Identity and Access Management: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Okta led the Identity and Access Management category in September 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 38.0%, down from 42.4% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand stood at 3.9 percentage points, with SailPoint at 34.1% in September 2026, down from 35.1% in July 2026.

No tracked brand moved beyond normal month-to-month variation in September 2026, marking another quiet month for the category. The largest month-over-month coverage decline was Okta, which fell 4.8 points from 42.8% in August 2026 to 38.0% in September 2026. SailPoint recorded the second-largest decline, down 3.8 points from 37.9% in August 2026 to 34.1% in September 2026. Over the full July-to-September 2026 series, Okta has led in all three months. Its valid recommendation coverage rose from 42.4% in July 2026 to 42.8% in August 2026, then declined to 38.0% in September 2026. Okta's leadership position held, but its 4.4-point decline since July signals a narrowing competitive gap.

The September 2026 benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations and produced 255 qualified observations 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. In the intervening month of August 2026, the benchmark produced 243 qualified observations.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Identity and Access Management

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark denominator is the qualified observation count for each month, not the full raw collection. The benchmark collection begins with 800 prompt-surface observations in July 2026 and in September 2026. After accounting for unique questions, brand mentions, and relevance filtering, the qualified public benchmark narrowed to 191 observations in July 2026 and 255 in September 2026.

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. For the full methodology, see AI Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

This table is the primary current-month benchmark view, sorted by valid recommendation coverage.

The category shows a two-brand competitive structure: Okta and SailPoint dominate, while BeyondTrust holds a distant third position and six tracked brands receive no valid recommendations.

How to Read the Standings

Presence rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand was mentioned by the AI answer, regardless of recommendation. Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations in which the brand received a valid recommendation. Top-three rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand appeared among the first three recommendations. Rank-one rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand was the first recommendation. Net sentiment measures the balance of positive over negative mention tone, from -1.0 to +1.0.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

September 2026 was a quiet month: no brand moved beyond normal month-to-month variation on valid recommendation coverage. BeyondTrust declined in each of the two months since July 2026, moving from 15.2% to 11.9% in August 2026 and to 10.6% in September 2026. Keyfactor also declined in both intervening months, from 1.1% in July 2026 to 0.4% in August 2026 and to 0.0% in September 2026. Okta's rank-one rate rose to 22.0% in September 2026, up from 17.8% in July 2026, even as its overall valid recommendation coverage declined. Okta's first-choice strength improved while its overall coverage fell, suggesting brand recall is holding even as recommendation breadth narrows. SailPoint's top-three rate increased to 24.7% in September 2026, up from 17.8% in July 2026.

Category Leader: Okta

Okta held the category lead in September 2026 at 38.0% valid recommendation coverage, down from 42.4% in July 2026. The brand was present in 94.1% of qualified observations and reached the top three in 34.9%, with a rank-one rate of 22.0%. Okta led the category in all three months of the series.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Okta and SailPoint both show strong coverage, but their placement patterns diverge sharply.

Okta's rank-one rate of 22.0% in September 2026 was far ahead of SailPoint's 3.9%, despite the two brands sitting within 3.9 points of each other on overall coverage. Close coverage can still hide very different first-position rates. The commercial distinction is first-choice preference, not overall discoverability.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in September 2026 fell into the brand recommendation class of buyer-intent discovery.

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. The current dataset cannot answer pricing, value, or head-to-head comparison questions in this category.

Historical Measurement Record

New measurements are added to the same report.

The three-month series is too short to treat Okta's September decline as an established trend.

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. It measures how tracked brands appear and are recommended across qualified AI/search surface responses in the Identity and Access Management category.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral, industry-level benchmark tracking how brands are discovered, mentioned, and recommended across canonical AI and search surfaces. It records the change; it does not, by itself, establish why the change occurred.

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

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The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper. The public benchmark cannot identify the prompts, competitors, or sources driving an individual brand's result.

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