatives Factorial, Maus, SuccessionNow - Kimi K2: Maus, SuccessionNow; alternatives PerformYard - GLM 4.7 FlashX: PerformYard; alternatives SuccessionHR, SuccessionNow - MiniMax M2.5: SuccessionNow; alternatives BambooHR, PerformYard - GPT-6 Luna: Teamflect; alternatives Creately, Lattice - Muse Glimmer 30B: SuccessionNow; alternatives Paycom, PerformYard ## Sources the answers cite 74 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers: - softwareadvice.com: 41 answers, 71 citations - getapp.com: 40 answers, 76 citations - capterra.com: 36 answers, 69 citations - slashdot.org: 28 answers, 28 citations - g2.com: 21 answers, 28 citations - leadchangegroup.com: 20 answers, 29 citations - firsthr.app: 19 answers, 21 citations - softwareadvice.co.uk: 15 answers, 15 citations Pages named in the most answers: - https://getapp.com/hr-employee-management-software/succession-planning (31 answers) - https://getapp.com/hr-employee-management-software/succession-planning/org/small-business (30 answers) - https://slashdot.org/software/succession-planning/f-small-business?page=2 (25 answers) - https://capterra.com/succession-planning-software (22 answers) - https://leadchangegroup.com/succession-planning-software/small-business (19 answers) - https://softwareadvice.com/hr/succession-planning-comparison/small-business (19 answers) - https://firsthr.app/compare/performance/succession-planning-software (18 answers) - https://softwareadvice.com/hr/succession-planning-comparison (18 answers) - https://softwareadvice.co.uk/directory/3798/succession-planning/software (15 answers) - https://softwareadvice.com/hr/succession-planning-comparison?page=2 (15 answers) ## Warned against - SAP SuccessFactors Succession & Development: 16 of 16 labels negative. "Platforms like SAP SuccessFactors are designed for large enterprises with extensive HR stacks. They often come with high implementation costs, steep learning curves, and are overkill for a small business." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt) - Workday Succession Planning: 13 of 14 labels negative. "Large HR platforms (like those from SAP SuccessFactors, Workday, Oracle HCM, or similar enterprise suites) ... are often massive overkill for small businesses." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt) - Cornerstone Succession: 7 of 11 labels negative. "avoid enterprise suites (e.g., SAP SuccessFactors or Cornerstone) as they're overkill and expensive for SMBs" (Grok 4.20, comparative prompt) - Lattice: 4 of 27 labels negative. "I wouldn't make Lattice my first choice for a small business unless you expect to use more of its platform: it lists a $4,000 minimum annual agreement" (GPT-6 Luna, paraphrase prompt) ## Movement since October 2026 Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat. New leader: BambooHR (18%) to PerformYard (29%). Margin 25 points, beyond the floor. - PerformYard: 11% to 29%, +18. Cleared the floor by 5 points · rank 3 → 1 of 103. - BambooHR: 18% to 4%, −14. Cleared the floor by 1 point · rank 1 → 6 of 103. - SuccessionNow: 16% to 10%, −6. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 2 → 3 of 103. - Teamflect: 7% to 12%, +5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 6 → 2 of 103. - Lattice: 9% to 4%, −5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 5 → 7 of 103. - Paycor: 9% to 4%, −5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 4 → 8 of 103. - Creately: 7% to 2%, −5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 7 → 10 of 103. - Leapsome: 4% to 6%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 → 4 of 103. - Maus: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 48 → 11 of 103. - 15Five: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 → 12 of 103. - Paycom: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 75 → 15 of 103. - SuccessionHR: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 83 → 19 of 103. ## Record - Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/methodology - License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/hr.