Hosted Exchange: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Questions This Section Answers

• Which brand leads the Hosted Exchange benchmark, and by how much?
• Which brands moved beyond normal month-to-month variation this month?

Google Workspace led the Hosted Exchange benchmark in October 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 50.7%, up from 44.5% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand, IONOS, was 30.3 points, with IONOS at 20.4% in October 2026, up from 18.3% in July 2026.

The largest coverage increase since the prior month was Google Workspace, rising to 50.7% in October 2026 from 37.8% in September 2026, a move beyond normal month-to-month variation. The largest coverage decline this month was Zoho Inventory, falling to 0.0% in October 2026 from 4.5% in September 2026, also beyond normal variation.

Three tracked brands were classified as significant decliners across the series: Microsoft SharePoint, Rackspace Email, and Zoho Inventory. Zoho Inventory declined in each of the three months since July 2026. Microsoft SharePoint and Rackspace Email also recorded lower coverage than at the July 2026 baseline.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 284 qualified observations in October 2026 after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

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. All six families were present in each month of the series.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

Questions This Section Answers

• How many collected prompt-surface observations qualified for the public Hosted Exchange benchmark?
• Why is the public denominator smaller than the raw collection universe?

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. See AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

Questions This Section Answers

• Where does each Hosted Exchange brand stand on recommendation coverage and top-three placement?
• What is the difference between presence rate and valid recommendation coverage?

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned in any capacity.
• Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a legitimate recommendation context.
• 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 first or only recommendation.
• Net sentiment: positive minus negative mentions divided by total mentions, ranging from -1 to 1.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Questions This Section Answers

• Which Hosted Exchange brands gained or lost recommendation coverage since the July 2026 baseline?
• Which brands recorded moves beyond normal month-to-month variation?

Between September 2026 and October 2026, Google Workspace and GoDaddy recorded moves beyond normal month-to-month variation, rising 12.9 points to 50.7% and 5.7 points to 13.4% respectively. Zoho Inventory recorded the largest decline in that same period, falling to zero.

Largest Increase: GoDaddy

GoDaddy recorded the largest coverage increase in the series, rising to 13.4% in October 2026 from 8.6% in July 2026, an increase of 4.8 points within normal variation. The brand's move from September 2026 to October 2026 was its largest single-month move in the series. GoDaddy also recorded 38 valid recommendation observations in October 2026, up from 24 in September 2026 and 27 in July 2026.

Largest Decline: Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory recorded the largest coverage decline in the series, falling to zero from 7.4% in July 2026, a drop beyond normal variation. The brand declined in each of the three months since July 2026. In October 2026 it recorded no presence, no valid recommendations, and no top-three or rank-one placements, down from 14 valid recommendation observations in September 2026 and 23 in July 2026.

Category Leader: Google Workspace

Google Workspace remained the category leader for valid recommendation coverage. Coverage rose to 50.7% in October 2026 from 44.5% in July 2026, an increase within normal variation across the series, with a 12.9 point gain from September 2026 to October 2026. Google Workspace also holds the highest top-three rate and the highest rank-one rate in October 2026.

Additional Declines: Microsoft SharePoint and Rackspace Email

Microsoft SharePoint was classified as a significant decliner, falling to zero coverage in October 2026, a drop beyond normal variation, and recorded no valid recommendation observations in October 2026 or September 2026. Rackspace Email also declined significantly, falling to 2.5% from 6.1% in July 2026. Rackspace Email recovered slightly from its September 2026 low, gaining into October 2026 within normal variation.

Watch Item: OVHcloud

OVHcloud rose to 6.7% in October 2026 from 4.2% in July 2026, an increase within normal variation. The brand has now recorded three consecutive monthly gains, though the cumulative movement remains within normal variation. This is not yet a trend.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Questions This Section Answers

• How prominently are the leading Hosted Exchange brands recommended in the top three and first positions?
• Can brands with similar coverage have very different rank-one rates?

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The placement snapshot shows how often a brand appears in the top three and first positions. For the leading brands in October 2026:

Similar coverage can still hide different first-position rates. IONOS and GoDaddy sit 4.9 points apart on top-three placement, but IONOS's 4.2% rank-one rate is only 1.0 point above GoDaddy's 3.2%.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

Questions This Section Answers

• Which buyer-intent classes are represented in the qualified Hosted Exchange observations?
• What buyer-intent classes does the current public series not yet cover?

The qualified observations in this benchmark fell into the Brand Recommendation class of buyer intent.

All qualified observations in each month sit in a single class. The current public series measures the Brand Recommendation class of discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison classes.

Historical Measurement Record

Questions This Section Answers

• Has Google Workspace held the coverage lead across every measurement period?
• What does the four-month measurement series show about qualified observation counts?

This is an evergreen benchmark URL. New measurements are added to the same report.

Evidence and Source Layer

Questions This Section Answers

• What does the prompt-level evidence layer capture for each Hosted Exchange observation?
• Does a source appearing in AI responses prove it caused the recommendation?

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, not automatic proof that the source caused the recommendation.

Scope Boundaries

The public benchmark cannot measure:

• Market share or attributable sales
• Every possible AI response or surface beyond the six canonical families
• Organic-search ranking or social mention volume
• Private or sponsored channels
• Causality from a metric movement alone

Top 10 Cited Domains

Questions This Section Answers

• Which domains are cited most often across AI platform responses?
• Which tracked brands' own domains appear in the top 10 cited domains?

Across all AI platform responses in this measurement period, 6,148 citations were observed across 1,352 unique domains.

Citations are broadly distributed, with the top 10 domains together accounting for 35.3% of all citations and the majority spread across more than 1,300 other domains. Three tracked brands' own domains appear in the top 10: godaddy.com, ionos.com, and workspace.google.com. Vendor and platform sites make up the largest cluster, alongside community and review-style sources and a news outlet.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery Index tracks how AI and search surfaces present and recommend brands in response to real discovery prompts. It measures presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment as distinct signals.

• 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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