The most visible travel and expense tools in Germany, October 2026

October 2026 · 15 questions asked from Germany in German and English · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 60 answers read

Leader

Circula

47Heralded Score, range 38–60

Most cited source

fuer-gruender.de

8citations

From Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT

Where engines disagree most

Pleo

1/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on ChatGPT, not on Google AI Mode, Gemini and Google AI Overviews

Brands

Search is not measured for this board yet, so it ranks on AI answers.

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
1 Circula DE New entry 47 , range 38–60 47#1
47
  • : score 47 · #1
47% 22% First reading
2 SAP Concur US New entry 38 , range 31–48 38#2
38
  • : score 38 · #2
32% 15% First reading
3 TravelPerk ES New entry 38 , range 33–45 38#3
38
  • : score 38 · #3
35% 12% First reading
4 Navan US New entry 37 , range 30–47 37#4
37
  • : score 37 · #4
32% 12% None First reading
5 Pleo DK New entry 36 , range 28–46 36#5
36
  • : score 36 · #5
28% 13% First reading
6 Spendesk FR New entry 32 , range 13–41 32#6
32
  • : score 32 · #6
21% 10% None First reading
7 Rydoo BE New entry 32 , range 11–41 32#7
32
  • : score 32 · #7
21% 9% First reading
8 Zoho Expense IN New entry 32 , range 10–41 32#8
32
  • : score 32 · #8
16% 13% None First reading
9 Expensify US New entry 30 , range 8–39 30#9
30
  • : score 30 · #9
16% 10% None First reading
10 Ramp US New entry 23 , range 7–37 23#10
23
  • : score 23 · #10
16% 5% None First reading

“=” marks brands whose score ranges overlap, so the test cannot separate them. Every brand named in at least three answers is ranked. AI gives each brand’s score and rank from the engines’ answers; Search is not measured for this board yet. By engine has one dot per engine (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode), darker the more often it names the brand.

Most cited sources

Rank Source Type Cited in Engines Pages cited Brands its pages mention
1 fuer-gruender.de Media 13.3% 3 of 4 2 5
2 omr.com Media 8.3% 2 of 4 4 15
3 wirtschaftsforum.de Media 3.3% 2 of 4 1 Not read
4 fitsmallbusiness.com Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
5 forbes.com Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
6 gastgewerbe-magazin.de Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
7 hrnews.co.uk Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
8 nerdwallet.com Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
9 rechnungswesen-portal.de Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
10 thebusinesstravelmag.com Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
Welche Reisekosten-Software ist die beste für kleine Unternehmen? German Circula, Lexware Reisekosten and Pleo, tied
Reisekostenmanagement für Vertriebsteams German SAP Concur
Wie können Mitarbeitende weniger Zeit mit Reisekostenabrechnungen verbringen? German No brand recommended
Wie kann ich die Ausgaben meiner Mitarbeitenden auf Geschäftsreisen nachverfolgen? German Circula, SAP Concur and Spendesk, tied
Geschäftsreise-Buchungssoftware vs. Reisekostenmanagement für Unternehmen German Circula, Mobilexpense, TravelPerk, SAP Concur and TravelPerk, tied
Apps zur Reisekostenabrechnung vs. Tabellen für Geschäftsreisekosten German Circula
Alternativen dazu, dass Mitarbeitende ihre Geschäftsreisen selbst buchen German No brand recommended
Alternativen zu Reisekostenabrechnungen auf Papier für kleine Unternehmen German Circula, DATEV, Einfach Reisekosten, Lexoffice, onexma and sevDesk, tied
Ich bin Operations Manager in einem Unternehmen mit 20 Mitarbeitenden. Wie kann ich Geschäftsreisen und Reisekosten im Blick behalten? German Circula, Lanes & Planes, Penta and Pleo, tied
Ich leite ein Vertriebsteam, das häufig reist. Wie kann ich unser Reisebudget im Griff behalten? German Circula, Comtravo, FlickFlight and Navan, tied

Each engine's top three

Method

Each leaderboard ranks brands on two sides. AI is how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode answer the board's buyer questions. Search is Google's top 10 results for the keywords behind those questions. All combines the two, where Search is measured.

For the AI side, each month Heralded asks every engine the same buyer questions, twice each, and reads every answer. An answer counts 0 for a brand it leaves out, 50 for a brand it names and 100 for a brand it recommends, and the Heralded Score is built from those. A brand named in at least three answers gets a score and a place.

How the leaderboards are measured