Small business▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
2%from 0% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 11 pointsRank 9 → 7 of 47
1 category · RankedSquare Payroll
25Judge labels
1First choices
4Negative 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
2% in Payroll software for small business buyers
Rank 20 of 58 in the mid-market standingaccepted challenger
0 of 14 models made it the first choice on the direct prompt; 17% of its 12 labels there were negative.
What the models named instead of Square Payroll →By buyer segmentRead the same way at every buyer size.
Small business7 of 50
2%11 labels
accepted challenger
Mid-market20 of 58
0%12 labels
accepted challenger
Enterprise41 of 52
0%1 label
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 Square 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 | 0% | 20 of 58 | 17% | 12 | accepted challenger | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
Movement
Since September 2026, Square Payroll held within the floor in its one category: no change cleared 13 points.
Best category · Payroll software · by segment
Mid-market=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 14 → 17 of 55
EnterprisenewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
0%from 0% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 13 pointsRank 40 of 50, unchanged
All categories · Mid-market
| Category | September 2026 | Now | Change | Reading | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll software | 0% | 0% | =heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 14 → 20 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 Square 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 Square 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 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grok 4.1 Fast | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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
Direct0 labelsNone
Paraphrase1 labelNone
Comparative6 labelsNone
Budget-constrained11 labels1
Scale-constrained2 labelsNone
Negative5 labelsNone
First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative25 labels in all, every segment counted; 1 of the 1 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.
“If you have no W-2 employees (only 1099 contractors): Go with Square Payroll.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · Payroll software · budget prompt · alternative
“a good option if you already use Square, with transparent flat pricing” GPT-5.4 mini · Payroll software · budget prompt · alternative
“Small businesses using Square POS or seeking affordability” MiniMax M2.5 · Payroll software · comparative prompt · alternative
“Already using Square for payments: Square Payroll.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · Payroll software · comparative prompt · alternative
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.
“PCMag says it is less compelling on its own because it lacks extensive features and customization” Perplexity Sonar · Payroll software · negative prompt · soft negative
“lacks extensive features and customization options, making it less compelling on its own” Muse Glimmer 30B · Payroll software · comparative prompt · soft negative
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Square Payroll, over the 25 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Square Payroll was named but was not.ShowHide
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Square Payroll, over the 25 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Square 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 Square 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 23 of the 25 answers that named Square Payroll and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
forbes.com14
gusto.com12
onpay.com10
workforce.com9
cnbc.com8
patriotsoftware.com8
techrepublic.com7
adp.com6
tech.co6
business.org5
Eighty-five of the eighty-five domain citations in answers naming Square Payroll came from somebody else's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
Search and answers
squareup.com ranks 6 on Google for the category's searches. In the answers, Square Payroll takes 0% of first choices and Rippling takes 20%.ShowHide
Search and answers
squareup.com ranks 6 on Google for the category's searches. In the answers, Square Payroll takes 0% of first choices and Rippling takes 20%.
ShowHideIn search
Google, US estimatesPosition for “payroll software”
–
not in the top ten
Position for “payroll platforms”
6
- Searches for its name, Google
- 9,900 a month (“square payroll”)
- AI search demand for its name, est.
- 190 a month
- Organic visits to its site
- about 3,658,565 a month
- Searches its site ranks for
- 164,520 · 15,238 in the top three
- Sites linking to it
- 158,900
- Paid Google search
- 2 searches its ads show for, about 2 clicks and $9 a month (estimate)
In answers
This editionShare of first choices
0%
rank 20 of 58 in payroll software
Segment leader
20%
Rippling
- First choices
- 1 across its categories
- Named in
- 25 answers
- Its own site cited
- in 23 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.
What it publishes
ShowHide
What it publishes
ShowHideAddresses on squareup.com
19,122
subdomains included
Content
2,599
counted in the table below
Documentation
6,250
Product · Integration
216 · 13
| Kind | Pages | Last 90 days | 2025-10 to 2026-09 | Latest | Categories named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News or press | 1,361 | undated | |||
| Glossary or explainer | 366 | 0 | 2021-12-06 | ||
| Case study | 297 | 3 | 2026-09-15 | ||
| Report or ebook | 227 | 0 | 2026-06-04 | ||
| Podcast or video | 164 | 0 | 2025-12-12 | ||
| Comparison | 83 | undated | |||
| Template or tool | 60 | 0 | 2026-02-13 | ||
| Conference or event | 19 | 0 | 2025-02-04 | ||
| Webinar or virtual event | 16 | 0 | 2026-01-13 | ||
| Blog | 6 | undated |
Most recent
- 2026-09-15Honolulu cookie company case study
- 2026-08-16Happyfield sydneys happiest diner case study
- 2026-08-10Noun coffee wine case study
- 2026-06-048655 troubleshoot facebook and instagram integrations with square report or ebook
- 2026-06-048654 set up meta for business facebook shops report or ebook
- 2026-06-02Baker st cafe case study
How it is countedHide how it is counted
Every page squareup.com exposes, subdomains included. Kind is read from the address and title. The last 90 days, the latest date and the twelve months count pages by when they were published, from the site's feeds, a date in the address, or the page's own publication date, read from up to a hundred of its most recently changed pages; a page that says only when it last changed is counted in its kind but not in when, so the recent counts are a floor, and a kind none of whose pages gives a publication date reads undated. An event counts as online when its address or title says so (webinar, on demand, virtual or online summit); a conference, summit, trade show, expo or roadshow that does not say so is counted as a conference or event, which on a vendor's site is mostly in person. Read September 29, 2026.
Follow Square 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
Square Payroll is its own company.ShowHide
The company
Square Payroll is its own company.
ShowHideIn its own words
Stated by the vendor, not checked- Positioning
- Make payroll a breeze.
- For
- businesses
- Price stated
- Full-service payroll: $35/mo + $6 monthly fee per person paid; Contractor-only payroll: $6/mo per person paid. squareup.com/us/en/payroll
- Starting price
- 6 squareup.com/us/en/payroll
- Free plan or trial
- Start free trial squareup.com/us/en/payroll/demo
- Customers named
- Unfurl MadisonLaura Novak MassageBlueprint LightingUnfurl Madison & Laura Novak MassageLauren N.Kelly A.
- Not stated on the pages read
- Integrations, certifications, hosting
What Square Payroll's own pages state, read September 28, 2026: squareup.com/us/en/payroll, squareup.com/us/es/payroll, squareup.com/us/en/payroll/demo, squareup.com/us/es/payroll/demo, squareup.com/us/en/payroll/pricing. 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 Square 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 Square 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 Square Payroll by email, built from the raw record of the edition. It shows:
- where Square 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 Square 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.