Antivirus Software AI Visibility Ranking Trends - November 2026

Answer capsule

The November 2026 Antivirus Software benchmark compares 10 companies across 482 AI answers that met its inclusion rules. Bitdefender GravityZone leads with 286 recommendations (59.34% of answers). At least one tracked company was recommended in 340 answers; some answers recommended several companies.

The rankings distinguish being mentioned from receiving an affirmative recommendation, then examine placement and the wording used about each company. Earlier monthly results show how counts and rates changed, with each month using its own answer total. These results describe the answers reviewed, not product quality or customer satisfaction. Differences between monthly samples limit comparisons and do not establish why a result changed.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Antivirus Software

Industry leaderboard

Questions This Section Answers

• How do Antivirus Software rank by recorded AI recommendations in November 2026?

The leaderboard orders companies by how many answers affirmatively recommended them, so it measures recorded endorsement volume rather than overall presence. A company can appear often without being recommended, and a recommendation can occur without a leading placement. Ties in recommendation counts would share a rank; the printed table shows no such tie. Reading mentions, recommendations and placements separately keeps each measure in its own lane.

Key findings

Tracked-company answer coverage

Questions This Section Answers

• How often did the November 2026 Antivirus Software answer sample recommend any tracked company?

340 distinct answers recommended at least one tracked company. Counting each company recommendation separately gives 1391, because an answer can recommend several companies. Answers with no tracked recommendation may still have recommended companies outside this comparison.

Every qualified answer mentioned at least one tracked company, but only a majority recommended one. Because a single answer can endorse several companies, company-level recommendation totals exceed the number of answers carrying any recommendation. The remaining answers may still have named companies outside this comparison, so coverage here describes the tracked set, not the whole answer space.

Reach and affirmative recommendation

Bitdefender GravityZone ranks 1 by recommendation count. Mentions: 422 (87.55%); recommendations: 286 (59.34%). Top 3 placements: 259 (53.73%); first-place placements: 202 (41.91%).

Wording about the company: 316 positive, 105 neutral, 1 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 67.8%. The net framing score was 0.75 (defined in Methodology).

136 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 90.56% were Top 3 and 70.63% were first-place.

Bitdefender GravityZone illustrates why presence and endorsement diverge: it was mentioned in most answers yet recommended in a smaller share, leaving many mentions without a recorded recommendation. Mention marks appearance; recommendation marks affirmative endorsement. The gap between them is a wording distinction in the answers, not evidence about customers or product performance.

Recommendation order and placement

Placement counts sit inside recommendations rather than beside them: first-place results are a subset of shortlist placements, which are themselves a subset of recommendations. The recommendation-to-mention ratio therefore describes how often a mention carried an endorsement, not conversion or sales. Companies with fewer recommendations show correspondingly thin placement counts, and those nested shares should be read against their smaller bases.

Classified framing in context

Framing classifies the wording surrounding each mention as positive, neutral or negative; it is not a sentiment survey of customers. Most companies show predominantly positive or neutral wording with few negative mentions, while Kaspersky records a notably larger negative share. Neutral wording neither confirms nor rules out endorsement, and framing alone cannot explain why recommendations were or were not recorded.

Company results in detail

Bitdefender GravityZone

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about Bitdefender GravityZone mentions, recommendations and placement?

Bitdefender GravityZone ranks 1 by recommendation count. Mentions: 422 (87.55%); recommendations: 286 (59.34%). Top 3 placements: 259 (53.73%); first-place placements: 202 (41.91%).

Wording about the company: 316 positive, 105 neutral, 1 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 67.8%. The net framing score was 0.75 (defined in Methodology).

136 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 90.56% were Top 3 and 70.63% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, Bitdefender GravityZone's mention count fell from 500 to 422, while its recommendation count fell from 450 to 286. The recommendation rate was 69.88% and 59.34% respectively.

Bitdefender GravityZone leads on recommendation count and pairs broad mention reach with a high endorsement share. Its placements are unusually concentrated near the top of recommendations, and positive wording dominates its mentions. The month-over-month comparison shows both counts and the recommendation rate lower than the prior sample; that recorded change does not by itself establish a cause.

Norton

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about Norton mentions, recommendations and placement?

Norton ranks 2 by recommendation count. Mentions: 382 (79.25%); recommendations: 222 (46.06%). Top 3 placements: 177 (36.72%); first-place placements: 61 (12.66%).

Wording about the company: 247 positive, 133 neutral, 2 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 58.1%. The net framing score was 0.64 (defined in Methodology).

160 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 79.73% were Top 3 and 27.48% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, Norton's mention count fell from 525 to 382, while its recommendation count fell from 423 to 222. The recommendation rate was 65.68% and 46.06% respectively.

Norton holds second place by recommendation count with strong mention reach, though its endorsement share trails the leader. Among its recommendations, most appear in shortlist positions but a smaller portion reach first place, giving it a distinctive profile of frequent but less leading endorsement. Positive wording outweighs neutral, and the prior-month comparison shows lower counts and rate.

Avast

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about Avast mentions, recommendations and placement?

Avast ranks 3 by recommendation count. Mentions: 400 (82.99%); recommendations: 207 (42.95%). Top 3 placements: 87 (18.05%); first-place placements: 23 (4.77%).

Wording about the company: 241 positive, 158 neutral, 1 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 51.8%. The net framing score was 0.60 (defined in Methodology).

193 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 42.03% were Top 3 and 11.11% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, Avast's mention count fell from 475 to 400, while its recommendation count fell from 338 to 207. The recommendation rate was 52.48% and 42.95% respectively.

Avast ranks third on recommendations and appears in a large majority of answers, yet its endorsement share is moderate. Its placements cluster less at the top than Norton's, so many recommendations sit lower in the ordering. Wording is mostly positive with substantial neutral framing. Counts and rate were lower than the previous sample, a recorded comparison without an established explanation.

Malwarebytes

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about Malwarebytes mentions, recommendations and placement?

Malwarebytes ranks 4 by recommendation count. Mentions: 335 (69.50%); recommendations: 174 (36.10%). Top 3 placements: 84 (17.43%); first-place placements: 45 (9.34%).

Wording about the company: 202 positive, 132 neutral, 1 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 51.9%. The net framing score was 0.60 (defined in Methodology).

161 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 48.28% were Top 3 and 25.86% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, Malwarebytes' mention count fell from 455 to 335, while its recommendation count fell from 381 to 174. The recommendation rate was 59.16% and 36.10% respectively.

Malwarebytes combines solid mention reach with a mid-pack endorsement share, and its recommendations split between shortlist and first-place positions more evenly than some peers. Positive wording leads, with neutral framing common. The prior-month comparison shows both counts and the recommendation rate lower; the change is recorded, not explained by the evidence here.

ESET

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about ESET mentions, recommendations and placement?

ESET ranks 5 by recommendation count. Mentions: 292 (60.58%); recommendations: 131 (27.18%). Top 3 placements: 54 (11.20%); first-place placements: 13 (2.70%).

Wording about the company: 152 positive, 140 neutral, 0 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 44.9%. The net framing score was 0.52 (defined in Methodology).

161 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 41.22% were Top 3 and 9.92% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, ESET's mention count fell from 383 to 292, while its recommendation count fell from 311 to 131. The recommendation rate was 48.29% and 27.18% respectively.

ESET appears in a majority of recorded AI answers, and a smaller share of those mentions also carried an affirmative recommendation. Its shortlist and first-place placements form subsets of those recommendations rather than separate totals. Wording was mostly positive or neutral, with no negative mentions recorded; framing describes phrasing, not customer sentiment or product quality.

Recommendation-to-mention ratios describe the recorded answers, not customers, sales or conversion. The prior selected sample showed higher mention and recommendation counts and a higher recommendation rate; that comparison alone does not establish why the figures differed. Many mentions carried no recorded recommendation, and the sparse first-place base warrants caution when reading its share.

AVG

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about AVG mentions, recommendations and placement?

AVG ranks 6 by recommendation count. Mentions: 289 (59.96%); recommendations: 130 (26.97%). Top 3 placements: 48 (9.96%); first-place placements: 12 (2.49%).

Wording about the company: 148 positive, 140 neutral, 1 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 45.0%. The net framing score was 0.51 (defined in Methodology).

159 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 36.92% were Top 3 and 9.23% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, AVG's mention count fell from 360 to 289, while its recommendation count fell from 262 to 130. The recommendation rate was 40.68% and 26.97% respectively.

AVG's profile resembles ESET's: broad mention presence, a moderate endorsement share and limited top placements. Positive and neutral wording are nearly balanced, and negative mentions are negligible. Its recommendation rate sits close to ESET's, and the prior-month comparison shows lower counts and rate, which the evidence does not explain.

McAfee

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about McAfee mentions, recommendations and placement?

McAfee ranks 7 by recommendation count. Mentions: 262 (54.36%); recommendations: 111 (23.03%). Top 3 placements: 42 (8.71%); first-place placements: 8 (1.66%).

Wording about the company: 133 positive, 127 neutral, 2 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 42.4%. The net framing score was 0.50 (defined in Methodology).

151 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 37.84% were Top 3 and 7.21% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, McAfee's mention count fell from 354 to 262, while its recommendation count fell from 209 to 111. The recommendation rate was 32.45% and 23.03% respectively.

McAfee records a mid-table recommendation count with a comparatively low endorsement share, and first-place placements are rare within its recommendations. Positive wording slightly outnumbers neutral, with very few negative mentions. The prior-month comparison shows both counts and the recommendation rate lower; that is a recorded shift rather than a demonstrated cause.

Kaspersky

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about Kaspersky mentions, recommendations and placement?

Kaspersky ranks 8 by recommendation count. Mentions: 215 (44.61%); recommendations: 66 (13.69%). Top 3 placements: 33 (6.85%); first-place placements: 6 (1.24%).

Wording about the company: 78 positive, 123 neutral, 14 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 30.7%. The net framing score was 0.30 (defined in Methodology).

149 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 50.00% were Top 3 and 9.09% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, Kaspersky's mention count fell from 235 to 215, while its recommendation count fell from 154 to 66. The recommendation rate was 23.91% and 13.69% respectively.

Kaspersky stands out for framing rather than volume: it carries the largest negative mention share in the set, alongside more neutral than positive wording. Its endorsement share is low, and placements are sparse. The prior-month comparison shows lower counts and rate. Framing differences here describe answer wording, not company quality or customer opinion.

Trend Micro

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about Trend Micro mentions, recommendations and placement?

Trend Micro ranks 9 by recommendation count. Mentions: 99 (20.54%); recommendations: 48 (9.96%). Top 3 placements: 9 (1.87%); first-place placements: 4 (0.83%).

Wording about the company: 51 positive, 48 neutral, 0 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 48.5%. The net framing score was 0.52 (defined in Methodology).

51 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 18.75% were Top 3 and 8.33% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, Trend Micro's mention count fell from 115 to 99, while its recommendation count fell from 88 to 48. The recommendation rate was 13.66% and 9.96% respectively.

Trend Micro appears in a minority of answers and records a modest recommendation count, with very few placements near the top. Its endorsement share is nonetheless moderate relative to its smaller mention base, so that ratio deserves cautious reading. Positive and neutral wording are close, with no negative mentions. Counts and rate were lower than the prior sample.

Webroot

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the November 2026 AI answer results show about Webroot mentions, recommendations and placement?

Webroot ranks 10 by recommendation count. Mentions: 45 (9.34%); recommendations: 16 (3.32%). Top 3 placements: 2 (0.41%); first-place placements: 1 (0.21%).

Wording about the company: 18 positive, 25 neutral, 2 negative mentions. The proportion of mentions that also included a recommendation was 35.6%. The net framing score was 0.36 (defined in Methodology).

29 mentions had no recorded recommendation. Of recorded recommendations, 12.50% were Top 3 and 6.25% were first-place.

From October 2026 to November 2026, Webroot's mention count fell from 90 to 45, while its recommendation count fell from 48 to 16. The recommendation rate was 7.45% and 3.32% respectively.

Webroot records the smallest presence in the set, with few mentions and fewer recommendations, and its placements are minimal. Its endorsement share is low, and neutral wording outnumbers positive, with a small number of negative mentions. Because the base is sparse, ratios here are fragile. The prior-month comparison shows lower counts and rate without an established reason.

Earlier ranking snapshot context

Questions This Section Answers

• How do the available Antivirus Software snapshots from July 2026 to November 2026 differ in recommendation coverage and measurement scope?

Only months with verified results are shown. Monthly sample coverage is listed in Methodology.

Each month is a separate sample of AI answers, and the included answer totals differ across months, so counts and rates are not directly interchangeable between periods. The table shows how recorded recommendations and rates moved, including a lower November base. Rank positions across months describe those samples only; they do not establish stability, trend or equivalent sampling.

What the November Rankings Show

These measures answer different questions. Mentions describe appearance; recommendations describe affirmative endorsement; placements describe where endorsements sit within an answer; framing describes the wording around a mention. A company can be present without being endorsed, endorsed without leading, or positively framed without a recommendation. Reading the measures together shows the shape of each company's recorded profile, while the ratios and framing scores remain descriptions of AI answer wording rather than customer behavior, sales or product quality.

Methodology

Questions This Section Answers

• How were the November 2026 Antivirus Software AI visibility measures counted, and what do they not establish?

This benchmark has partial coverage: 2 of 3 planned question categories contributed usable observations; 1 contributed none. This describes question-category coverage, not demonstrated platform outages. Findings apply to the available answer set.

The month in the title is the reporting period. The exact dates when the original AI answers were collected have not been verified.

Each company is counted at most once in each answer that meets the benchmark rules. A recommendation requires both an affirmative endorsement and positive wording. Mention, recommendation, Top 3 and first-place rates use the full benchmark answer total. Top 3 and first-place results are included within recommendations, not added to them.

The recommendation-to-mention ratio divides recommendations by mentions. It describes AI answer wording, not customer conversion. Net framing is positive minus negative mentions, divided by all mentions, on a scale from -1 to +1. It does not measure customer satisfaction or company quality.

Market: US; 10 tracked companies. AI services represented: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity.

Research screening totals (answer observations can include repeated questions):

The source does not provide a reader-facing definition of “reserved”; that screening label is reported without inferring a reason for exclusion. Only the included benchmark answers form the rate denominator.

One answer can mention or recommend several companies. Adding company totals would therefore count some answers more than once. The results describe the AI answers reviewed, not independently verified facts about the companies or their products.

Monthly sample coverage:

The answer samples differ between months. These comparisons show how the recorded results changed; they do not establish why they changed.

Coverage is partial: only some planned question categories contributed usable answers, and the collection dates for the original answers are unverified. Each company counts at most once per qualifying answer, and placements nest inside recommendations rather than adding to them. Recommendation-to-mention ratios and net framing describe answer wording, not customers or company quality. Monthly samples differ, so comparisons show recorded change without establishing why it occurred.