Absence Index, release 2026-09
Transportation management software, measured across five AI engines
Shippers, brokers and 3PL operators ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode which transportation management platforms to shortlist before they talk to sales. The engines answer from public material, and the named set shapes the first list a buyer sees. This page records who the engines named in the September 2026 Absence Index, the buyer questions, where the five engines disagree, the sources they cited and the rename facts that confuse retrieval.
Transportation management systems, observed 22 September 2026 (UTC)
Observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking. Every checked vendor on the Index
Who the engines named
AscendTMS was named in 64 of 150 observed answers across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, more often than any of the other 24 vendors the Index checked in this category. AscendTMS on the Index.
3 of the 25 checked vendors were named in none of the 150 observed answers:
0 of the 10 buyer questions returned no checked vendor in any observed answer. This counts checked vendors only; an engine may still have named a vendor outside the checked set.
Also named often: Alvys and Oracle Transportation Management. Every checked vendor's count and base is on the Index category page.
Answers were observed on 22 September 2026 (UTC) and released on 23 September 2026. These are observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking.
What buyers ask
The ten buyer questions, in the buyers' own words, exactly as each engine was asked them.
Shortlist
What is the best TMS for a mid size freight brokerage?
What is the best TMS for a small carrier with about 10 trucks?
What is the best TMS for a large enterprise shipper?
Alternatives
What are the best alternatives to MercuryGate?
What are the best alternatives to AscendTMS?
What are the best alternatives to McLeod for a freight broker?
Buyer evaluation
AscendTMS vs Alvys, which is better for a small broker?
Truckbase vs Alvys, which TMS is better for carriers?
What should I look for in a transportation management system?
Specific workflow
What is the best TMS for a shipper moving about 200 loads a month?
Where the five engines disagree
The engines split. Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews named AscendTMS most often; ChatGPT named Descartes most often; Google AI Mode named Alvys and AscendTMS most often, level with each other. The per-engine counts are on the Index category page.
| Engine | Named most often |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Descartes |
| Claude | AscendTMS |
| Perplexity | AscendTMS |
| Google AI Overviews | AscendTMS |
| Google AI Mode | Alvys and AscendTMS, level |
The sources the engines cited
The domains the engines cited most often in this category's observed answers, in the order the Index records them. Each domain's count and base is on the Index category page.
- reddit.com
- pcssoft.com
- alvys.com
- ustechautomations.com
- capterra.com
- brokerpro.com
- datatruck.io
- glideappsagency.com
- gofreight.com
- arktms.com
Renames and ownership changes in transportation management
When a transportation management vendor is acquired, taken private or rebranded, directories, review sites and trade press often keep the old string for months. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, which most buyers call Gemini, retrieve that stale material. A retired product brand without a former-name bridge can still appear in answers, while the living brand is missing from the same shortlist.
| Old name | New name | Date | Owner or sponsor | Product brand | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MercuryGate / Körber Supply Chain Software | Infios | 2025-03 | KKR and Körber AG joint venture | Infios corporate brand; MercuryGate product lineage inside Infios | Source, MercuryGate / Körber Supply Chain Software Read 2026-09-22 |
| 3Gtms | Descartes 3G TMS | 2025 | Descartes Systems Group | kept as Descartes 3G TMS | Source, 3Gtms Read 2026-09-22 |
| e2open (NYSE: ETWO) | e2open, a WiseTech Global company | 2025-08 | WiseTech Global | kept | Source, e2open (NYSE: ETWO) Read 2026-09-22 |
| Princeton TMX (founder owned) | Princeton TMX (institutional backing) | 2026-06 | The Stephens Group | kept | Source, Princeton TMX (founder owned) Read 2026-09-22 |
What changes the answer
Entity and structured data
Publish Organization and SoftwareApplication markup that states the current legal name, product name, former names and sameAs links to the profiles engines already cite. When a rename or acquisition happened, add a formerly-known-as bridge so the engines can connect the old string to the living brand.
Answer pages
Write pages that answer the buyer questions above in buyer language, with no brand name planted in the question wording itself. Publish them on the vendor domain the engines already try to cite.
Source placement
Place accurate product and ownership facts on the directories, review sites, trade press and forums the engines cite in this category, listed above.
Crawler access and review presence
Confirm robots rules, rendering and any bot filter still let AI crawlers reach the answer and entity pages, and keep listings current on the review sites for this category so the engines retrieve one consistent name, domain and category label.
Start with a measured baseline
Category Audit
Credits in full against the Diagnostic within 30 days.
Start with the $490 Category AuditThe $2,900 Fix Sprint (measured gain or full refund) runs the first fixes a completed Diagnostic points at. The program is $13,500 per 90 days, billed $4,500 monthly.
Questions
Which transportation management software vendors did AI engines name most often in the September 2026 Absence Index?
AscendTMS was named in 64 of 150 observed answers across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. The next most named were Alvys and Oracle Transportation Management. These are observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking; every checked vendor's count and base is on the Index category page.
Why does a rename change what AI engines say?
Engines retrieve public material that still carries retired product names, old legal entities and pre-acquisition domains. When those strings are not bridged to the current brand, the answer can name a name the company no longer uses, or skip the living brand entirely.
What should a transportation management software vendor measure first?
Start with the ten buyer questions on this page. Record, for each question and each of the five engines, whether the brand was named and whether the brand domain was cited. Keep the wording frozen between runs so the comparison stays valid.
How is Broadcastwell related to the vendors in this category?
Broadcastwell measures AI search visibility for B2B software and publishes the Absence Index. It does not sell transportation management software, and no vendor commissioned this category's measurement.
Industries in the Absence Index
- Dealership management
- Field service
- Radiology and imaging
- Dental practice
- Veterinary practice
- Legal practice
- Construction
- Residential property
- Insurance agency
- Loan origination
- Transportation
- Hotel property
Cite as: Broadcastwell, The Absence Index, release 2026-09, 23 September 2026, method v1.1. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22907695. This category in release 2026-09 on the Index. Data license CC BY 4.0. Every figure comes from the published method, v1.1.