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.

By Mark Huntley, J.D.Growth Strategist & AI Discovery Analyst

6 minutes read

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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: National Funding
08Largest Decline: eLease
09Largest Decline: Crest Capital
10Category Leader: Crest Capital
11Recommendation Placement Snapshot
12Buyer-Intent Distribution

Benchmark Summary

Crest Capital led the Equipment Financing benchmark in September 2026 with 44.9% valid recommendation coverage, 0.8 points ahead of National Funding at 44.1%. The largest coverage decline of the month was also recorded by National Funding, whose valid recommendation coverage fell to 44.1% in September 2026 from 64.0% in August 2026, a decline of 19.9 points beyond normal month-to-month variation. Crest Capital posted the second-largest decline, moving down 15.8 points from 60.7% in August 2026 to 44.9% in September 2026, also beyond normal variation. No brand recorded a significant coverage increase this month; Balboa Capital posted the largest rise, up 3.0 points from 16.7% in August 2026 to 19.7% in September 2026, within normal month-to-month variation.

Three brands declined beyond normal variation across the full July-to-September series. National Funding fell in each of the two months since July 2026, dropping 22.6 points from 66.7% in July 2026 to 44.1% in September 2026. eLease also declined in each of the two months since July 2026, falling 16.1 points from 21.6% in July 2026 to 5.5% in September 2026. Crest Capital declined 13.8 points from 58.7% in July 2026 to 44.9% in September 2026, with most of that movement occurring in September. The benchmark produced 127 qualified observations in September 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 Sep 2026

Crest Capital44.9%
National Funding44.1%
Balboa Capital19.7%
Taycor Financial17.3%
Beacon Funding9.4%
Smarter Finance USA7.1%
eLease5.5%
Ascentium Capital3.9%
Currency1.6%
Bankers Capital0.0%

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Measure	Jul 2026	Sep 2026	Movement
Qualified benchmark observations	213	127	Down 86
Tracked brands	10	10	No change
Qualified surface breadth	6	6	No change
Recommendation-shaped answer share	51.6%	48.0%	Down 3.6 points
Valid recommendation shortlist share	75.6%	56.7%	Down 18.9 points
Leader by valid recommendation coverage	National Funding	Crest Capital	Changed

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. August 2026 sat between the baseline and current months, with 150 qualified observations and National Funding in the lead at 64.0% coverage.

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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	Jul 2026	Sep 2026	What it represents
Source prompt-surface observations	800	800	Total prompts collected
Unique questions	597	603	Distinct questions asked
Brand / competitor mentions	800	800	Prompts mentioning a brand
Relevant observations	215	132	On-topic responses
Irrelevant observations	585	668	Off-topic responses
Qualified benchmark observations	213	127	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
Crest Capital	70.1%	44.9%	42.5%	30.7%	0.9
National Funding	75.6%	44.1%	35.4%	7.1%	0.9
Balboa Capital	29.1%	19.7%	14.2%	3.9%	0.9
Taycor Financial	20.5%	17.3%	9.4%	2.4%	0.9
Beacon Funding	15.8%	9.4%	7.9%	2.4%	0.9
Smarter Finance USA	11.8%	7.1%	4.7%	0.0%	0.7
eLease	7.1%	5.5%	4.7%	2.4%	0.8
Ascentium Capital	4.7%	3.9%	3.1%	2.4%	1.0
Currency	3.1%	1.6%	1.6%	0.8%	0.8
Bankers Capital	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0

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	Jul 2026	Sep 2026	Movement since baseline
Ascentium Capital	1.4%	3.9%	Up 2.5 points
Balboa Capital	12.7%	19.7%	Up 7.0 points
Bankers Capital	0.0%	0.0%	No change
Beacon Funding	10.3%	9.4%	Down 0.9 points
Crest Capital	58.7%	44.9%	Down 13.8 points
Currency	0.9%	1.6%	Up 0.7 points
eLease	21.6%	5.5%	Down 16.1 points
National Funding	66.7%	44.1%	Down 22.6 points
Smarter Finance USA	4.2%	7.1%	Up 2.9 points
Taycor Financial	21.1%	17.3%	Down 3.8 points

Largest Decline: National Funding

National Funding's valid recommendation coverage declined to 44.1% in September 2026 from 66.7% in July 2026, a drop of 22.6 points beyond normal month-to-month variation. The brand declined in each of the two months since July 2026: coverage fell to 64.0% in August 2026, then to 44.1% in September 2026. Rank-one rate fell 11.7 points from 18.8% in July 2026 to 7.1% in September 2026, also beyond normal variation. Raw mention presence eased to 75.6% in September 2026 from 80.3% in July 2026, within normal variation.

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Largest Decline: eLease

eLease's valid recommendation coverage declined to 5.5% in September 2026 from 21.6% in July 2026, a drop of 16.1 points beyond normal month-to-month variation. The brand declined in each of the two months since July 2026: coverage fell to 10.7% in August 2026, then to 5.5% in September 2026. Raw mention presence fell 18.7 points from 25.8% in July 2026 to 7.1% in September 2026, and top-three rate declined 5.6 points from 10.3% to 4.7% over the same span, both beyond normal variation.

Largest Decline: Crest Capital

Crest Capital's valid recommendation coverage declined to 44.9% in September 2026, down 15.8 points from 60.7% in August 2026, a move beyond normal month-to-month variation and the largest single-month change for the brand. Across the full series, coverage fell 13.8 points from 58.7% in July 2026. Despite the lower coverage, Crest Capital's rank-one rate increased to 30.7% in September 2026 from 21.6% in July 2026, within normal variation.

Category Leader: Crest Capital

Crest Capital became the category leader in September 2026 with 44.9% valid recommendation coverage, 0.8 points ahead of National Funding at 44.1%. Its rank-one rate of 30.7% in September 2026 was the highest of any tracked brand. National Funding held the lead in both prior months, at 66.7% in July 2026 and 64.0% in August 2026.

Most other tracked brands moved within normal month-to-month variation. Balboa Capital rose for the second consecutive month, reaching 19.7% coverage in September 2026 from 12.7% in July 2026. Smarter Finance USA, Ascentium Capital, and Currency also moved up over the two-month span, while Taycor Financial and Beacon Funding eased within normal variation. Bankers Capital remained at 0.0% coverage across all three months.

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Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Two leaders with near-identical coverage rates show very different first-position rates in September 2026.

Brand	Sep 2026 top-three rate	Sep 2026 rank-one rate	Jul 2026 top-three rate	Jul 2026 rank-one rate
Crest Capital	42.5%	30.7%	40.8%	21.6%
National Funding	35.4%	7.1%	42.7%	18.8%

Crest Capital was separated from National Funding by 0.8 points of valid recommendation coverage in September 2026, yet Crest Capital was the first recommendation in 30.7% of observations versus 7.1% for National Funding. Near-equal coverage can still hide materially different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

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

Buyer-intent class	Jul 2026	Sep 2026
Brand Recommendation	213	127
Pricing & Value	0	0
Multi-Brand Comparison	0	0
Total qualified observations	213	127

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
Jul 2026	213	National Funding	66.7%	N/A (baseline month)
Aug 2026	150	National Funding	64.0%	eLease Down 10.9 points
Sep 2026	127	Crest Capital	44.9%	National Funding Down 22.6 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.

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The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper. The public percentage cannot identify the prompts, competitors, or sources causing the result.

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