Identity Theft Protection: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Aura remained the Identity Theft Protection benchmark leader in September 2026, holding 81.0% valid recommendation coverage — essentially stable against 83.7% in July 2026 across the three-month series, and up slightly from 80.1% in August 2026, reversing the prior month's decline. The gap to the next brand, LifeLock, widened to 3.0 points, as LifeLock reached 78.0% coverage in September 2026, down from 82.2% in July 2026.

Two brands registered declines beyond normal variation. IdentityForce fell to 46.2% in September 2026 from 58.5% in July 2026, a decline recorded in each of the two months since baseline. Zander Insurance declined to 4.0% in September 2026 from 12.6% in July 2026, also falling in each of the two months since baseline. Among stable brands, Identity Guard rose to 45.4% in September 2026 from 39.8% in August 2026, reversing the prior month's decline, while IDShield increased to 37.8% from 33.4% over the same period, also reversing a prior decline.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 405 qualified observations in September 2026 after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation. The six families tested are ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. All six families produced qualified observations in September 2026.

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

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. 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 is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the AI answer at all. Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a clear recommendation context. Top-three rate is the share where the brand appears among the top three recommended options. Rank-one rate is the share where the brand is the single top recommendation. Net sentiment measures the balance of positive over negative brand mentions.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Largest Decline: IdentityForce

IdentityForce posted the largest decline since baseline, with valid recommendation coverage down 12.3 points to 46.2%. The brand declined in each of the two months since July 2026. Presence rate fell to 55.1% in September 2026 from 65.1% in July 2026, a 10.0-point difference. Valid recommendation count stood at 187 in September 2026 compared with 233 in July 2026.

Largest Decline: Zander Insurance

Zander Insurance declined in each of the two months since July 2026, falling 8.6 points to 4.0% valid recommendation coverage. The prior-month move also stood out, with coverage down from 8.0% in August 2026. Presence rate fell to 4.9% in September 2026 from 13.6% in July 2026. Valid recommendation count stood at 16 in September 2026 compared with 50 in July 2026.

Category Leader: Aura

Aura remained the category leader at 81.0% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026, up from 80.1% in August 2026. Its top-three rate of 79.0% and rank-one rate of 59.5% were both the highest in the benchmark, though the rank-one rate fell 8.8 points from 68.3% in July 2026.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended, and the top two brands illustrate the difference well.

Near-identical coverage can still hide very different first-position rates. Aura and LifeLock were separated by 3.0 points in coverage in September 2026, yet Aura was the top recommendation in 59.5% of qualified observations while LifeLock held the top spot in 17.0%, up from 8.3% in July 2026.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in September 2026 fell into the Brand Recommendation class, as they did in July 2026.

The current public series measures brand recommendation discovery only and does not yet contain qualified observations for pricing or comparison questions.

Historical Measurement Record

This is an evergreen benchmark URL. 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, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, or private or sponsored channels. A metric movement alone does not establish causality; the benchmark records the change rather than explaining why it occurred.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral, industry-level benchmark tracking how AI and search surfaces present brands across a vertical. It measures presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment as distinct signals and does not assign one brand credit for another's standing.

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

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