TunnelBear AI Market Strategy Report - VPN Services

Answer Capsule

TunnelBear is visible in AI-generated VPN recommendations but is not being chosen at the shortlist stage. In September 2026, the LLM Authority Index recorded a valid recommendation coverage of 7.4% for TunnelBear, down from 13.6% in July 2026, the largest decline of any tracked brand in the series. The brand holds a strong net sentiment score of 0.73 and zero negative mentions, but its presence rate of 10.4% and top-three rate of 2.3% show that AI systems rarely place it in a buyer shortlist. The clearest opportunity is converting existing positive framing into recommendation-stage visibility across the brand recommendation cluster.

Who This Report Is For

This report is for TunnelBear's marketing, brand, and growth leadership, and for VPN category teams evaluating how AI-led discovery is reshaping buyer shortlists.

Report Card

Executive Summary

TunnelBear enters September 2026 as the weakest recommendation-stage performer among the ten tracked VPN brands, with a valid recommendation coverage of 7.4%. That figure is down 6.2 percentage points from 13.6% in July 2026, and down 5.0 points from 12.4% in August 2026. The benchmark marked TunnelBear as the only brand to move beyond normal month-to-month variation in September, making it the standout decliner in an otherwise stable category.

The gap between presence and recommendation is the defining signal. TunnelBear was mentioned in 10.4% of qualified observations but recommended in only 7.4%, and appeared in a top-three position in just 2.3%. Rank-one placements were negligible at 0.1%. This means AI systems are surfacing the brand, but almost never as a primary or secondary option in a buyer shortlist.

Sentiment is not the problem. TunnelBear recorded 53 positive mentions, 20 neutral mentions, and zero negative mentions, producing a net sentiment score of 0.73. That places it mid-pack on framing quality, ahead of IPVanish (0.68) and level with Windscribe (0.73), and behind category leaders Proton VPN (0.89) and Mullvad VPN (0.90). The brand is being described positively when it appears, but it is appearing far less often than the leaders.

The strongest platform signal for TunnelBear is Google AI Mode, where it recorded 5 valid recommendations out of 178 observations, a 2.8% coverage rate, and a positive visibility rate of 2.8%. The weakest platform signal is ChatGPT, where TunnelBear recorded zero valid recommendations and a single neutral mention across 80 observations. Perplexity also showed near-zero presence, with 1 valid recommendation across 88 observations.

The clearest gap is recommendation conversion. TunnelBear's presence rate of 10.4% is roughly one-tenth that of NordVPN (99.3%) and Proton VPN (96.3%), and its top-three rate of 2.3% is less than one-twentieth of NordVPN's 65.1%. The brand is not being displaced by a single competitor; it is being omitted from recommendation sets across the category.

The benchmark's single active cluster, Brand Recommendation, captures discovery and consideration behavior. All 700 qualified observations in September 2026 fell into this cluster, meaning the public data cannot yet explain how pricing, value, or head-to-head comparison prompts influence TunnelBear's recommendation outcomes.

What TunnelBear Is Winning

Questions This Section Answers

• Where does TunnelBear actually show up as a recommended VPN?
• Which platforms and metrics reflect TunnelBear's strongest AI visibility wins?

TunnelBear's clearest win is framing quality. The brand recorded zero negative mentions across 700 qualified observations in September 2026, and its net sentiment score of 0.73 sits above IPVanish (0.68) and level with Windscribe (0.73). When AI systems do mention TunnelBear, they describe it positively or neutrally.

The brand also holds a narrow but real recommendation pocket on Google AI Mode. TunnelBear recorded 5 valid recommendations and a 2.8% valid recommendation coverage rate on that platform, with a positive visibility rate of 2.8%. This is the only platform where TunnelBear shows measurable recommendation-stage activity at scale.

On Copilot, TunnelBear recorded 15 valid recommendations across 86 observations, a 17.4% coverage rate, which is the brand's strongest platform-level coverage figure. Copilot also produced 6 top-three placements for TunnelBear, the highest count across all six platforms.

These wins are narrow. TunnelBear does not lead any platform, does not lead any cluster, and does not appear in the top five of any recommendation metric. The brand's positive sentiment is an asset, but it is not yet converting into shortlist placement at category scale.

Where TunnelBear Has the Clearest AI Visibility Gaps

Questions This Section Answers

• Which AI platforms are effectively omitting TunnelBear from VPN recommendations?
• Is TunnelBear's decline driven by lower placement quality or reduced presence?

TunnelBear's most severe gap is on ChatGPT. Across 80 observations, the brand recorded zero valid recommendations, zero top-three placements, and a single neutral mention. Its raw mention presence rate on ChatGPT was 1.3%, compared with NordVPN's 100% and Proton VPN's 98.8%. This is a near-total absence from the platform where the category's highest-intent recommendation prompts are being answered.

Perplexity shows a similar pattern. TunnelBear recorded 1 valid recommendation across 88 observations, a 1.1% coverage rate, and zero top-three placements. Its presence rate on Perplexity was 4.5%, compared with NordVPN's 100% and ExpressVPN's 93.2%. The brand is effectively invisible on a platform that skews toward research-oriented and comparison-heavy queries.

The gap extends to the category's core recommendation cluster. TunnelBear's top-three rate of 2.3% is less than one-twentieth of NordVPN's 65.1% and less than one-twentieth of Surfshark's 54.0%. Its rank-one rate of 0.1% is negligible against NordVPN's 47.7%. The brand is not losing first position to a single competitor; it is being left out of recommendation sets entirely.

The displacement pattern is visible in the coverage movement data. TunnelBear's valid recommendation count fell to 52 out of 700 observations in September 2026, down from 96 out of 707 in July 2026 and 88 out of 709 in August 2026. The decline is concentrated in reduced presence rather than a shift in placement quality, meaning AI systems are surfacing the brand less often, not ranking it lower when they do.

Biggest Opportunity

Questions This Section Answers

• Which platforms and prompts offer TunnelBear the clearest path from mention to recommendation?

TunnelBear's clearest path from reference to recommendation runs through the brand recommendation cluster on ChatGPT and Perplexity. These two platforms account for 168 of the 700 qualified observations in September 2026, and TunnelBear recorded a combined 1 valid recommendation across both. The brand's positive sentiment and zero negative mentions mean the framing layer is already working; the missing piece is recommendation-stage inclusion.

The opportunity is specific: earn shortlist placement in prompts that ask for a recommended VPN provider. TunnelBear does not need to displace NordVPN or Proton VPN from first position. It needs to appear in the top three alongside them. A top-three rate of 2.3% leaves substantial room for movement before the brand approaches the middle tier, where Private Internet Access (6.1%) and Windscribe (7.7%) currently sit.

Competitive Landscape

Questions This Section Answers

• How does TunnelBear's top-three and rank-one rate compare with the leading VPN brands?
• What does TunnelBear's average recommended rank of 5.22 say about where it appears in AI recommendation lists?

Recommendation-stage strength in VPN Services is concentrated at the top of the category. Proton VPN and NordVPN hold the strongest recommendation profiles, with Surfshark and ExpressVPN forming a clear second tier. TunnelBear sits at the bottom of the tracked set, with recommendation rates well below the category median.

Average recommended rank covers rank-eligible recommendations only.

TunnelBear ranks ninth of ten on top-three rate and ninth on rank-one rate, ahead of IPVanish on both. Its average recommended rank of 5.22 is the second-lowest in the set, meaning that when the brand does receive rank credit, it appears near the bottom of the recommendation list. The table shows a brand with positive framing but minimal shortlist presence.

Prompt Evidence

ChatGPT / Brand Recommendation Prompt: "Which is the best VPN?" Result: TunnelBear recorded zero valid recommendations on ChatGPT across 80 observations, with a single neutral mention and no top-three placement.

Google AI Mode / Brand Recommendation Prompt: "What VPN works with Spectrum?" Result: TunnelBear recorded 5 valid recommendations on Google AI Mode, its strongest platform-level recommendation count, with a 2.8% coverage rate.

Copilot / Brand Recommendation Prompt: "What's the most trusted VPN?" Result: TunnelBear recorded 15 valid recommendations on Copilot, a 17.4% coverage rate, and 6 top-three placements, its highest top-three count across all platforms.

Perplexity / Brand Recommendation Prompt: "best vpn service" Result: TunnelBear recorded 1 valid recommendation across 88 Perplexity observations, a 1.1% coverage rate, and zero top-three placements.

What CiteWorks Studio Would Do Next

Phase 1: AI Market Discovery Audit Map the specific prompt patterns where TunnelBear is mentioned but not recommended, and identify which competitors absorb the shortlist placements it loses.

Phase 2: Recommendation Readiness Plan Prioritize the ChatGPT and Perplexity gaps, where TunnelBear's recommendation coverage is near zero despite positive framing.

Phase 3: Owned Answer Layer Buildout Strengthen the owned pages and structured content that AI systems retrieve when forming VPN recommendation answers.

Phase 4: Citation / Authority Layer Development Build the public evidence layer, including third-party reviews, comparison pages, and source citations, that supports recommendation-stage inclusion.

Phase 5: Monthly AI Visibility and Recommendation Tracking Track TunnelBear's valid recommendation coverage, top-three rate, and platform-level presence against the September 2026 baseline of 7.4% coverage and 2.3% top-three rate.

Why This Matters

AI systems are forming VPN buyer shortlists before a prospect ever visits a brand's website. TunnelBear's positive sentiment and zero negative mentions show that the brand is not being criticized; it is being omitted. That distinction matters because omission is harder to detect than negative framing and easier to correct with targeted work on the prompt, page, and citation layers.

The September 2026 benchmark shows that presence alone is not enough. TunnelBear appears in 10.4% of qualified observations but is recommended in only 7.4%, and reaches the top three in just 2.3%. The next move is not broader visibility; it is targeted correction of the specific prompts and source patterns where recommendation-stage inclusion is being decided.

Core Metrics

Sentiment Score

Sentiment Score = (positive mentions × 1 + neutral mentions × 0 + negative mentions × -1) / total mentions

For TunnelBear in September 2026: (53 × 1 + 20 × 0 + 0 × -1) / 73 = 0.7260.

This matters because unclassified mention counts are misleading. A brand with 73 mentions and a sentiment score of 0.73 is not the same as a brand with 73 mentions and a sentiment score of 0.30. Share of voice is a diagnostic metric, not a business KPI. A positive recommendation, a neutral reference, a cautionary mention, and a competitor-displaced mention are not equal, and counting all mentions as wins is bad measurement. Classified sentiment is required before interpreting AI visibility, and TunnelBear's zero negative mentions are a genuine asset that the brand's recommendation gap does not erase.

Sentiment by Platform

Questions This Section Answers

• Which platforms show strong sentiment for TunnelBear but weak recommendation-stage presence?
• Why should platforms with high sentiment but small samples be interpreted cautiously?

Methodology

Questions This Section Answers

• How are valid recommendations and top-three placements defined in TunnelBear's benchmark?
• Why should TunnelBear's small absolute recommendation counts affect how percentage changes are read?

1. This report is a benchmark-based analysis of TunnelBear's AI recommendation visibility in the VPN Services category, drawing on the LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index and the associated CiteWorks Studio case study for September 2026.
2. The reporting window covers September 2026, with comparison data from July 2026 and August 2026.
3. Six AI surface families were tracked: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. All six were represented in each month of the series.
4. The September 2026 run began with 800 prompt-surface observations and produced 700 qualified benchmark observations after qualification. July 2026 produced 707 qualified observations and August 2026 produced 709.
5. The competitor universe consists of ten tracked VPN brands: CyberGhost VPN, ExpressVPN, IPVanish, Mullvad VPN, NordVPN, Private Internet Access, Proton VPN, Surfshark, TunnelBear, and Windscribe.
6. One public high-intent cluster was active in September 2026: Brand Recommendation, which captures discovery and consideration behavior. All 700 qualified observations fell into this cluster.
7. Stage 0 extraction retained the query, AI surface, answer, brand outcome, recommendation placement, sentiment, and, where exposed, citations or attributable evidence sources.
8. A mention is any appearance of the brand in a qualified observation, regardless of recommendation context.
9. A valid recommendation is a qualified observation where the brand appears in a recommendation context, as marked by the dataset. Negative, neutral, cautionary, and listed-only mentions are not counted as valid recommendations.
10. Brand-level percentages use the 700 qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection of 800 prompts.
11. TunnelBear's small absolute counts (52 valid recommendations, 16 top-three placements, 1 rank-one placement) mean each placement carries outsized weight in percentage movement. Interpret percentage changes with the underlying counts in view.
12. The benchmark measures correlation, not causation. Movements in recommendation coverage indicate patterns worth investigating; they do not by themselves establish the cause of those movements.

See Where AI Is Recommending Your Brand

The public benchmark shows where TunnelBear is winning and losing recommendation-stage visibility. A company-level AI visibility audit maps the specific prompts, competitors, and sources shaping those outcomes, and turns the September 2026 findings into a prioritized plan for closing the recommendation gap.