LASIK Eye Surgery: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

In October 2026, LasikPlus led the LASIK Eye Surgery benchmark with a valid recommendation coverage of 22.1%, followed by The LASIK Vision Institute at 12.8%, a gap of 9.3 points. No brand posted a movement beyond normal month-to-month variation in October 2026. The largest coverage increase among tracked brands was Mann Eye Institute, rising 1.6 points from 3.5% in September 2026 to 5.1% in October 2026. The largest coverage decline was The LASIK Vision Institute, falling 3.3 points from 16.1% in September 2026 to 12.8% in October 2026.

Over the full series since July 2026, The LASIK Vision Institute declined beyond normal variation, falling 9.8 points from 22.6% in July 2026 to 12.8% in October 2026, extending a streak of declines across each of the three months since July 2026. Mann Eye Institute rose in each of the three months since July 2026, from 2.4% to 5.1%, though the cumulative move remains within normal variation. The category leader, LasikPlus, held essentially steady: its coverage of 22.1% in October 2026 compared with 21.8% in July 2026.

The benchmark began with 552 prompt-surface observations in October 2026 and produced 235 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. All six families were represented in July and October 2026.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending LASIK Eye Surgery

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design. The following table shows how observations moved through the qualification funnel.

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. See the AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology for the full qualification process.

Current Brand Standings

Questions This Section Answers

• Which LASIK brands lead on valid recommendation coverage in October 2026?
• How do presence rate and rank-one rate differ across the tracked LASIK brands?
• Which brand has the highest net sentiment in the current standings?

This table shows the current-month benchmark view for October 2026, sorted by valid recommendation coverage.

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand appears in any form, whether recommended, mentioned, or compared.
• Valid recommendation coverage: Share of qualified observations where the brand receives a valid recommendation.
• Top-three rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand appears among the top three recommended options.
• Rank-one rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand is the single first recommendation.
• Net sentiment: Balance of positive over negative mentions, on a scale from -1 to +1.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Questions This Section Answers

• Which LASIK brands moved most in valid recommendation coverage since the July 2026 baseline?
• How did The LASIK Vision Institute's coverage and presence rate change across the measurement period?

The following table tracks valid recommendation coverage from the baseline month of July 2026 to the current month of October 2026.

Between September and October 2026, the largest single-month moves were concentrated among the leaders and mid-tier brands. The LASIK Vision Institute fell 3.3 points from 16.1% in September 2026 to 12.8% in October 2026. Mann Eye Institute rose 1.6 points from 3.5% to 5.1%, and Diamond Vision rose 1.4 points from 2.4% to 3.8% over the same period.

Largest Increase: Mann Eye Institute

Mann Eye Institute rose 2.7 points from 2.4% in July 2026 to 5.1% in October 2026 in valid recommendation coverage, moving up in each of the three months since July 2026. Its top-three rate reached 3.8% and its rank-one rate reached 0.9% in October 2026. Its net sentiment score was 0.86 in October 2026, the highest among tracked brands. The brand's cumulative movement remains within normal month-to-month variation, so it is classified as a watch item, not yet a trend.

Largest Decline: The LASIK Vision Institute

The LASIK Vision Institute declined beyond normal variation, falling 9.8 points from 22.6% in July 2026 to 12.8% in October 2026 in valid recommendation coverage, declining in each of the three months since July 2026. Its presence rate also fell 19.4 points from 56.9% in July 2026 to 37.5% in October 2026. Its top-three rate fell 4.2 points from 15.3% to 11.1%, and its rank-one rate fell 1.4 points from 5.7% to 4.3% over the same period. The brand's rank-one rate remains the second-highest in the category as of October 2026.

Category Leader: LasikPlus

LasikPlus led the category in October 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 22.1%, up 0.3 points from 21.8% in July 2026. The brand led on top-three rate at 18.7%, up from 15.3% in July 2026, and on rank-one rate at 11.5%, up from 5.7% in July 2026. Its presence rate stood at 73.2% in October 2026, compared with 79.8% in July 2026. Its presence rate declined even as its first-choice strength improved.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Questions This Section Answers

• How did LasikPlus and The LASIK Vision Institute differ on top-three and rank-one rates in October 2026?
• Why can similar coverage levels hide very different first-position rates among LASIK brands?

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The following table shows placement rates for the leading brands by valid recommendation coverage.

LasikPlus and The LASIK Vision Institute recorded identical top-three and rank-one rates in July 2026, but in October 2026 LasikPlus had moved ahead by 7.6 points on top-three rate and by 7.2 points on rank-one rate. By contrast, Mann Eye Institute reached 5.1% coverage in October 2026 but recorded a 0.9% rank-one rate, while NVISION Eye Centers converted its 2.6% coverage into a 0.9% rank-one rate. Similar coverage levels can still hide very different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

Questions This Section Answers

• Which buyer-intent classes are represented in the October 2026 qualified observations?
• Which LASIK discovery classes are not yet covered by qualified observations?

In October 2026, all qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation class, the same as in July 2026.

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

• How has the coverage leader and qualified observation count changed across the July to October 2026 measurements?
• Which measurement period recorded the largest coverage movement?

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 or sales attribution
• Every possible AI response to every possible query
• Organic search ranking performance
• Social media mention volume
• Private or sponsored channels, including chatbots on brand-owned properties
• Causality from a metric movement alone; movements are recorded as observations, not explanations

Movements are recorded as observations, not explanations.

Top 10 Cited Domains

Questions This Section Answers

• Which domains are cited most often in AI responses about LASIK eye surgery?
• What types of sources appear in the top-cited domains for LASIK recommendations?

Across all AI platform responses in October 2026, the benchmark observed 4,389 citations drawn from 1,201 unique domains.

Citations are concentrated at the top of the list: the ten most-cited domains account for roughly a third of all citations, while the remainder is distributed across more than a thousand domains with lower individual counts. Three tracked brands' own domains appear in the top ten: lasikplus.com, nvisioncenters.com, and lasikvisioninstitute.com. The mix spans official brand sites, large general platforms, a user-generated forum, an insurance provider, and professional ophthalmology organizations, indicating that AI responses in this vertical draw on both commercial and independent clinical sources.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery Index is a neutral, industry-level benchmark tracking how AI/search surfaces present and recommend brands within a vertical. It measures presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment across six canonical AI surface families.

• 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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The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper, examining your specific brand's presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment across AI surfaces with greater granularity. The public percentage cannot identify the prompts, competitors, or sources causing the result.

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