Document Management Software: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Microsoft SharePoint led the Document Management Software category in August 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 41.6%, ahead of M-Files at 35.5% by 6.1 percentage points. The month recorded significant declines across six brands: Microsoft SharePoint posted the largest coverage decline, moving from 59.0% in July 2026 down to 41.6% in August 2026, while Laserfiche showed the largest move relative to its baseline, falling from 34.5% in July 2026 to 19.6% in August 2026.

Movement was significant for six brands this month. Beyond Microsoft SharePoint and Laserfiche, Box declined from 49.6% in July 2026 to 35.0% in August 2026, M-Files fell from 46.8% to 35.5%, DocuWare dropped from 43.6% to 33.3%, and Dropbox Business declined from 25.2% to 18.1%. OpenText, Revver (eFileCabinet), FileHold, and Templafy registered changes within normal month-to-month variation.

The August 2026 benchmark measured 454 qualified observations across the ten tracked brands, following 385 qualified observations in July 2026.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the six canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. Both months recorded observations across all six families.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark uses qualified observations as its denominator, not raw prompt volume. July 2026 produced 385 qualified observations across the ten tracked brands; August 2026 produced 454 qualified observations. Of those qualified observations, 144 were recommendation-shaped answers in July 2026 (37.4% of qualified observations) and 157 in August 2026 (34.6%). Valid recommendation shortlists appeared in 249 qualified observations in July 2026 (64.7%) and 235 in August 2026 (51.8%).

Brand-level percentages in this report use the qualified observations as the public denominator. For full details, see the AI Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

This table is the primary current-month benchmark view, sorted by valid recommendation coverage.

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: share of qualified observations in which the brand is mentioned at all.
• Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations in which the brand appears in a valid recommendation, the primary metric for this benchmark.
• Top-three rate: share of qualified observations in which the brand appears among the top three recommended options.
• Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations in which the brand is the first or primary recommendation.
• Net sentiment: share of positive mentions minus negative mentions among all mentions, on a scale from -1 to 1.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Six brands registered moves beyond normal month-to-month variation, all in a downward direction. The remaining four brands moved within normal variation.

Largest Decline: Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint held the highest valid recommendation coverage in both months, but posted the largest decline of any brand on that measure, falling from 59.0% in July 2026 to 41.6% in August 2026, a drop of 17.4 percentage points. The benchmark's significance gate flags this move as a genuine shift rather than routine month-to-month variation. Its presence rate moved from 86.8% to 78.2%, and its top-three rate moved from 37.1% to 29.5%. Despite these changes, Microsoft SharePoint remains the category leader. Its rank-one rate moved from 23.6% to 21.4%.

Largest Decline by Baseline: Laserfiche

Laserfiche recorded the largest move relative to its baseline in percentage-point terms, tied with Microsoft SharePoint's decline. Its valid recommendation coverage fell from 34.5% in July 2026 to 19.6% in August 2026, down 14.9 percentage points, also flagged by the significance gate as a genuine move. Its presence rate moved from 48.8% to 36.6%, a decline of 12.2 percentage points. Its top-three and rank-one rates also moved lower this month.

Other Significant Decliners

Box's valid recommendation coverage declined from 49.6% in July 2026 to 35.0% in August 2026, a significant move per the benchmark's gate, while its presence rate moved from 71.2% to 63.0%. M-Files fell from 46.8% to 35.5%, with presence moving from 68.0% to 61.2%. DocuWare moved from 43.6% to 33.3%, with presence moving from 62.3% to 55.7%. Dropbox Business declined from 25.2% to 18.1%, with presence moving from 40.5% to 36.3%.

Stable Brands

FileHold, OpenText, Revver (eFileCabinet), and Templafy all registered moves within normal month-to-month variation. OpenText's net sentiment shifted from 0.72 in July 2026 to 0.53 in August 2026, and its presence rate rose from 30.6% to 32.4%, but its valid recommendation coverage decline of 3.6 percentage points remained within normal variation.

Category Leader: Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint remains the category leader by valid recommendation coverage at 41.6% in August 2026, ahead of M-Files at 35.5% and Box at 35.0%. The leader itself declined significantly, yet no other brand closed the gap, as the next five brands also declined.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. This table shows how often the leading brands appear in the top three and at rank one.

Microsoft SharePoint's rank-one rate of 21.4% in August 2026 is more than four times that of the next closest brand, M-Files at 4.6%, despite both brands holding similar top-three rates. Similar coverage can still hide substantially different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

The current public series measures brand-recommendation discovery 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.

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 or sales attribution
• Every possible AI response to a query
• Organic-search ranking positions
• Social media mention volume
• Private or sponsored channels
• Causality from a metric movement alone

A single month of directional change should not yet be treated as a trend.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how AI and search surfaces present brands during discovery and consideration. It measures presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment across six canonical surface families.

• 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.

Get my free AI Company Index