eSignature Software: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

DocuSign leads the eSignature Software benchmark in October 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 70.4%, ahead of PandaDoc at 61.6%, a gap of 8.8 points between the top two brands. The category recorded no movement beyond normal month-to-month variation this month: no brand rose or fell far enough to register as a significant change in October 2026.

The largest coverage increase since baseline came from Signeasy, whose valid recommendation coverage rose to 11.4% in October 2026 from 6.5% in July 2026. The largest coverage decline since baseline came from Dropbox Sign, whose valid recommendation coverage fell to 45.8% in October 2026 from 54.5% in July 2026. Both moves accumulated across the series rather than inside the current month.

The current benchmark is built from 456 qualified observations in October 2026, up from 415 in July 2026.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. The benchmark held coverage across all six families in each month of the series. Qualified observations peaked at 457 in both August and September 2026 before easing to 456 in October 2026.

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

Current Brand Standings

Questions This Section Answers

• Which eSignature brands lead the October 2026 standings by valid recommendation coverage?
• How do top-three and rank-one rates differ between DocuSign, PandaDoc, and Adobe Acrobat Sign?

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 where the brand is mentioned at least once.
• Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand receives a clear, actionable recommendation in any position.
• Top-three rate: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the first three recommended positions.
• Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is the single top recommendation.
• Net sentiment: positive mentions minus negative mentions, divided by total mentions, on a scale from -1 to 1.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Questions This Section Answers

• Which brands recorded meaningful coverage movement since the July 2026 baseline?
• How did Signeasy's steady gains and Dropbox Sign's decline unfold across the series?

Zoho Sign appeared in the tracked set during August 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 12.9%, returned no coverage in September 2026 and October 2026, and measured 0.0% in both the baseline and current months shown here.

Largest Increase: Signeasy

Signeasy's valid recommendation coverage rose to 11.4% in October 2026 from 6.5% in July 2026, a change beyond normal month-to-month variation. It is the only brand in the series to record a significant cumulative increase. Signeasy rose in each of the three months since July 2026: 6.5% in July, 8.8% in August, 9.0% in September, and 11.4% in October 2026. Presence rate was 16.2% in October 2026, up from 12.0% in July 2026. Top-three rate rose to 5.3% in October 2026 from 1.9% in July 2026. The brand held no rank-one positions in October 2026, down from 0.7% in July 2026. Net sentiment rose to 0.73 from 0.62 over the same period. The margin between Signeasy and Dropbox Sign narrowed from 48.0 points in July 2026 to 34.4 points in October 2026, and it narrowed in every month of the series.

Largest Decline: Dropbox Sign

Dropbox Sign's valid recommendation coverage fell to 45.8% in October 2026 from 54.5% in July 2026, a change beyond normal month-to-month variation. The decline accumulated across the series: 54.5% in July 2026, 48.6% in August 2026, 44.6% in September 2026, and 45.8% in October 2026. Presence rate was 60.5% in October 2026, down from 69.6% in July 2026. Top-three rate moved in the opposite direction, rising to 26.8% in October 2026 from 17.8% in July 2026. Rank-one rate rose to 3.1% from 1.5%. Net sentiment was 0.81 in October 2026, roughly level with 0.83 in July 2026. The margin between DocuSign and Dropbox Sign widened from 11.8 points in July 2026 to 24.6 points in October 2026, widening in every month of the series.

Category Leader: DocuSign

DocuSign held category leadership across the series, with valid recommendation coverage of 70.4% in October 2026 and 66.3% in July 2026, a change within normal month-to-month variation. It rose in each of the last two months, including a 5.6 point gain from September to October 2026 that stayed inside normal variation. Top-three rate rose to 66.7% in October 2026 from 59.5% in July 2026. Rank-one rate was 54.2% in October 2026 versus 52.8% in July 2026. Presence rate was 98.9% in October 2026, the highest reading in the tracked set.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Questions This Section Answers

• Why can similar recommendation coverage hide very different first-position rates?
• How far apart are DocuSign, PandaDoc, and Adobe Acrobat Sign on top-three versus rank-one placement?

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The three leading brands by coverage are compared below.

Adobe Acrobat Sign holds a top-three rate within 22.0 points of DocuSign while its rank-one rate is 48.1 points lower, and PandaDoc shows a similar pattern: close coverage can still hide very different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

Questions This Section Answers

• Which buyer-intent classes actually produced qualified observations in this benchmark?
• What does the all-Brand-Recommendation split mean for interpreting the standings?

All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

The current public series measures that class of discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the empty classes.

Historical Measurement Record

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 revenue attribution
• Attributable sales or conversions
• Every possible AI response to every possible query
• Organic-search ranking positions
• Social media mention volume
• Private or sponsored channels
• Causality from a metric movement alone

Top 10 Cited Domains

Questions This Section Answers

• Which domains were cited most often across AI platform responses?
• Which tracked brands have their own domains among the top cited sources?

Across all AI platform responses in this measurement period, the benchmark recorded 5,882 citations drawn from 798 unique domains.

Citations are broadly distributed: the ten most-cited domains account for a minority of all citations, and no single domain reaches double-digit share. Three tracked brands have their own domains in the top ten: docusign.com, pandadoc.com, and signeasy.com, with adobe.com referencing the vendor behind Adobe Acrobat Sign. The remaining entries are a mix of video, integration and workflow directories, community forums, general search, and third-party eSignature vendors.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery Index tracks how AI search and chat surfaces discover, mention, and recommend brands across verticals. It is built from transparent, repeatable prompt-level research.

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

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