Small business▼−8Since September 2026: 29% → 20%, −8 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
20%from 29% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 5 pointsRank 2 of 47, unchanged
Patriot · 1 category · RankedPatriot Payroll
56Judge labels
20First choices
9Negative labels
14 / 14Models named it
1Category
October 2026 Edition. Every number here is derived from the raw labels under vendor table v2026-10.7, every buyer segment counted.
Best standing
22% in Payroll software for small business buyers
Rank 3 of 58 in the mid-market standingaccepted challenger
0 of 14 models made it the first choice on the direct prompt; 11% of its 18 labels there were negative.
What the models named instead of Patriot Payroll →By buyer segmentStrongest at small business.
Small business2 of 50
22%33 labels
accepted challenger
Mid-market3 of 58
17%18 labels
accepted challenger
Enterprise51 of 52
0%5 labels
under the label threshold
In payroll software · each standing computed within its segment · bars are 0 to 100 · the accent bar is the product's own best reading
Standing by category
Every category where a model named Patriot Payroll for a mid-market B2B company. Share is first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts; rank is within every product named in that category.
| Category | Function | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Quadrant | Since September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll software | Core HR and payroll | 17% | 3 of 58 | 11% | 18 | accepted challenger | ▼−7Since September 2026: 23% → 17%, −7 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
Movement
Since September 2026, Patriot Payroll held within the floor in its one category: no change cleared 13 points.
Best category · Payroll software · by segment
Mid-market▼−7Since September 2026: 23% → 17%, −7 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
17%from 23% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 6 pointsRank 2 → 3 of 55
Enterprise=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
0%from 0% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 13 pointsRank 39 → 49 of 50
All categories · Mid-market
| Category | September 2026 | Now | Change | Reading | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll software | 23% | 17% | ▼−7Since September 2026: 23% → 17%, −7 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 2 → 3 of 58 |
Shares here are read over the models both editions asked, so they can differ by a point or two from the standing above, which counts every model in this edition.
The floor is 13 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 is noise, and both are shown. Movement is read over the twelve models both editions asked; GPT-6 Luna, Muse Glimmer 30B joined this edition and are in the standing but not yet in the comparison. How the floor is measured · The editions
By model
How each model treated Patriot Payroll across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.ShowHide
By model
How each model treated Patriot Payroll across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.
ShowHide| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Negative | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Grok 4.1 Fast | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Mistral Small | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
By framing
Which of the six questions produced the naming. By model says how often; this says asked what. The first-choice count on the right carries the marks of the models that produced it.
FramingLabels by classFirst choices
Direct4 labelsNone
Paraphrase2 labelsNone
Comparative13 labelsNone
Budget-constrained23 labels20
Scale-constrained5 labelsNone
Negative9 labels1not counted in share
First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative56 labels in all, every segment counted; 20 of the 21 first choices count toward share, since the comparative and negative framings do not. The bar is one segment per label class, to scale within the framing.
What the models said for it
Verbatim evidence the judge attached to positive labels.
“My top recommendation: For most small businesses with a limited budget, Patriot Software offers the best balance of affordability, features, and automatic tax filing” DeepSeek V4 Flash · Payroll software · budget prompt · first choice
“often the strongest pure-budget choice for very small businesses, with low base pricing... If your main goal is lowest cost: Patriot Payroll” GPT-5.4 mini · Payroll software · budget prompt · first choice
“the best payroll software is typically either a high-value full-service provider like Patriot Software... Patriot Software (Best for Value)” Qwen 3.7 Flash · Payroll software · budget prompt · first choice
“platforms like Patriot Payroll (A+ BBB rating, 4.8/5 on Trustpilot) ... have received considerably more positive reviews” DeepSeek V4 Flash · Payroll software · negative prompt · first choice
And against it
Verbatim evidence attached to negative labels. A warning on a product with few labels is a warning; on a product with many, it is one voice among them.
“entry-level payroll solutions (like basic Gusto, QuickBooks, or Patriot Software) ... will likely start to feel manual, slow, and operationally risky” Gemini 3.5 Flash · Payroll software · scale prompt · soft negative
“it can be fine for simple setups, but TechRadar notes add-on costs” Perplexity Sonar · Payroll software · negative prompt · soft negative
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Patriot Payroll, over the 56 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Patriot Payroll was named but was not.ShowHide
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Patriot Payroll, over the 56 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Patriot Payroll was named but was not.
ShowHideProductSame answerTook the first choice insteadHead to head
A head-to-head page exists where both products are among a category's top eight. The other rows are the same fact without a page behind them, so they link to the product instead.
What carried it into the answer
The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Patriot Payroll. A fact about retrieval, not a lever on the model.
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list, five of the fourteen in this edition, so these counts come from 56 of the 56 answers that named Patriot Payroll and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
forbes.com42
onpay.com30
gusto.com24
cnbc.com19
adp.com17
business.org17
workforce.com17
patriotsoftware.comYour site16
tech.co15
techrepublic.com14
195 of the 211 domain citations in answers naming Patriot Payroll came from somebody else's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
Search and answers
patriotsoftware.com ranks 2 on Google for the category's searches. In the answers, Patriot Payroll takes 17% of first choices and Rippling takes 20%.ShowHide
Search and answers
patriotsoftware.com ranks 2 on Google for the category's searches. In the answers, Patriot Payroll takes 17% of first choices and Rippling takes 20%.
ShowHideIn search
Google, US estimatesPosition for “payroll software”
–
not in the top ten
Position for “payroll platforms”
4
- Searches for its name, Google
- 8,100 a month (“patriot payroll”)
- AI search demand for its name, est.
- 115 a month
- Its company's site
- patriotsoftware.com shared with Patriot's other products; the figures are the site's
- Organic visits to its site
- about 1,375,182 a month
- Searches its site ranks for
- 107,748 · 3,090 in the top three
- Sites linking to it
- 13,022
- Paid Google search
- No ads found in the estimate; that does not mean it runs none
In answers
This editionShare of first choices
17%
rank 3 of 58 in payroll software
Segment leader
20%
Rippling
- First choices
- 20 across its categories
- Named in
- 56 answers
- Its own site cited
- in 56 of the answers that named it
Search figures are US estimates from DataForSEO, read September 28, 2026; AI search demand is its modeled, directional estimate, not a count of queries to any assistant. The answers are this edition's. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
Names read as Patriot Payroll
What the judge wrote, as written, with how often. The vendor table decides that these count as Patriot Payroll; a claim can dispute any of them.
Patriot Software 13Patriot Basic 1Patriot Software (Full Service) 1
Follow Patriot Payroll
An email the morning each edition publishes: where this product moved, where it held, and by how much against the noise floor. One address, confirmed by a click; a stop link in every email.
Already following? Everything you follow, with a stop for each.
The company
Patriot is the company behind Patriot Payroll.ShowHide
The company
Patriot is the company behind Patriot Payroll.
ShowHideOn record
Company records- Also from Patriot
- Patriot Software
In its own words
Stated by the vendor, not checked- Positioning
- Ohio payroll taxes calculated and filed by Patriot Full Service Payroll, including state, local, school district, JEDD, and JEDZ taxes.
- For
- Patriot Full Service Payroll customers in Ohio
- Price stated
- no additional charge help.patriotsoftware.com/en/articles/15972120-ohio-payroll-taxes-calculated-and-filed-by-patriot
- Not stated on the pages read
- Starting price, free plan or trial, integrations, certifications, hosting, customers
What Patriot Payroll's own pages state, read September 28, 2026: help.patriotsoftware.com/en/articles/15972120-ohio-payroll-taxes-calculated-and-filed-by-patriot, help.patriotsoftware.com/en/articles/15972121-utah-payroll-taxes-calculated-and-filed-by-patriot, help.patriotsoftware.com/en/articles/15972131-iowa-payroll-taxes-calculated-and-filed-by-patriot, help.patriotsoftware.com/en/articles/15972105-texas-payroll-taxes-calculated-and-filed-by-patriot, help.patriotsoftware.com/en/articles/15972127-idaho-payroll-taxes-calculated-and-filed-by-patriot. A claimed page can correct any of them.
Is this your product?
Claim this page
Claiming is free and changes nothing in the data. A claimed page shows a verified contact who is told when each edition publishes and when Patriot Payroll's standing changes by more than the noise floor; the right to propose corrections to the vendor table, meaning names the judge wrote that should or should not read as Patriot Payroll, applied by version and listed in the change log; and a one-line description supplied by the vendor and marked as such.
What a new claim receivesHide what a new claim receives
A new claim receives the current edition's vendor brief for Patriot Payroll by email, built from the raw record of the edition. It shows:
- where Patriot Payroll is named, by buyer and by framing, and which cells hold its first choices;
- the claims the models make when they name it, ranked, with the strongest and the weakest quoted;
- its vocabulary against the segment leader's, and the pages the models cited;
- who was chosen in the answers that did not name Patriot Payroll, and every reason the record gives;
- a battlecard for each top rival: the head-to-head split, why they win, and the reservation quoted against them;
- one page of published figures cleared to show a buyer.
Badges
Wins only: a badge exists where Patriot Payroll is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.ShowHide
Badges
Wins only: a badge exists where Patriot Payroll is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.
ShowHidePatriot Payroll is among the products AI models recommend first in Payroll software this edition. Each badge says so in the buyer's words, names the edition, and links to the standing. The next edition issues a new badge; this one stays true as a record of October 2026.
Wide · 320 × 104 Website, beside other badges
Square · 240 × 240 LinkedIn, slides
Compact · 200 × 56 Email signature, footer
Badges read on light and dark pages. Alt text carries the claim, the category, the edition and the index, so it stays a citation where the image does not load.