Document Management Software: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Microsoft SharePoint led the Document Management Software category in September 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 45.1%, ahead of Box at 33.8% by 11.3 percentage points. The month recorded significant movement across seven brands, all in a downward direction relative to the July 2026 baseline.

The largest coverage decline relative to the start of the series was Box, falling from 49.6% in July 2026 to 33.8% in September 2026, down 15.8 percentage points. Microsoft SharePoint posted the largest single-month swing in the series, dropping from 59.0% in July 2026 to 41.6% in August 2026, before recovering to 45.1% in September 2026.

The September 2026 benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations and produced 423 qualified observations after qualification.

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; September 2026 produced 423 qualified observations.

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. Link 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

Seven brands registered moves beyond normal month-to-month variation between July 2026 and September 2026, all in a downward direction. Most of that decline occurred between July and August, with smaller August-to-September changes for most brands. Revver (eFileCabinet) was an exception, posting a further decline of 5.2 points from August to September that extended its two-month decline streak. Microsoft SharePoint's August-to-September move broke its prior decline, gaining 3.5 points, though the move was within normal month-to-month variation and did not change its baseline-to-current decline of 13.9 points.

Largest Decline: Box

Box's valid recommendation coverage fell from 49.6% in July 2026 to 33.8% in September 2026, a decline of 15.8 percentage points, the largest of any tracked brand across the series. The decline was flagged as a genuine shift rather than routine month-to-month variation. Its presence rate moved from 71.2% to 61.5%. Box declined in each of the two months since July 2026, though the September move of 1.2 points was within normal variation.

Other Significant Decliners

Laserfiche's valid recommendation coverage fell from 34.5% in July 2026 to 19.4% in September 2026, down 15.1 points, with presence moving from 48.8% to 39.2%. M-Files declined from 46.8% to 32.9%, with its top-three rate falling from 26.5% to 19.1%. Microsoft SharePoint fell from 59.0% to 45.1%, though it remained the category leader and its September presence rate of 87.9% was the highest of any brand. DocuWare declined from 43.6% to 31.4%. Revver (eFileCabinet) fell from 17.7% to 8.5%, with presence falling from 23.6% to 13.5%. Dropbox Business declined from 25.2% to 16.8%.

Stable Brands

FileHold, OpenText, and Templafy registered changes within normal month-to-month variation. OpenText's coverage rose 3.2 points from August to September 2026, within normal variation. FileHold's presence rate rose from 1.8% to 5.4%, though its valid recommendation coverage remained low at 2.8%. Templafy recorded no valid recommendations in September 2026.

Category Leader: Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint led the category by valid recommendation coverage in September 2026 at 45.1%, ahead of Box at 33.8%, M-Files at 32.9%, and DocuWare at 31.4%. Though the leader declined 13.9 points across the series, no other brand was within 11.3 points in September 2026.

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 21.8% in September 2026 is more than four times that of the next closest brand, DocuWare at 5.2%, despite DocuWare holding a comparable top-three rate relative to its coverage. 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

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