How AI Search Is Recommending ERP Software: Monthly Trends

Executive Summary

NetSuite remains the category leader in September 2026 at 41.5% valid recommendation coverage, down 3.5 points from 45.0% in July 2026 and down 4.8 points from 46.3% in August. The lead over second place narrowed to 8.8 points as Acumatica holds at 32.7%, with Infor (30.9%) and Epicor (30.1%) forming a tight cluster behind. One brand, SYSPRO, exceeded normal month-to-month variation against the July baseline; every other tracked brand remained within its typical range. Separately, Epicor's 6.7-point drop from August to September stands out as the sharpest single-month movement in the category this period.

SYSPRO's July-to-September drop of 3.0 points remains the only coverage movement outside normal variation in the category. Nine of ten tracked brands moved within normal month-to-month ranges from July to September, with the overall picture one of a stable leader and compression across the middle tier.

The category's one significant single-month movement was Epicor's, whose valid recommendation coverage fell 6.7 points from August to September. Elsewhere, presence and recommendation coverage moved in different directions without crossing into significant territory: Infor and Epicor both gained meaningfully in raw mention presence against the July baseline (up 12.4 and 9.9 points respectively) without a matching gain in valid recommendation coverage, while NetSuite held presence near-universal at 94.6% even as its top-three and rank-one placement rates eased since July. The pattern across September is one of visibility holding or rising for several brands without a corresponding gain in recommendation strength.

Each monthly run begins with 800 prompt-surface observations (490 unique questions in July, 546 in August, 499 in September) across the benchmark's defined AI/search surface universe. Of those, 800 mentioned a tracked brand or competitor in all three months; 758 were relevant and 42 irrelevant in July, 743 were relevant and 57 irrelevant in August, and 760 were relevant and 40 irrelevant in September. The public metrics use the 596 qualified observations in July, 615 in August, and 651 in September 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.

Benchmark-Level Metrics

The table below summarizes benchmark-wide metrics across the two months, providing context for the brand-level standings that follow.

Between July and September, the qualified observation count rose by 55 while the valid recommendation shortlist share declined 1.8 points, meaning a larger analysis base carried a slightly smaller proportion of actionable recommendation lists. August sat between the two months at 48.6% shortlist share, so the September figure reflects a pullback from that peak rather than a steady decline.

AI Recommendation Trend

NetSuite Holds the Lead as the Middle Tier Compresses

NetSuite remains the strongest brand in ERP software recommendations, but its September coverage of 41.5% is down from 45.0% in July and 46.3% in August. Behind the leader, Acumatica, Infor, and Epicor now sit within a 2.6-point band, a tighter cluster than in July when the same three brands spanned 4.2 points. The compression came from downward movement across the second tier rather than a single challenger breaking toward the leader.

Only SYSPRO's coverage movement against the July baseline fell outside the range of normal month-to-month variation in September. The category-level softening came from the combination of several smaller downward movements across the top and middle tiers, each within the range of typical month-to-month movement for its brand.

What Changed This Month

NetSuite: Leadership Holds While Top Placements Ease

NetSuite's valid recommendation coverage eased 3.5 points from 45.0% in July to 41.5% in September, and 4.8 points from August's 46.3%. Both movements fall within the range of normal month-to-month variation for the brand, extending its stable hold on the category lead rather than signaling a break from the baseline pattern.

NetSuite's rank-one rate fell 5.1 points from 13.9% in July to 8.8% in September, with rank-one count dropping from 83 to 57. Top-three rate fell 6.2 points, from 27.7% to 21.5%, with count falling from 165 to 140.

Raw mention presence held at 94.6% in September, down just 1.0 point from 95.6% in July. The brand appeared in nearly every qualified observation across all three months. The distinction is between steady presence and softer placement quality: NetSuite is still surfaced almost everywhere, but its share of top-three and rank-one placements has eased since July.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt categories show the largest decline in top-three and rank-one placements, and which brands are appearing in those positions instead?

Epicor: The Sharpest Single-Month Drop in September

Epicor's coverage fell 6.7 points from 36.8% in August to 30.1% in September, the sharpest single-month movement in the category this period. Against the July baseline of 32.2%, the September figure is down only 2.1 points, within normal variation for the brand, so the August spike rather than the September level is what stands out across the series.

Epicor's top-three rate fell 4.8 points, from 13.1% in July to 8.3% in September, with count falling from 78 to 54. Rank-one placements eased from 14 to 13 over the same period.

Raw mention presence rose 9.9 points, from 61.1% in July to 71.0% in September. Epicor is being mentioned in more ERP software conversations but recommended less often in prominent positions, the opposite pattern of what the August coverage figure suggested was happening.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which surfaces drove the August coverage peak and the September pullback, and why did higher presence not sustain stronger top-three placement?

SYSPRO: Significant Decline Across the Full Series

SYSPRO's valid recommendation coverage fell 3.0 points from 7.2% in July to 4.2% in September, the only movement in the category outside normal month-to-month variation. The brand's valid recommendation count dropped from 43 in July to 27 in September, a decline of 16 placements. August sat between at 4.1%, so the decline occurred primarily in the first month of the series, with September essentially flat against August.

Raw mention presence fell 4.6 points, from 13.1% in July to 8.5% in September, with present count dropping from 78 to 55. SYSPRO recorded no rank-one placements in any of the three months, and its top-three rate stayed minimal at 0.7% in July and 0.5% in September.

The data shows SYSPRO being surfaced in fewer ERP software conversations overall, which reduces its recommendation opportunities. The small count of 27 valid recommendations in September means each placement carries more variance, so the percentage movement should be read with that context.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt categories and surfaces account for the reduced presence, and which competitor is appearing in the answers where SYSPRO previously surfaced?

Infor: Presence Climbs While Coverage Holds

Infor posted the largest presence gain of any tracked brand against baseline, with raw mention presence rising 12.4 points from 65.6% in July to 78.0% in September. Coverage moved only 0.3 points, from 31.2% to 30.9%, over the same period, a gap between visibility and recommendation strength that has held across the three-month series.

Infor's top-three rate rose 0.2 points, from 6.9% in July to 7.1% in September, with count rising from 41 to 46. Rank-one placements fell from 5 to 2. Average recommended rank improved slightly, from 4.56 to 4.31.

The key distinction: Infor appears in more answers than any brand except NetSuite, yet converts that presence into valid recommendations at a rate similar to brands with far lower visibility. Infor's mention presence now exceeds Epicor and Acumatica, but its coverage sits below both.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which surfaces account for the presence increase, and why are those new mentions not converting into top-three or rank-one recommendations?

Acumatica: Steady Presence With Softening Placement

Acumatica's coverage declined 2.7 points from 35.4% in July to 32.7% in September, within normal variation, though the August-to-September drop of 4.9 points was the larger single-month move. Raw mention presence rose 8.1 points, from 61.6% to 69.7%, over the series, giving Acumatica a visibility profile similar to Epicor and Infor.

Top-three rate eased 0.9 points, from 9.4% to 8.5%, with count falling from 56 to 55. Rank-one placements dropped from 19 in July to 17 in September. Net sentiment held positive at 0.7 in September.

Acumatica holds second place by a narrow 1.8-point margin over Infor, but its presence growth has not translated into stronger recommendation placement since July. The brand remains clearly ahead of the third-place cluster, yet the gap has narrowed from 4.2 points to 1.8 points across the series.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts show Acumatica present but not recommended, and which competitor captures those recommendation slots?

Buyer-Intent Interpretation

In September 2026, all 651 qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation cluster, meaning every qualified prompt in the benchmark sought a recommendation or surfaced brands in a recommendation context. No qualified observations fell into the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison clusters.

The public benchmark can speak directly to which brands AI systems recommend for ERP software, but it cannot yet answer questions about how AI systems handle pricing discussions or head-to-head comparisons. Those buyer-intent classes represent important gaps in the current measurement, and the absence of qualified observations in those clusters is itself a finding for further investigation.

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: brands with fewer than 50 valid recommendations in a month, such as SYSPRO (27), SAP Ariba (17), Workday Recruiting (41), Sage Construction Management (5), and Microsoft SharePoint (1), carry more variance per placement; their percentage movements should be read with that context.
• Qualified denominator vs raw collection: percentages are calculated against the 651 qualified observations in September, not the 800 raw prompts collected; the 149 prompts that did not qualify are excluded from brand-level rates.
• Directional analysis: month-over-month movement identifies changes worth investigating; it does not by itself establish the cause of those changes.
• Three-month series: the July-to-September comparison captures the full period, while August-to-September movement identifies the most recent shift; movement that clears the significance threshold against baseline should be distinguished from single-month volatility.

Next Step

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

The aggregate percentages hide the questions that matter for commercial action: which high-intent prompts are won and lost, which competitor takes the recommendation when a brand loses, what attributes AI systems associate with each ERP option, and which external sources shape those answers. For a brand like NetSuite, the benchmark shows a leader whose top placements are eroding even as presence holds near universal. For Infor, the benchmark shows the largest presence gain in the category that is not converting into stronger recommendation placement, but not why.

A company-specific AI visibility audit maps those prompt, surface, competitor, ranking, sentiment, and evidence-source patterns into a prioritized visibility strategy. This moves from knowing that coverage changed to understanding the mechanics behind the change, and from there to actions that improve recommendation placement where it matters most.

Request an AI visibility audit