Contract Management Software: AI Market Discovery Index
Tracking how AI platforms recommend contract management software. 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: Agiloft
- 08Largest Decline: Icertis
- 09Largest Decline: LinkSquares
- 10Category Leader: DocuSign
- 11Recommendation Placement Snapshot
- 12Buyer-Intent Distribution
Benchmark Summary
DocuSign led the Contract Management Software benchmark in September 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 56.0%, ahead of PandaDoc at 47.3%. The month's largest coverage decline belonged to Agiloft, down from 25.0% in July 2026 to 15.8% in September 2026, while Icertis recorded the largest absolute decline, falling from 29.5% in July 2026 to 19.7% in September 2026.
The September 2026 series shows significant movement across brand outcomes. Agiloft, Icertis, and LinkSquares each recorded coverage declines beyond normal month-to-month variation from the July 2026 baseline. The declines came after an August 2026 month that saw all ten brands drop sharply in coverage, followed by a broad recovery in September 2026. Every brand rose between August 2026 and September 2026, with DocuSign climbing 42.8 points and PandaDoc climbing 33.6 points from their August lows.
The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month of the series and produced 482 qualified observations in September 2026 after qualification.
AI recommendation trend
valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Sep 2026
- DocuSign56.0%
- PandaDoc47.3%
- Ironclad37.3%
- Icertis19.7%
- Agiloft15.8%
- Conga15.8%
- ContractSafe15.8%
- LinkSquares14.9%
- Juro13.9%
- ContractWorks5.4%
Current Benchmark at a Glance
Measure | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualified benchmark observations | 468 | 482 | Up 14 |
Tracked brands | 10 | 10 | No change |
Qualified surface breadth | 6 | 6 | No change |
Recommendation-shaped answer share | 42.9% | 41.7% | Down 1.2 points |
Valid recommendation shortlist share | 67.5% | 60.4% | Down 7.1 points |
Leader by valid recommendation coverage | DocuSign | DocuSign | No change |
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. September 2026 recorded qualified observations across all six families, matching the July 2026 breadth. August 2026 recorded five families, with no qualified observations attributed to Perplexity in that month.
For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Contract Management Software
Research Scope and Qualification
The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.
Research stage | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
Source prompt-surface observations | 800 | 800 | Total prompts collected |
Unique questions | 463 | 547 | Distinct question phrasings |
Brand / competitor mentions | 800 | 800 | Prompts mentioning a tracked brand |
Relevant observations | 742 | 712 | On-topic for the vertical |
Irrelevant observations | 58 | 88 | Off-topic for the vertical |
Qualified benchmark observations | 468 | 482 | Public denominator |
Want the full Authority Index
The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. Learn more in the AI Market Discovery Methodology.
Current Brand Standings
Brand | Presence rate | Valid recommendation coverage | Top-three rate | Rank-one rate | Net sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DocuSign | 91.9% | 56.0% | 38.0% | 16.8% | 0.7 |
PandaDoc | 64.7% | 47.3% | 23.9% | 4.8% | 0.8 |
Ironclad | 59.3% | 37.3% | 27.0% | 18.1% | 0.7 |
Icertis | 38.6% | 19.7% | 9.5% | 3.1% | 0.7 |
Agiloft | 29.5% | 15.8% | 3.1% | 0.2% | 0.7 |
Conga | 26.1% | 15.8% | 5.6% | 0.2% | 0.7 |
ContractSafe | 20.8% | 15.8% | 5.6% | 2.3% | 0.8 |
LinkSquares | 20.5% | 14.9% | 2.7% | 0.4% | 0.8 |
Juro | 20.9% | 13.9% | 3.9% | 0.8% | 0.8 |
ContractWorks | 8.1% | 5.4% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 0.9 |
How to Read the Standings
- Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned at all in the AI answer.
- Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand receives a bona fide recommendation, excluding passing mentions.
- Top-three rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a recommended shortlist's top three.
- Rank-one rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand is the single first recommendation.
- Net sentiment is the share of positive minus negative mentions among all sentiment-bearing mentions, from 0 to 1.
For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions.
Recommendation Coverage Movement
Brand | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | Movement since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
Agiloft | 25.0% | 15.8% | Down 9.2 points |
Conga | 15.4% | 15.8% | Up 0.4 points |
ContractSafe | 18.6% | 15.8% | Down 2.8 points |
ContractWorks | 7.7% | 5.4% | Down 2.3 points |
DocuSign | 56.4% | 56.0% | Down 0.4 points |
Icertis | 29.5% | 19.7% | Down 9.8 points |
Ironclad | 43.2% | 37.3% | Down 5.9 points |
Juro | 16.7% | 13.9% | Down 2.8 points |
LinkSquares | 20.9% | 14.9% | Down 6.0 points |
PandaDoc | 47.6% | 47.3% | Down 0.3 points |
Across the three-month series, each brand rose between August 2026 and September 2026. The largest prior-to-current moves belonged to DocuSign, up 42.8 points from 13.2% in August 2026 to 56.0% in September 2026, and PandaDoc, up 33.6 points from 13.7% in August 2026 to 47.3% in September 2026. Conga rose 12.3 points from 3.5% in August 2026 to 15.8% in September 2026, while Icertis rose 14.6 points from 5.1% in August 2026 to 19.7% in September 2026.
Largest Decline: Agiloft
Agiloft recorded a significant coverage decline, falling 9.2 points from 25.0% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 15.8% in September 2026. The top-three rate fell from 6.2% to 3.1% across the same period, while presence rate moved from 31.2% to 29.5%. Agiloft's 25.0% coverage in July 2026 represented 117 valid recommendations from 468 qualified observations, and its 15.8% in September 2026 represented 76 valid recommendations from 482 qualified observations.
Want the full Authority Index
The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
Largest Decline: Icertis
Icertis recorded the largest absolute coverage decline, falling 9.8 points from 29.5% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 19.7% in September 2026. Top-three rate fell from 15.0% to 9.5%, and rank-one rate fell from 6.2% to 3.1% across the same period. Icertis's 29.5% coverage in July 2026 represented 138 valid recommendations from 468 qualified observations, and its 19.7% in September 2026 represented 95 valid recommendations from 482 qualified observations.
Largest Decline: LinkSquares
LinkSquares also recorded a significant coverage decline, falling 6.0 points from 20.9% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 14.9% in September 2026. Top-three rate fell from 5.8% to 2.7%, while rank-one rate held at 0.4% in both months. LinkSquares's 20.9% coverage in July 2026 represented 98 valid recommendations from 468 qualified observations, and its 14.9% in September 2026 represented 72 valid recommendations from 482 qualified observations.
Category Leader: DocuSign
DocuSign was the coverage leader in both July 2026 and September 2026, holding at 56.0% in September 2026 compared with 56.4% in July 2026, a change of 0.4 points. A stable score still resulted in lost leadership in August 2026, and its 8.7-point lead over PandaDoc in September 2026 reflects a recovery from that interruption. DocuSign also led on presence rate (91.9%), top-three rate (38.0%), and rank-one rate (16.8%) in September 2026, holding the top position across every placement measure.
Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the top brands by valid recommendation coverage, placement rates reveal a different ordering.
Brand | Sep 2026 top-three rate | Sep 2026 rank-one rate | Jul 2026 top-three rate | Jul 2026 rank-one rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
DocuSign | 38.0% | 16.8% | 35.3% | 16.2% |
PandaDoc | 23.9% | 4.8% | 24.6% | 6.2% |
Ironclad | 27.0% | 18.1% | 35.7% | 23.1% |
Ironclad recorded a higher rank-one rate (18.1%) than its 37.3% coverage might suggest, while PandaDoc held the second-highest top-three rate (23.9%) but a lower rank-one rate (4.8%) than DocuSign or Ironclad. Close coverage figures can still hide markedly different first-position rates.
Buyer-Intent Distribution
In both months, the qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation class of discovery.
Buyer-intent class | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Brand Recommendation | 468 | 482 |
Pricing & Value | 0 | 0 |
Multi-Brand Comparison | 0 | 0 |
Total qualified observations | 468 | 482 |
The current public series measures brand recommendation discovery only. It does not yet contain qualified observations in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison classes.
Historical Measurement Record
Measurement | Qualified observations | Coverage leader | Leader coverage | Largest coverage movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 2026 | 468 | DocuSign | 56.4% | DocuSign, down 43.2 points to Aug |
Aug 2026 | 453 | PandaDoc | 13.7% | DocuSign, down 43.2 points from Jul |
Sep 2026 | 482 | DocuSign | 56.0% | Agiloft, down 9.2 points from Jul |
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, or private/sponsored channels. A metric movement alone does not establish causality.
About This Benchmark
The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how often and how prominently contract management software brands surface across major AI and search surfaces in response to real buyer-style queries. The benchmark is rebuilt monthly from a consistent, documented research protocol.
- AI Market Discovery Methodology
- AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions
- AI Market Discovery Research Standards
- Modeled AI Authority Value
Get a Company-Level Authority Index
The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper.
Want the full Authority Index
The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
Keep reading
Related posts
Industry Reports
Expense Management Software: AI Market Discovery Index
Read this blog on LLM Authority Index.
ReadIndustry Reports
Document Management Software: AI Market Discovery Index
Read this blog on LLM Authority Index.
ReadIndustry Reports
Inventory Management Software: AI Market Discovery Index
Read this blog on LLM Authority Index.
Read