Credit Help Services: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index
Tracking how AI platforms recommend credit help services. This public AI Visibility 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: Lexington Law
- 08Largest Decline: Credit Saint
- 09Largest Decline: Sky Blue Credit
- 10Category Leader: Credit Saint
- 11Recommendation Placement Snapshot
- 12Buyer-Intent Distribution
Benchmark Summary
Credit Saint led the September 2026 benchmark with 74.7% valid recommendation coverage, ahead of Sky Blue Credit at 68.1% in second place, a gap of 6.6 percentage points. No brand recorded a significant month-over-month movement in September 2026; the largest coverage increase was Credit Saint, rising 5.3 points from 69.4% in August 2026, and the largest coverage decline was Lexington Law, falling 4.9 points to 17.2% in September 2026 from 22.1% in August 2026. Both movements stayed within normal month-to-month variation.
Looking across the full series, the category saw a broad pullback from the July 2026 baseline. Credit Saint declined from 81.5% in July 2026 to 74.7% in September 2026, Sky Blue Credit moved from 76.2% to 68.1%, and Lexington Law fell from 28.2% to 17.2%, declining in each of the two months since July 2026. The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 273 qualified observations in September 2026 after qualification, up from 271 in August 2026.
AI recommendation trend
valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Sep 2026
- Credit Saint74.7%
- Sky Blue Credit68.1%
- The Credit Pros35.2%
- Lexington Law17.2%
- CreditRepair.com6.6%
- Self2.9%
- Ovation Credit Services0.4%
Current Benchmark at a Glance
Measure | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualified benchmark observations | 298 | 273 | Down 25 |
Tracked brands | 7 | 7 | No change |
Qualified surface breadth | 6 | 6 | No change |
Recommendation-shaped answer share | 49.0% | 45.4% | Down 3.6 points |
Valid recommendation shortlist share | 83.2% | 76.6% | Down 6.6 points |
Leader by valid recommendation coverage | Credit Saint | Credit Saint | 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 in the month. Both months recorded breadth of six, meaning all six families were represented. August 2026 recorded an intermediate recommendation shortlist share of 70.8%, below both the July and September values.
For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Credit Help Services
Research Scope and Qualification
The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design. The funnel shows how observations moved from raw collection to the qualified public denominator.
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Research stage | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
Source prompt-surface observations | 800 | 800 | Total prompts collected across surfaces |
Unique questions | 499 | 515 | Distinct questions represented |
Brand / competitor mentions | 800 | 800 | Prompts mentioning at least one brand |
Relevant observations | 426 | 457 | On-topic observations |
Irrelevant observations | 374 | 343 | Off-topic observations |
Qualified benchmark observations | 298 | 273 | Public denominator |
Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology
Current Brand Standings
This table is the primary current-month benchmark view.
Brand | Presence rate | Valid recommendation coverage | Top-three rate | Rank-one rate | Net sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Credit Saint | 91.2% | 74.7% | 69.2% | 59.7% | 0.8 |
Sky Blue Credit | 84.6% | 68.1% | 51.3% | 1.5% | 0.8 |
The Credit Pros | 38.8% | 35.2% | 16.9% | 0.0% | 0.9 |
Lexington Law | 38.8% | 17.2% | 9.2% | 0.7% | 0.2 |
CreditRepair.com | 19.8% | 6.6% | 4.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Self | 5.9% | 2.9% | 1.5% | 0.4% | 0.5 |
Ovation Credit Services | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
How to Read the Standings
- Presence rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned at all.
- Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a valid recommendation shortlist, the primary metric.
- Top-three rate: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the first three recommendation positions.
- Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is the first recommendation.
- Net sentiment: positive mentions minus negative mentions, divided by total mentions, on a scale from -1 to 1.
For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions.
Recommendation Coverage Movement
Brand | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | Movement since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
Credit Saint | 81.5% | 74.7% | Down 6.8 points |
Sky Blue Credit | 76.2% | 68.1% | Down 8.1 points |
The Credit Pros | 41.6% | 35.2% | Down 6.4 points |
Lexington Law | 28.2% | 17.2% | Down 11.0 points |
CreditRepair.com | 6.4% | 6.6% | Up 0.2 points |
Self | 3.4% | 2.9% | Down 0.5 points |
Ovation Credit Services | 0.7% | 0.4% | Down 0.3 points |
Both Credit Saint and Sky Blue Credit moved up in September 2026 versus August 2026, though neither gain surpassed normal month-to-month variation. The Credit Pros also edged up 1.2 points from August 2026 to September 2026.
Largest Decline: Lexington Law
Lexington Law recorded the largest coverage decline from baseline, falling 11.0 points to 17.2%. The brand declined in each of the two months since the July baseline. Presence rate dropped 8.5 points to 38.8%, and top-three rate fell 8.9 points to 9.2%. Lexington Law was present in 106 of 273 qualified observations in September 2026, with 47 valid recommendations.
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Largest Decline: Credit Saint
Credit Saint declined 6.8 points from 81.5% in July 2026 to 74.7% in September 2026, beyond normal variation, though the brand recovered 5.3 points in September 2026 from 69.4% in August 2026. Its top-three rate fell 10.0 points to 69.2%, and its rank-one rate dropped 11.4 points to 59.7%. Credit Saint was present in 249 of 273 qualified observations, with 204 valid recommendations.
Largest Decline: Sky Blue Credit
Sky Blue Credit declined 8.1 points from 76.2% in July 2026 to 68.1% in September 2026, beyond normal variation. Top-three rate fell 9.4 points to 51.3%, while presence rate moved 4.3 points to 84.6%, within normal variation. Sky Blue Credit was present in 231 of 273 qualified observations, with 186 valid recommendations. In September 2026, the brand rose 5.0 points from its August 2026 level of 63.1%.
Category Leader: Credit Saint
Credit Saint held the top position with 74.7% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026. The gap to second-place Sky Blue Credit widened to 6.6 points in September 2026, up from 5.3 points in July 2026, when Credit Saint led at 81.5% against 76.2%. Its rank-one rate of 59.7% remained the strongest in the category.
Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The leading brands show contrasting placement profiles in September 2026, with Credit Saint dominating first-position recommendations while Sky Blue Credit appears frequently but lower in the list.
Brand | Sep 2026 top-three rate | Sep 2026 rank-one rate | Jul 2026 top-three rate | Jul 2026 rank-one rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Credit Saint | 69.2% | 59.7% | 79.2% | 71.1% |
Sky Blue Credit | 51.3% | 1.5% | 60.7% | 2.7% |
The Credit Pros | 16.9% | 0.0% | 23.8% | 0.7% |
Close coverage can still hide very different first-position rates. Credit Saint and Sky Blue Credit ended September 2026 within 6.6 points of each other on coverage, yet Credit Saint held first position in 59.7% of qualified observations against 1.5% for Sky Blue Credit.
Buyer-Intent Distribution
All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class, which covers discovery and consideration queries.
Buyer-intent class | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Brand Recommendation | 298 | 273 |
Pricing & Value | 0 | 0 |
Multi-Brand Comparison | 0 | 0 |
Total qualified observations | 298 | 273 |
The current public series measures brand recommendation discovery only and does not yet contain qualified observations in the Pricing & 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 2026 | 298 | Credit Saint | 81.5% | Baseline month |
Aug 2026 | 271 | Credit Saint | 69.4% | Sky Blue Credit, down 13.1 points |
Sep 2026 | 273 | Credit Saint | 74.7% | Lexington Law, down 11.0 points since baseline |
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. Movements reflect changes in what AI systems surfaced during the measurement period.
About This Benchmark
The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery Index tracks how AI search and assistant surfaces recommend brands across verticals, using a consistent, audited methodology. The benchmark records changes in brand presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment month over month.
- 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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