Expense Management Software: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Ramp led the field in August 2026 with 59.5% valid recommendation coverage, down from 68.9% in July 2026, while Expensify held the second position at 49.1% in August 2026, up from 45.2% in July 2026, narrowing the gap between the two leaders from 23.7 percentage points to 10.4 percentage points. The largest coverage increase came from BILL Spend & Expense, which advanced from 20.5% in July 2026 to 23.3% in August 2026, and Expensify also rose from 45.2% in July 2026 to 49.1% in August 2026. The largest coverage decline was Brex, falling from 56.7% in July 2026 to 45.8% in August 2026, with Zoho Inventory dropping from 7.2% to 0.0% and Ramp declining from 68.9% to 59.5% across the same period.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 511 qualified observations in August 2026 after qualification.

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.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Expense Management 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. Link: AI Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned at all.
• 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 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 all mentions carrying sentiment.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Largest Decline: Brex

Brex fell from 56.7% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 45.8% in August 2026, a decline of 10.9 percentage points that moved beyond normal month-to-month variation. Presence also fell, from 72.7% to 62.2%, and top-three placement declined from 37.8% to 29.8%. Rank-one rate moved from 8.2% to 5.5%.

Largest Decline: Ramp

Ramp declined from 68.9% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 59.5% in August 2026, a drop of 9.4 percentage points beyond normal variation, though it retained the coverage lead. Top-three placement also fell, from 54.5% to 46.8%, while presence moved from 87.5% to 83.2%.

Largest Decline: Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory fell from 7.2% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 0.0% in August 2026, a decline of 7.2 percentage points beyond normal variation. The brand recorded no presence in August 2026, down from 7.6% presence in July 2026.

Other Movers

Airbase declined from 7.6% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 4.3% in August 2026, a drop of 3.3 percentage points beyond normal variation. Expensify's rank-one rate rose from 7.8% to 11.7%, a 3.9-point increase. Navan's rank-one rate fell from 12.5% to 8.0%, a 4.5-point decline. BILL Spend & Expense posted the largest coverage increase, rising 2.8 points from 20.5% to 23.3%, though within normal month-to-month variation.

Category Leader: Ramp

Ramp led valid recommendation coverage in August 2026 at 59.5%, down from 68.9% in July 2026 but still ahead of Expensify at 49.1%. Ramp also led presence rate at 83.2% and rank-one rate at 27.4% in August 2026.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leading brands in August 2026, Ramp held the strongest first-position presence at 27.4%, more than double Expensify's 11.7%.

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates: Brex's 45.8% coverage in August 2026 placed it in the top three 29.8% of the time, but it ranked first only 5.5% of the time, while Expensify ranked first 11.7% of the time on 49.1% coverage.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

In both July and August 2026, all qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

The current public series measures brand recommendation discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the pricing and value or multi-brand comparison classes.

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, sales attribution, or commercial outcomes from AI recommendations.
• Every possible AI response; it covers a defined set of prompt-surface observations.
• Organic-search ranking or social mention volume.
• Private or sponsored channels.
• Causality from a metric movement alone; movements are recorded, not explained.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral, repeatable benchmark of how AI and search surfaces recommend brands and products across a vertical. It tracks presence, recommendation coverage, placement, sentiment, and buyer-intent class on a monthly basis.

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

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