eSignature Software: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

DocuSign held category leadership in the eSignature Software benchmark in August 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 63.7%, ahead of PandaDoc's 57.3% and Adobe Acrobat Sign's 56.9%. The category showed two significant movements this month. Zoho Sign entered the tracked brand set with a valid recommendation coverage of 12.9% in August 2026, up from no tracked presence in July 2026, and PandaDoc's valid recommendation coverage fell to 57.3% in August 2026, down from 64.3% in July 2026, a decline beyond normal month-to-month variation.

DocuSign's lead itself remained stable, at 63.7% in August 2026, down from 66.3% in July 2026, a change within normal month-to-month variation, while its top-three placement rate held steady at 59.5% across both months. The benchmark evaluated 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 457 qualified observations in August 2026 after qualification, 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 both July and August 2026.

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

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

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 Market Discovery Metric Definitions.

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Largest Increase: Zoho Sign

Zoho Sign entered the tracked brand set in August 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 12.9%, up from no tracked presence in July 2026. Across supporting metrics, its presence rate reached 17.9% and its top-three rate reached 3.3% in August 2026, with a rank-one rate of 0.2%. Net sentiment was 0.74. The move coincides with a shift in tracked Zoho brands: Zoho Inventory appears in no qualified observations in August 2026.

Largest Decline: PandaDoc

PandaDoc's valid recommendation coverage fell to 57.3% in August 2026, down from 64.3% in July 2026, a decline beyond normal month-to-month variation. Top-three placement also declined to 34.1% in August 2026, down from 39.3% in July 2026, and rank-one rate declined to 3.9% in August 2026, down from 5.3% in July 2026. Net sentiment remained strongly positive at 0.82 in August 2026.

Category Leader: DocuSign

DocuSign maintained category leadership with a valid recommendation coverage of 63.7% in August 2026, down from 66.3% in July 2026, a change within normal month-to-month variation. Its top-three rate held steady at 59.5% across both months, and its rank-one rate rose slightly to 53.4% in August 2026, up from 52.8% in July 2026.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The leading cluster shows how close coverage can still hide different first-position rates.

DocuSign's high top-three rate translates into a rank-one position in the large majority of its appearances, while Adobe Acrobat Sign's and PandaDoc's similar coverage levels produce much lower first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

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 pricing or comparison 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

This benchmark cannot answer pricing, value, or head-to-head comparison questions, and no metric movement should be treated as causal by itself.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI 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 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 into your brand's specific AI discovery landscape. The public percentage cannot identify the prompts, competitors, or sources causing the result.

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