Certificates of Deposits: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Questions This Section Answers

• Which brand leads the certificates of deposits benchmark in October 2026?
• Which brand recorded the largest coverage increase and decline this month?
• What does the four-month trend show for the leading brands?

Capital One leads the certificates of deposits benchmark in October 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 27.3%, ahead of American Express at 24.8%, a gap of 2.5 points between the top two brands. The largest coverage increase this month belongs to American Express, which rose from 0.0% in September 2026 to 24.8% in October 2026. The largest coverage decline this month belongs to Morgan Stanley, which fell from 32.7% in September 2026 to 7.4% in October 2026. The category recorded significant movement in both directions, with one brand rising beyond normal variation and three brands declining beyond normal variation since the July 2026 baseline.

Across the full four-month series, American Express declined from 37.0% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 24.8% in October 2026, and Capital One declined from 37.9% to 27.3% over the same period, both movements beyond normal variation. Bread Savings declined from 25.6% in July 2026 to 16.2% in October 2026. Citigroup Inc. was the only brand to record a significant cumulative increase, rising from 3.0% in July 2026 to 8.1% in October 2026.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 161 qualified observations after qualification in October 2026.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

August 2026 sat between these months with 204 qualified observations, and September 2026 recorded 211 qualified observations. Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI/search surface families (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode) with at least one qualified observation.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

Questions This Section Answers

• How many raw prompt observations become qualified benchmark observations?
• Why is the public benchmark narrower than the raw collection universe?

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology

Current Brand Standings

Questions This Section Answers

• Which brand leads in valid recommendation coverage?
• How do presence rate, valid recommendation coverage, and top-three rate differ across brands?
• What are the net sentiment scores for the tracked brands?

This table is the primary current-month benchmark view.

How to Read the Standings

Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in any form. Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a valid recommendation context. Top-three rate is the share where the brand appears among the top three recommended options. Rank-one rate is the share where the brand is the single top recommendation. Net sentiment is the balance of positive over negative mentions.

For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions.

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Questions This Section Answers

• Which brands recorded significant month-over-month increases or declines?
• Which brand grew the most since the July 2026 baseline?
• Which brand declined the most since the July 2026 baseline?

American Express recorded a significant month-over-month increase, and Morgan Stanley recorded a significant month-over-month decline. American Express Co. and Capital One Financial Corp. each recorded a decline of 1.4 points and 3.8 points respectively from September 2026 to October 2026, both moving down for two consecutive months.

Largest Increase: Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. increased from 3.0% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 8.1% in October 2026, a rise beyond normal variation. Its presence rate grew by 25.9 points, from 49.3% to 75.2% over the same period. The brand recorded gains in each of the two months from August 2026 onward.

Largest Decline: American Express

American Express declined from 37.0% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 24.8% in October 2026, a decline beyond normal variation. Its presence rate fell by 11.9 points, from 56.6% to 44.7%. The brand recorded a single month of increase in October 2026 after two months at 0.0%.

Category Leader: Capital One

Capital One holds the top position with 27.3% valid recommendation coverage in October 2026, down from its July 2026 baseline of 37.9%, a decline beyond normal variation. American Express holds second position at 24.8% in October 2026, up from 0.0% in September 2026 but below its July 2026 baseline of 37.0%.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Questions This Section Answers

• Which brand leads in top-three placement, and which has the highest rank-one rate?
• How does the gap between top-three and rank-one rates differ across the leading brands?

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The leading cluster in October 2026 shows different placement profiles.

Capital One leads in top-three placement, while Bread Savings records the highest rank-one rate at 5.6%, exceeding its top-three rate gap to just 1.8 points. American Express shows a gap of 10.0 points between its top-three and rank-one rates. Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

A single buyer-intent class captured the qualified observations in both July 2026 and October 2026.

The current public series 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.

Evidence and Source Layer

Questions This Section Answers

• What source-layer data does the benchmark retain for each prompt observation?
• Does source presence prove that a source caused a recommendation?

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, not 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.

Top 10 Cited Domains

Questions This Section Answers

• Which domains are cited most often in AI recommendations for certificates of deposits?
• How concentrated are citations across the top domains?
• Which platforms cite the top domains?

The benchmark recorded 5,856 total citations across 816 unique domains in October 2026.

Citations are moderately concentrated, with the top 10 domains accounting for approximately 41.4% of all citations. No tracked brand's own domain appears in the top 10. Financial comparison and review sites dominate the list, with nerdwallet.com, bankrate.com, and wallethub.com together representing 16.2% of citations, while news outlets such as cnbc.com and forbes.com also feature prominently.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery Index tracks how often and how prominently brands appear in AI-generated responses across major AI and search surfaces. This neutral industry benchmark is built from prompt-level observations that retain full traceability to source data.

• AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology
• AI Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions
• AI Visibility Market Discovery Research Standards
• Modeled AI Visibility Authority Value

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