The Gist 100Business softwareOctober 2026
Xero is in 82% of accounting answers but first in 4%
QuickBooks (Intuit) is named in 94% of AI answers about accounting software and comes first in 61%. Behind it, Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks and Wave are each named in most answers, but none comes first in more than 17%.
By Gist GEO team · October 2026
Share of AI answers about accounting software that name each brand
In October 2026, Gist asked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews eight buying questions about accounting software, ten times each, and counted 309 answers, with Google AI Overviews supplying 69 and the others 80 each. QuickBooks is the name they reach for. It appears in 94% of those answers and is the first brand named in 61%. Xero follows at 82%, then Zoho Books at 75%, FreshBooks at 70% and Wave at 62%.
The field is narrow. Gist counted 24 brands, but a typical answer names 4.8, and QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks and Wave fill most of those places. Each has a home question where it is hard to miss: QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books and Wave reach 100% on at least one, and FreshBooks reaches 98%. Sage appears in 27% of answers, 35 points below Wave, and NetSuite (Oracle) in 25%, 37 points below.
The surprise is the order inside an answer. Wave is named first in 17% of answers, more often than FreshBooks at 11%, Zoho Books at 7% or Xero at 4%, although each of those three is named in more answers overall. Only QuickBooks, at 61%, comes first more often. One visible reason is that Wave is named in 100% of answers to the free-or-cheap question and to the easiest-to-use question.
On the small-business question QuickBooks is named in 100% of answers and Zoho Books, Xero and FreshBooks in 98% each, a gap of 2 points. Yet QuickBooks comes first in 61% of all answers. Wave, named in 62%, is first in 17%, FreshBooks in 11%, Zoho Books in 7% and Xero in 4%. Brands that look level on presence sit far apart on position. For the brands behind QuickBooks, getting into the answer is common and getting named first is the contested part.
On the free-or-cheap question, Zoho Books and Wave are each named in 100% of answers, QuickBooks in 62% and Xero in 48%. GnuCash, at 0% on every other question, reaches 72% here. On the question about software worth paying more for, the order reverses: QuickBooks and Xero reach 100% and 94%, Zoho Books 62% and Wave 41%. Wave loses 59 points between the two questions and Xero gains 46. The framing of the question largely decides which brands an answer reaches for.
On the growing-company question, Xero and QuickBooks are each named in 100% of answers, Sage in 82% and NetSuite in 75%. FreshBooks falls to 6% and Wave to 5%, although FreshBooks reaches 98% on the small-business question and Wave 88%. Zoho Books, at 68% on the growing-company question, sits between the two groups. Sage and NetSuite are at 0% on the freelancer, free-or-cheap and easiest-to-use questions. Each of these brands is named for one kind of buyer, and the answers rarely carry it to the next.
A typical Claude answer names 6.5 brands, against 4.8 for Perplexity, 4.0 for ChatGPT and 3.7 for Google AI Overviews. The longer lists match a wider field. Claude names Sage in 51% of its answers and Google AI Overviews names it in 9%. For NetSuite the split is 48% against 6%. FreshBooks falls from 88% on Claude to 52% on Google AI Overviews, and Wave from 86% to 52%. For brands outside the leading names, Claude is the assistant with the most room.
Who each company is, and how it shows up in the answers
94% of AI answers
QuickBooks is accounting software aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, with on-premises and cloud-based versions that handle payments, bills and payroll. Intuit introduced it in 1992. Scott Cook and Tom Proulx founded Intuit in 1983, and it is based in Mountain View, California.
Since 1992 · Mountain View · Part of Intuit
Deep reporting, wide app integrations, expense tracking, invoicing and familiarity among accountants are what answers credit, and several call it the default pick for the typical small business. It is named in 100% of ChatGPT and Perplexity answers, and its lowest question is free-or-cheap, at 62%.
82% of AI answers
Xero is a New Zealand technology company that sells cloud-based accounting software by subscription to small businesses and their accountants and bookkeepers. Rod Drury and Hamish Edwards founded it in Wellington in 2006, and it is based there. The software uses a single unified ledger, so users work in the same set of books regardless of location or operating system.
Founded 2006 · Wellington, New Zealand
Framed in answers as the main alternative to QuickBooks, it is praised for clean collaboration with an accountant, unlimited users and a user-friendly interface. Claude names it in 96% of its answers, more than any other brand, and its own site is cited in 18% of answers.
75% of AI answers
Zoho Books is cloud-based accounting software for businesses that includes invoicing, expense management, payments, bank transaction tracking and multi-currency accounting. Zoho Corporation, an Indian technology company, launched it in 2011. The company began in 1996 as AdventNet, is based in Chennai, India, and is privately held.
Since 2011 · Chennai, India · Part of Zoho Corporation
Answers credit a free tier and inexpensive paid plans, and also point teams already on other Zoho apps to it. It is named in 100% of answers to the free-or-cheap question and in 26% of those on the easiest-to-use question.
70% of AI answers
Invoicing and accounting software built for freelancers and service businesses.
Aimed at consultants, freelancers and service firms, it is credited in answers with client invoicing, reminders, time tracking and billing by project. It is named in 94% of answers to the freelancer question but in 6% of those on the growing-company question.
62% of AI answers
Accounting and invoicing software for very small businesses, with a free starting plan.
Cost-free invoicing and basic bookkeeping for solo owners and microbusinesses are what answers credit. It is named in 100% of answers to the free-or-cheap and easiest-to-use questions, and first in 17% of all answers, a share only QuickBooks exceeds.
27% of AI answers
British maker of accounting and finance software, from small-business books to Sage Intacct.
Finance teams that need deeper controls, richer reporting and consolidation across entities are the audience, and answers name Sage Intacct for larger or fast-growing organizations. It is named in 82% of growing-company answers and 0% of freelancer answers, and Claude names it in 51% of its answers.
25% of AI answers
Oracle’s cloud ERP and financials suite for mid-size and larger companies.
Larger and fast-growing businesses with several entities, heavy inventory and international operations are the fit, and answers describe ERP-grade finance and a connected view of the business. It is named in 75% of growing-company answers and in 8% of small-business answers.
The three brands named most for each question Gist asked
| Question | Named most | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's the best accounting software for a small business? | QuickBooks (Intuit) 100% | FreshBooks 98% | Xero 98% |
| Which accounting software do you recommend? | QuickBooks (Intuit) 100% | Xero 96% | Zoho Books 91% |
| What's the best free or cheap accounting software? | Wave 100% | Zoho Books 100% | GnuCash 72% |
| Which accounting software is worth paying more for? | QuickBooks (Intuit) 100% | Xero 94% | FreshBooks 79% |
| What's the best accounting software for freelancers? | QuickBooks (Intuit) 100% | FreshBooks 94% | Wave 74% |
| What's the best accounting software for a growing company? | QuickBooks (Intuit) 100% | Xero 100% | Sage 82% |
| We're choosing accounting software. Which three should we compare? | QuickBooks (Intuit) 100% | Xero 100% | Zoho Books 87% |
| Which accounting software is easiest to use without an accounting background? | Wave 100% | FreshBooks 98% | QuickBooks (Intuit) 94% |
Share of each assistant’s answers that name the brand
| Brand | All four | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Claude | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks (Intuit) | 94% | 100% | 100% | 94% | 84% |
| Xero | 82% | 78% | 90% | 96% | 64% |
| Zoho Books | 75% | 70% | 66% | 81% | 81% |
| FreshBooks | 70% | 61% | 79% | 88% | 52% |
| Wave | 62% | 56% | 54% | 86% | 52% |
| Sage | 27% | 14% | 36% | 51% | 9% |
| NetSuite (Oracle) | 25% | 15% | 32% | 48% | 6% |
The websites AI cites most on accounting software, by share of answers
NerdWallet is the most-cited website, in 49% of answers and in 100% of Perplexity’s. Other publishers and review sites follow, among them Business.com, Forbes and PCMag, and the leaders’ own sites are cited too, with Intuit in 29% of answers and xero.com in 18%. The assistants differ. ChatGPT cites vendors’ own sites most, xero.com in 66% of its answers, while Google AI Overviews cites video from YouTube in 71% and Claude cites lewis.cpa in 65%.
Three moves the numbers point to
Earn accurate coverage on NerdWallet, which is cited in 49% of answers overall, 100% of Perplexity answers, 46% of Claude answers and 42% of Google AI Overviews answers, but only 6% of ChatGPT answers.
Publish pages on your own site that say who the product fits and what it connects to. ChatGPT cites vendors’ own sites most, xero.com in 66% of its answers, Intuit in 55%, Zoho in 55% and freshbooks.com in 38%.
Start with Claude, where the field is widest. It names 6.5 brands per answer against 3.7 on Google AI Overviews, and names Sage in 51% of its answers against 9% on Google AI Overviews, so a brand outside the leaders has room there.
Analysis · 4 min read
HubSpot scores 99 in CRM software and 29 for its Service Hub in customer support software. Zoho has a top-ten product in seven categories and leads none. Five of 13 companies with products in several categories lead one, and none leads two. A lead stays in its category.
99 vs 29HubSpot’s CRM score against its Service Hub score
Analysis · 4 min read
Ask an AI assistant for a budget option and the top brand changes in 24 of 32 categories. Technivorm Moccamaster scores 67 overall and 0 on the budget question, while Carrd goes from 19 to 100. An overall score can hide how a brand fares on price questions.
24 of 32categories where the budget leader differs
Analysis · 5 min read
In 15 of 32 categories the most-named brand scores 90 or more. In seven, no brand reaches 75. Business software averages a leader score of 90.7 against 77.3 for consumer categories, so a score needs reading against its own category.
90.7 vs 77.3Average leader score, business vs consumer categories
Gist asks a fixed set of eight buying questions in each category. None of them names a brand. Each question is put to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews ten times, with web search on.
A brand’s score is the share of answers that name it, averaged across the assistants so that each one counts equally. Stores and review sites named in passing are not ranked. Brands named in fewer than one answer in ten are left off.
Measured October 5 to October 6, 2026.
No. It shows which brands AI assistants name when asked, not which products are best. Being named often usually reflects how much has been written about a brand, and where.
The page shows the 10 most-named brands. The free scan checks your own brand on a topic you choose.
Yes. AI answers shift as assistants are updated and as new pages are published. The date at the top shows when this ranking was measured.
See which brands appear in AI recommendations for your category, and where your brand stands among them.
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