Equipment Financing: AI Market Discovery Index
Tracking how AI platforms recommend equipment financing. This public AI 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: eLease
- 08Category Leader: National Funding
- 09Recommendation Placement Snapshot
- 10Buyer-Intent Distribution
- 11Historical Measurement Record
- 12Evidence and Source Layer
Benchmark Summary
National Funding led the Equipment Financing benchmark in August 2026 with 64.0% valid recommendation coverage, 3.3 points ahead of second-place Crest Capital at 60.7%. Crest Capital posted the largest coverage increase of the month, moving up 2.0 points from 58.7% in July 2026, a change within normal month-to-month variation. eLease recorded the only significant movement in the current benchmark: valid recommendation coverage fell to 10.7% in August 2026 from 21.6% in July 2026, a decline of 10.9 points beyond normal month-to-month variation.
Across the two tracked months, National Funding has held category leadership in both July 2026 and August 2026, and the rest of the field remained stable. eLease's decline is the one change that breaks from the otherwise steady baseline-to-current pattern; the benchmark produced 150 qualified observations in August 2026, down from 213 in July 2026, after qualification from 800 prompt-surface observations collected in each month.
AI recommendation trend
valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Aug 2026
- National Funding-2.7%Jul 202666.7%Aug 202664.0%
- Crest Capital+2.0%Jul 202658.7%Aug 202660.7%
- Balboa Capital+4.0%Jul 202612.7%Aug 202616.7%
- Taycor Financial-4.4%Jul 202621.1%Aug 202616.7%
- Beacon Funding+1.0%Jul 202610.3%Aug 202611.3%
- eLease-10.9% · beyond normal variationJul 202621.6%Aug 202610.7%
- Smarter Finance USA+1.1%Jul 20264.2%Aug 20265.3%
- Ascentium Capital+0.6%Jul 20261.4%Aug 20262.0%
- Currency+0.4%Jul 20260.9%Aug 20261.3%
- Bankers Capitalno changeJul 20260.0%Aug 20260.0%
Current Benchmark at a Glance
Measure | July 2026 | August 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualified benchmark observations | 213 | 150 | Down 63 |
Tracked brands | 10 | 10 | No change |
Qualified surface breadth | 6 | 6 | No change |
Recommendation-shaped answer share | 51.6% | 50.0% | Down 1.6 points |
Valid recommendation shortlist share | 75.6% | 68.7% | Down 6.9 points |
Leader by valid recommendation coverage | National Funding | National Funding | No change |
Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.
For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Equipment Financing
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.
Research stage | July 2026 | August 2026 | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
Source prompt-surface observations | 800 | 800 | Total prompts collected |
Unique questions | 597 | 629 | Distinct questions asked |
Brand / competitor mentions | 800 | 800 | Prompts mentioning a brand |
Relevant observations | 215 | 155 | On-topic responses |
Irrelevant observations | 585 | 645 | Off-topic responses |
Qualified benchmark observations | 213 | 150 | Public denominator |
For details on how the public benchmark is constructed, see AI Market Discovery Methodology.
Current Brand Standings
Brand | Presence rate | Valid recommendation coverage | Top-three rate | Rank-one rate | Net sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Funding | 75.3% | 64.0% | 43.3% | 14.0% | 0.9 |
Crest Capital | 70.7% | 60.7% | 43.3% | 25.3% | 0.9 |
Balboa Capital | 20.0% | 16.7% | 11.3% | 2.7% | 1.0 |
Taycor Financial | 21.3% | 16.7% | 8.7% | 4.0% | 0.9 |
Beacon Funding | 12.7% | 11.3% | 8.7% | 2.7% | 0.9 |
eLease | 11.3% | 10.7% | 7.3% | 2.0% | 1.0 |
Smarter Finance USA | 8.0% | 5.3% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.9 |
Ascentium Capital | 4.0% | 2.0% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.5 |
Currency | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Bankers Capital | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
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How to Read the Standings
- Presence rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned in the AI response.
- Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand appears as a valid recommendation in the response.
- Top-three rate: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the top three recommended 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; ranges from 0 to 1.
For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions.
Recommendation Coverage Movement
Brand | July 2026 | August 2026 | Movement since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
Ascentium Capital | 1.4% | 2.0% | Up 0.6 points |
Balboa Capital | 12.7% | 16.7% | Up 4.0 points |
Bankers Capital | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Beacon Funding | 10.3% | 11.3% | Up 1.0 point |
Crest Capital | 58.7% | 60.7% | Up 2.0 points |
Currency | 0.9% | 1.3% | Up 0.4 points |
eLease | 21.6% | 10.7% | Down 10.9 points |
National Funding | 66.7% | 64.0% | Down 2.7 points |
Smarter Finance USA | 4.2% | 5.3% | Up 1.1 points |
Taycor Financial | 21.1% | 16.7% | Down 4.4 points |
Largest Decline: eLease
eLease's valid recommendation coverage declined to 10.7% in August 2026 from 21.6% in July 2026, a drop of 10.9 points beyond normal month-to-month variation. Raw mention presence also fell, to 11.3% in August 2026 from 25.8% in July 2026. The gap between eLease and Crest Capital widened to 50.0 points in August 2026 from 37.1 points in July 2026.
Category Leader: National Funding
National Funding remained the category leader in August 2026 with 64.0% valid recommendation coverage, down from 66.7% in July 2026. National Funding's rank-one rate declined to 14.0% in August 2026 from 18.8% in July 2026, while its top-three rate moved to 43.3% in August 2026, up slightly from 42.7% in July 2026, within normal month-to-month variation.
Most other tracked brands moved within normal month-to-month variation. Balboa Capital and Taycor Financial both reached 16.7% coverage in August 2026, with Balboa Capital up 4.0 points from 12.7% in July 2026 and Taycor Financial down 4.4 points from 21.1% in July 2026.
Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Two leaders with similar coverage rates show different first-position rates in August 2026.
Brand | August 2026 top-three rate | August 2026 rank-one rate | July 2026 top-three rate | July 2026 rank-one rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
National Funding | 43.3% | 14.0% | 42.7% | 18.8% |
Crest Capital | 43.3% | 25.3% | 40.8% | 21.6% |
The two brands shared the same top-three rate of 43.3% in August 2026, yet Crest Capital was the first recommendation in 25.3% of observations versus 14.0% for National Funding.
Buyer-Intent Distribution
The qualified observations in August 2026 all fell into the Brand Recommendation class.
Buyer-intent class | July 2026 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Brand Recommendation | 213 | 150 |
Pricing & Value | 0 | 0 |
Multi-Brand Comparison | 0 | 0 |
Total qualified observations | 213 | 150 |
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
Measurement | Qualified observations | Coverage leader | Leader coverage | Largest coverage movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
July 2026 | 213 | National Funding | 66.7% | N/A (baseline month) |
August 2026 | 150 | National Funding | 64.0% | eLease Down 10.9 points |
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.
About This Benchmark
The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how AI search and chat surfaces recommend and mention brands across industries, based on qualified prompt-level observations. It is published monthly as a neutral industry benchmark.
- AI Market Discovery Methodology
- AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions
- AI Market Discovery Research Standards
- Modeled AI Authority Value
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