Drug Rehab Centers: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Hazelden Betty Ford leads the Drug Rehab Centers benchmark in September 2026 with 5.1% valid recommendation coverage, down from 7.8% in July 2026. The next-highest valid recommendation coverage belongs to Caron Treatment Centers at 2.9% in September 2026, up from 0.0% in July 2026, a gap of 2.2 percentage points to the leader.

The largest coverage increase came from Caron Treatment Centers, rising from 0.0% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 2.9% in September 2026. The largest coverage decline came from Hazelden Betty Ford, falling from 22.1% in August 2026 to 5.1% in September 2026, a move beyond normal month-to-month variation. American Addiction Centers also declined from 4.7% in August 2026 to 0.7% in September 2026.

Looking at the full series since July 2026, Hazelden Betty Ford moved from 7.8% in July 2026 to a peak of 22.1% in August 2026 before settling at 5.1% in September 2026. Overall, the benchmark saw genuine movement this month, with one significant riser and several brands declining from elevated August levels.

The benchmark began with 666 prompt-surface observations in September 2026 and produced 136 qualified observations after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth is the number of canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation. The six families are ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.

August 2026 sat between these two months with 127 qualified observations, 7.1% recommendation-shaped answer share, and 8.7% valid recommendation shortlist share.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Drug Rehab Centers

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.

For full details, see the AI Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

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 in the top three positions.
• Rank-one rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand is the first recommendation.
• Net sentiment: Positive minus negative sentiment among mentions, scaled by total mentions.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Beyond the baseline comparison, several brands moved sharply in September 2026 relative to August 2026. Hazelden Betty Ford fell from 22.1% in August 2026 to 5.1% in September 2026, a decline of 17.0 points that is beyond normal month-to-month variation. American Addiction Centers fell from 4.7% to 0.7% over the same period, a decline of 4.0 points, also beyond normal variation. The Recovery Village declined from 3.1% in August 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026, a drop of 3.1 points beyond normal variation. Recovery Centers of America has now declined in each of the two months since July 2026, from 2.2% to 1.6% to 0.7%.

Largest Increase: Caron Treatment Centers

Caron Treatment Centers posted the largest increase in valid recommendation coverage across the series, rising from 0.0% in July 2026 to 3.9% in August 2026 and holding at 2.9% in September 2026, a gain of 2.9 points since baseline that is beyond normal month-to-month variation. Presence rose from 3.3% in July 2026 to 8.8% in September 2026. The top-three rate moved from 0.0% to 2.9% over the same period. The brand recorded 4 valid recommendations in September 2026. Its rank-one rate stayed at 0.0%, suggesting recommendations typically sit below the first position.

Category Leader: Hazelden Betty Ford

Hazelden Betty Ford leads the category with 5.1% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026, down from 7.8% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand narrowed from 7.8 points in July 2026 to 2.2 points in September 2026 as the brand's August peak of 22.1% did not persist.

Stable Brands

Most tracked brands held steady within normal month-to-month variation. American Addiction Centers, Banyan Treatment Centers, BrightView, Footprints to Recovery, Gateway Foundation, Phoenix House, Recovery Centers of America, and The Recovery Village all remained within expected ranges across the July-to-September series despite some single-month swings.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leading brands by valid recommendation coverage, placement patterns differ.

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates: Hazelden Betty Ford appeared first in 4.4% of qualified observations in September 2026, while Caron Treatment Centers and American Addiction Centers recorded no rank-one placements in the same month.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

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

The current public series measures Brand Recommendation discovery only and contains no qualified observations for Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison.

Historical Measurement Record

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 across all model versions and surfaces
• Organic-search ranking positions
• Social media mention volume
• Private or sponsored channels such as brand-managed AI experiences
• Causality from metric movement alone

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how brands appear and are recommended across leading AI and search surfaces. This neutral industry benchmark is built from prompt-level observations, with all metrics computed from a qualified public denominator.

• 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 and explain the prompts, competitors, and sources driving your individual result.

Get my free AI Company Index