How AI Search Is Recommending Endpoint Detection and Response Software: Monthly Trends

Executive Summary

CrowdStrike Falcon remains the leader in September 2026 with 58.9% valid recommendation coverage, a 2.4-point lead over second-place Microsoft Defender for Endpoint at 56.5%. Both the leader and the next two brands — SentinelOne and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint — posted coverage declines this month that remain within normal month-to-month variation.

The benchmark flags two significant decliners since the July 2026 baseline, both for their full-series movement rather than this month's change alone. Sophos Intercept X fell 7.8 points from 43.2% in July 2026 to 35.4% in September 2026, though it held steady versus August. Trend Micro fell 5.5 points from 15.3% to 9.8% over the same period. No brand posted a significant rise against the baseline.

The category as a whole shows a quiet month in September 2026. All ten tracked brands remained within normal month-to-month variation versus August, and the two significant decliners carried their status over from prior movement. VMware Carbon Black posted a second consecutive month of small gains, and Cybereason followed suit, though both remain under 3% coverage.

Each monthly run begins with 800 prompt-surface observations (490 unique questions in July 2026, 553 in August 2026, 552 in September 2026) across the benchmark's defined AI/search surface universe. Of those, 800 mentioned a tracked brand or competitor in July 2026, 798 in August 2026, and 800 in September 2026; 603 were relevant and 197 were irrelevant in July 2026, 682 relevant and 116 irrelevant in August 2026, and 671 relevant and 129 irrelevant in September 2026. The public metrics use the 456 observations (July 2026), 536 observations (August 2026), and 520 observations (September 2026) that survive both qualification stages.

Key Findings

Benchmark Context

The report separates the raw collection universe from the qualified analysis set. Brand-level recommendation percentages are calculated within the qualified benchmark set.

August 2026, the intermediate month, contributed 536 qualified observations before the set settled at 520 in September. The benchmark's defined AI/search surface universe held at all six canonical families in each month of the series.

Benchmark-Level Metrics

The recommendation-shaped answer share peaked in the intermediate month at 46.5% (249 of 536 in August 2026) before settling at 40.4% (210 of 520) in September 2026. The valid recommendation shortlist share followed a similar arc: 70.4% (321 of 456) in July 2026, 57.5% (308 of 536) in August 2026, and 60.6% (315 of 520) in September 2026.

AI Recommendation Trend

The top tier is holding while a persistent gap separates the coverage leaders from the rest of the field

CrowdStrike Falcon leads on 58.9% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026, with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint second at 56.5% and SentinelOne third at 55.4%. The gap between the top three and the next tier is wide: Bitdefender GravityZone, the fourth-highest brand, sits at 27.5%.

The category's movement since July 2026 came from a combination of several smaller declines rather than from any single brand moving outside normal month-to-month variation in September 2026. The two brands with baseline-to-current moves flagged significant are Sophos Intercept X and Trend Micro, with VMware Carbon Black and Cybereason moving up against the baseline.

What Changed This Month

CrowdStrike Falcon

CrowdStrike Falcon's coverage moved from 62.5% in July 2026 to 58.9% in September 2026, down 3.6 points across the series, with a further 2.1-point decline from August 2026 to September 2026. Neither move is flagged significant for the primary coverage metric.

Presence and placement diverge. Raw mention presence rose from 84.9% in July 2026 to 90.0% in September 2026, a 5.1-point gain. At the same time, its top-three rate fell from 59.9% to 53.6%, down 6.3 points.

CrowdStrike Falcon is being named in answers more often while being placed in the top three less often. The leader remains firmly first in coverage, and the distinction matters for how its position is read: presence is rising even as the share of top-three recommendation slots is smaller.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt patterns are associated with the rising mention presence but declining top-three placement for CrowdStrike Falcon?

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's coverage moved from 61.4% in July 2026 to 56.5% in September 2026, down 4.9 points across the series, including a 3.6-point decline from August 2026 to September 2026. Both moves stay within normal month-to-month variation.

Its rank-one rate is the one placement signal pointing up, moving from 4.6% in July 2026 to 7.3% in September 2026, up 2.7 points. Raw mention presence also rose, from 80.9% to 85.2%. The brand was recommended in 294 of 520 qualified observations in September 2026.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is being surfaced first more often while its overall coverage drifts down. The second-place brand is holding a direct-recommendation position in a subset of prompts even as its broader recommendation footprint softens.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which question types are producing rank-one recommendations for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and where is it dropping out of the recommendation set entirely?

SentinelOne

SentinelOne's coverage moved from 58.1% in July 2026 to 55.4% in September 2026, down 2.7 points across the series, with a small further decline of 1.1 points versus August 2026. The brand was recommended in 288 of 520 qualified observations in September 2026.

Raw mention presence rose from 75.4% in July 2026 to 81.2% in September 2026, a 5.8-point gain. Its top-three rate fell from 49.8% to 44.0%, while its rank-one rate held flat at 4.4%.

SentinelOne mirrors the leader: more presence, fewer top-three slots. Its coverage remains close behind Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, with 1.1 points separating third from second place.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts place SentinelOne in the recommendation set below the top three, and which brands take those top positions?

Sophos Intercept X

Sophos Intercept X is flagged a significant decliner on the baseline-to-current measure. Its coverage fell 7.8 points from 43.2% in July 2026 to 35.4% in September 2026, with the decline concentrated in the August 2026 month: coverage dropped 7.9 points from July to August, then held essentially flat from August to September, rising 0.1 points.

The brand was recommended in 184 of 520 qualified observations in September 2026. Raw mention presence moved from 49.8% in July 2026 to 46.2% in September 2026, down 3.6 points, while its top-three rate eased from 8.8% to 6.9%.

Sophos Intercept X's significant decline is a series-level observation anchored in a single sharp month, not a continuing slide. The benchmark now places it 20.0 points behind SentinelOne above it and 7.9 points ahead of Bitdefender GravityZone below it.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts or surfaces carried the August 2026 drop, and has that pattern persisted into the stable September reading?

Trend Micro

Trend Micro is the category's other significant decliner on the baseline-to-current measure. Coverage fell 5.5 points from 15.3% in July 2026 to 9.8% in September 2026. The brand was recommended in 51 of 520 qualified observations in September 2026, down from 70 of 456 in July 2026.

Its top-three rate fell from 3.3% in July 2026 to 1.0% in September 2026, down 2.3 points. Raw mention presence declined from 24.8% to 20.2%, and the brand recorded no rank-one recommendations in September 2026.

The movement is consistent across presence, top-three placement, and coverage for Trend Micro. Its absolute recommendation count of 51 in September 2026 means single-observation shifts can move percentages meaningfully, but the decline is directionally consistent.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Where is Trend Micro losing presence, and is the loss concentrated in specific surfaces or prompt types?

VMware Carbon Black and Cybereason

VMware Carbon Black and Cybereason are the only brands with consistent upward movement across the series, both from very low bases. VMware Carbon Black moved from 1.5% in July 2026 to 2.3% in September 2026, up 0.8 points, with 12 valid recommendations of 520 observations in September. Cybereason moved from 1.1% to 2.5%, up 1.4 points, with 13 valid recommendations of 520 observations in September.

Neither move is flagged significant, and both brands remain under 3% coverage. For these small-count brands, a handful of additional recommendations moves the percentage noticeably. Both have recorded no rank-one recommendations in September 2026, and VMware Carbon Black has none across the entire series.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which specific prompts are beginning to surface VMware Carbon Black and Cybereason, and are those prompts repeatable in nature?

Buyer-Intent Interpretation

In September 2026, all 520 qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation cluster. None of the qualified observations captured pricing, value, or multi-brand comparison intent. The public benchmark cannot yet answer how AI systems frame price, value, or head-to-head comparisons between endpoint detection and response options. Those commercial questions remain open for company-level analysis.

Brand Opportunity Summary

The benchmark identifies where attention is warranted; a company-level analysis is needed to explain why.

Evidence Behind the Benchmark

The aggregate metrics are built from prompt-level observations (query, surface, recommendation outcome, rank, sentiment, and citations where exposed). Company-level analysis can go deeper into prompt, competitor, surface, and evidence patterns. Source presence is not automatically treated as proof of causation.

About This Benchmark

This report is part of the LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery research program.

• AI Industry Market Discovery Methodology
• AI Industry Market Discovery Metrics
• AI Industry Market Discovery Standards

Report-Specific Interpretation Notes

• Small-count movement: For brands with low coverage (Cybereason, Trellix, VMware Carbon Black), small absolute changes can produce large percentage shifts. In September 2026, Cybereason's 0.8-point month-over-month rise reflects 13 valid recommendations out of 520 observations.
• Qualified denominator vs raw collection: Brand-level percentages are calculated against the qualified benchmark set (520 observations in September 2026), not the raw 800 prompt-surface observations collected.
• Directional analysis: Month-over-month movement identifies changes worth investigating; it does not by itself establish the cause of those changes. The benchmark measures what AI systems surface, not why they surface it.

Next Step

The Public Benchmark Shows Where a Brand Is Winning or Losing. A Company-Level Audit Shows Why.

Beneath the aggregate percentages lie the questions that matter for strategy: which high-intent prompts are won, which competitor takes the recommendation when a brand loses, what attributes AI systems associate with each option, and which external sources shape those answers. The September 2026 benchmark shows, for example, that CrowdStrike Falcon's presence is rising even as its top-three placement falls, but it does not say which prompts or sources are associated with that divergence.

A company-specific AI visibility audit maps those prompt, surface, competitor, ranking, sentiment, and evidence-source patterns into a prioritized visibility strategy. The public benchmark identifies where attention is warranted; the audit explains why and what to do about it.

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