Domain Registrars: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Namecheap leads the Domain Registrars benchmark in September 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 55.7%, down from 62.7% in August 2026. The gap to the next brand, Porkbun at 55.6% in September 2026, stands at 0.1 percentage points. The largest coverage increase in September 2026 came from Porkbun, moving from 53.9% in August 2026 to 55.6% in September 2026. The largest coverage decline was recorded by Namecheap, moving from 62.7% in August 2026 to 55.7% in September 2026.

Significant month-over-month movement occurred for several brands: GoDaddy declined from 25.6% in August 2026 to 20.3% in September 2026, IONOS declined from 11.0% in August 2026 to 7.4% in September 2026, and Name.com declined from 7.0% in August 2026 to 4.0% in September 2026. All nine brands remain above their July 2026 baseline of 0.0%, with eight classified as significant risers and Network Solutions classified as stable. The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 675 qualified observations in September 2026.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth refers to the number of canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. The August 2026 valid recommendation shortlist share stood at 58.7% before settling at 56.9% in September 2026.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

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.

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

Current Brand Standings

This table shows the primary current-month benchmark view for September 2026, sorted by valid recommendation coverage.

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned, regardless of recommendation status.
• Valid recommendation coverage: Share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a valid recommendation shortlist.
• Top-three rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand is recommended among the top three options.
• Rank-one rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand is the first recommended option.
• Net sentiment: Positive minus negative mention sentiment, scaled to mentions.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Eight brands were classified as significant risers from baseline, with gains beyond normal month-to-month variation. Network Solutions was classified as stable, posting a 0.1 point gain considered within normal variation. Several brands declined month over month: Namecheap fell 7.0 points from 62.7% in August 2026, GoDaddy fell 5.3 points from 25.6%, and IONOS fell 3.6 points from 11.0%.

Largest Increase: Porkbun

Porkbun posted the largest month-over-month coverage increase, rising from 53.9% in August 2026 to 55.6% in September 2026 (up 1.7 points, within normal variation). The brand has risen in each of the two months since its July 2026 baseline of 0.0%.

Largest Decline: Namecheap

Namecheap posted the largest month-over-month coverage decline, falling from 62.7% in August 2026 to 55.7% in September 2026 (down 7.0 points, beyond normal variation). The brand remains the category leader at 55.7% in September 2026.

Category Leader: Namecheap

Namecheap leads the category with a valid recommendation coverage of 55.7% in September 2026, down from 62.7% in August 2026. The brand holds the highest presence rate at 96.0% in September 2026. Porkbun is a close second at 55.6% in September 2026 and holds the highest top-three rate at 41.3%.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leading brands, placement rates reveal different patterns.

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates: Namecheap and Porkbun hold comparable valid recommendation coverage in September 2026 (55.7% and 55.6%), yet Porkbun's rank-one rate of 14.5% exceeds Namecheap's 8.6%.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in September 2026 fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

The current public series measures brand-recommendation discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the pricing or 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 given query
• Organic-search ranking positions
• Social media mention volume
• Private or sponsored channels
• Causality from a metric movement alone

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how often brands appear in AI-generated recommendations across canonical AI/search surface families. It is a neutral, industry-level measurement of presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment.

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

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The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper.

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