ABA Therapy Providers: AI Market Discovery Index
Tracking how AI platforms recommend aba therapy providers. This public AI Market Discovery Index is updated monthly since July 2026.
On this page
- 01Benchmark Summary
- 02Current Benchmark at a Glance
- 03Research Scope and Qualification
- 04Current Brand Standings
- 05How to Read the Standings
- 06Recommendation Coverage Movement
- 07Largest Decline: Hopebridge
- 08Category Leader: Action Behavior Centers
- 09Recommendation Placement Snapshot
- 10Buyer-Intent Distribution
- 11Historical Measurement Record
- 12Evidence and Source Layer
Benchmark Summary
In August 2026, Action Behavior Centers led the benchmark with a valid recommendation coverage of 54.5%, up from 54.0% in July 2026. Behavioral Innovations held the second position at 34.3% in August 2026, a 20.2-percentage-point gap behind the leader.
The largest month-over-month increase in valid recommendation coverage came from Behavioral Innovations, which rose from 29.8% in July 2026 to 34.3% in August 2026. The largest decline was recorded by Hopebridge, whose coverage fell from 31.1% in July 2026 to 17.5% in August 2026, a drop of 13.6 percentage points that was beyond normal month-to-month variation.
Looking at the baseline-to-current series, Action Behavior Centers remained stable with coverage of 54.0% in July 2026 and 54.5% in August 2026, holding the top position across both months. Behavioral Innovations gained 4.5 percentage points over the same period, narrowing the gap to the leader. The movement this month was concentrated in Hopebridge's decline; the other tracked brands moved within normal month-to-month variation.
The benchmark began with 674 prompt-surface observations in August 2026 and produced 143 qualified observations after qualification.
AI recommendation trend
valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Aug 2026
- Action Behavior Centers+0.5%Jul 202654.0%Aug 202654.5%
- Behavioral Innovations+4.5%Jul 202629.8%Aug 202634.3%
- Hopebridge-13.6% · beyond normal variationJul 202631.1%Aug 202617.5%
- BlueSprig Pediatrics+1.7%Jul 202613.7%Aug 202615.4%
- Autism Learning Partners-3.1%Jul 20268.7%Aug 20265.6%
- LEARN Behavioral-2.5%Jul 20268.1%Aug 20265.6%
- Acorn Health-1.5%Jul 20264.3%Aug 20262.8%
- Centria Autism-2.2%Jul 20264.3%Aug 20262.1%
- Trumpet Behavioral Health-4.1%Jul 20266.2%Aug 20262.1%
- Helping Hands-0.5%Jul 20261.2%Aug 20260.7%
Current Benchmark at a Glance
Measure | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualified benchmark observations | 161 | 143 | Down 18 |
Tracked brands | 10 | 10 | No change |
Qualified surface breadth | 4 | 5 | Up 1 |
Recommendation-shaped answer share | 71.4% | 43.4% | Down 28.0 points |
Valid recommendation shortlist share | 50.9% | 55.9% | Up 5.0 points |
Leader by valid recommendation coverage | Action Behavior Centers (54.0%) | Action Behavior Centers (54.5%) | Up 0.5 points |
Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. The August 2026 series reached five of these six families, adding ChatGPT to the four observed in July 2026.
For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending ABA Therapy Providers
Research Scope and Qualification
The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design. The funnel below shows how observations were qualified.
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Research stage | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
Source prompt-surface observations | 614 | 674 | Total prompt-surface observations collected |
Unique questions | 475 | 543 | Distinct questions asked across surfaces |
Brand / competitor mentions | 614 | 674 | Prompts that mentioned a tracked brand or competitor |
Relevant observations | 213 | 238 | Prompts relevant to the ABA Therapy Providers vertical |
Irrelevant observations | 401 | 436 | Prompts not relevant to the vertical |
Qualified benchmark observations | 161 | 143 | Public denominator for all brand-level percentages |
Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. See the AI Market Discovery Methodology for full details.
Current Brand Standings
This table shows the primary current-month benchmark view for August 2026, with brands sorted by valid recommendation coverage.
Brand | Presence rate | Valid recommendation coverage | Top-three rate | Rank-one rate | Net sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Action Behavior Centers | 72.0% | 54.5% | 52.4% | 32.2% | 0.8 |
Behavioral Innovations | 44.8% | 34.3% | 32.2% | 6.3% | 0.8 |
Hopebridge | 26.6% | 17.5% | 14.0% | 7.0% | 0.7 |
BlueSprig Pediatrics | 17.5% | 15.4% | 10.5% | 0.7% | 0.9 |
Autism Learning Partners | 14.7% | 5.6% | 3.5% | 0.7% | 0.4 |
LEARN Behavioral | 19.6% | 5.6% | 4.9% | 1.4% | 0.3 |
Acorn Health | 3.5% | 2.8% | 1.4% | 0.7% | 0.8 |
Centria Autism | 6.3% | 2.1% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.3 |
Trumpet Behavioral Health | 2.8% | 2.1% | 1.4% | 0.0% | 0.8 |
Helping Hands | 2.8% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2 |
How to Read the Standings
Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned in any form. Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a valid recommendation shortlist. Top-three rate is the share where the brand appears in the top three positions, and rank-one rate is the share where it appears first. Net sentiment is the balance of positive over negative mentions among observations where the brand appears.
For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions.
Recommendation Coverage Movement
This table shows the change in valid recommendation coverage from the baseline month (July 2026) to the current month (August 2026).
Brand | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 | Movement since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
Acorn Health | 4.3% | 2.8% | Down 1.5 points |
Action Behavior Centers | 54.0% | 54.5% | Up 0.5 points |
Autism Learning Partners | 8.7% | 5.6% | Down 3.1 points |
Behavioral Innovations | 29.8% | 34.3% | Up 4.5 points |
BlueSprig Pediatrics | 13.7% | 15.4% | Up 1.7 points |
Centria Autism | 4.3% | 2.1% | Down 2.2 points |
Helping Hands | 1.2% | 0.7% | Down 0.5 points |
Hopebridge | 31.1% | 17.5% | Down 13.6 points |
LEARN Behavioral | 8.1% | 5.6% | Down 2.5 points |
Trumpet Behavioral Health | 6.2% | 2.1% | Down 4.1 points |
Largest Decline: Hopebridge
Hopebridge recorded the largest movement this month, with valid recommendation coverage down 13.6 percentage points and presence rate down 23.1 percentage points. Its valid recommendation coverage fell from 31.1% in July 2026 to 17.5% in August 2026, a drop of 13.6 percentage points that was beyond normal month-to-month variation. Presence rate also fell significantly, from 49.7% in July 2026 to 26.6% in August 2026, a drop of 23.1 percentage points. Top-three rate moved from 18.6% to 14.0%, while rank-one rate rose slightly from 6.2% to 7.0% over the same period.
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Category Leader: Action Behavior Centers
Action Behavior Centers remained the category leader, with valid recommendation coverage of 54.5% in August 2026, and its top-three rate rose from 42.9% to 52.4%. Its presence rate fell from 78.3% to 72.0%, while top-three rate rose from 42.9% to 52.4% and rank-one rate rose from 27.3% to 32.2% over the same two months.
Among the stable brands, Behavioral Innovations posted the largest gain, moving from 29.8% in July 2026 to 34.3% in August 2026. Autism Learning Partners and Trumpet Behavioral Health declined 3.1 and 4.1 percentage points respectively across the two months, both within normal month-to-month variation.
Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The table below shows placement rates for the leading brands in August 2026 and how those compare with July 2026.
Brand | Aug 2026 top-three rate | Aug 2026 rank-one rate | Jul 2026 top-three rate | Jul 2026 rank-one rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Action Behavior Centers | 52.4% | 32.2% | 42.9% | 27.3% |
Behavioral Innovations | 32.2% | 6.3% | 26.1% | 8.1% |
Hopebridge | 14.0% | 7.0% | 18.6% | 6.2% |
Close coverage levels can still hide different first-position rates. Hopebridge increased its rank-one rate from 6.2% to 7.0% even as its overall coverage fell, while Action Behavior Centers continued to lead on top-three and rank-one placement by a wide margin.
Buyer-Intent Distribution
In both July 2026 and August 2026, all qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation class.
Buyer-intent class | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Brand Recommendation | 161 | 143 |
Pricing & Value | 0 | 0 |
Multi-Brand Comparison | 0 | 0 |
Total qualified observations | 161 | 143 |
The current public series measures brand recommendation discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the pricing and value or multi-brand comparison classes.
Historical Measurement Record
This is an evergreen benchmark URL. New measurements are added to the same report.
Measurement | Qualified observations | Coverage leader | Leader coverage | Largest coverage movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
July 2026 | 161 | Action Behavior Centers | 54.0% | Baseline month |
August 2026 | 143 | Action Behavior Centers | 54.5% | Hopebridge, down 13.6 points |
Evidence and Source Layer
The benchmark is built from prompt-level observations that retain the query, AI/search surface, answer, brand outcome, recommendation placement, sentiment, and, where exposed, citations or attributable evidence sources. Source presence is evidence about the information environment. It is not automatically proof that the source caused the recommendation.
Scope Boundaries
This public benchmark does not measure market share, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, private or sponsored channels, or causality from a metric movement alone. It records changes in how AI/search surfaces present brands within prompt-level observations.
About This Benchmark
The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is an evergreen industry benchmark that tracks how AI and search surfaces present brands in response to natural-language discovery prompts. It is updated monthly to the same report.
- AI Market Discovery Methodology
- AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions
- AI Market Discovery Research Standards
- Modeled AI Authority Value
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