LLC Formation Services: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Northwest Registered Agent leads the LLC Formation Services benchmark in September 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 63.6%, a gap of 5.9 points over second-place ZenBusiness at 57.7%. LegalZoom holds third at 46.8%. September 2026 was a quiet month for the vertical: no brand qualified as a significant riser or decliner, and every tracked brand's coverage moved within normal month-to-month variation.

Across the full July-to-September series, Northwest Registered Agent's lead over Bizee (Incfile) widened in every month, from an 8.0-point gap in July to a 17.7-point gap in September. Its lead over LegalZoom widened similarly, from 7.6 points to 16.8 points, and its lead over Rocket Lawyer grew from 44.8 points to 52.4 points. The benchmark produced 357 qualified observations in September 2026, up from 315 in July 2026.

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 three months measured across all six families. August 2026 saw 384 qualified observations before settling at 357 in September 2026.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending LLC Formation Services

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark reports on qualified observations only, after removing off-topic and non-substantive prompt-surface responses. September 2026 produced 357 qualified observations. Within the September total, 143 qualified observations were recommendation-shaped answers and 232 contained a valid, attributable recommendation shortlist. Brand-level percentages throughout this report use the 357 qualified observations as the public denominator, not a raw collection volume.

AI Market Discovery Methodology

Current Brand Standings

How to Read the Standings

Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned in the AI response. Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a clearly attributable recommendation shortlist. 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 first recommendation. Net sentiment score runs from -1 (all negative mentions) to +1 (all positive mentions).

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Across the full series, most brands' September 2026 coverage sits close to their August 2026 level. Northwest Registered Agent posted its highest coverage of the three months tracked, at 63.6%. Bizee (Incfile), LegalZoom, and Rocket Lawyer remain below their July 2026 starting point despite each posting a higher figure in September than in August.

No brand qualified as a significant riser or decliner in September 2026; all ten tracked brands moved within normal month-to-month variation, and no watch items emerged.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leading brands, Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness also led on placement in September 2026.

Close coverage rates can still hide different first-position rates, as seen with LegalZoom and Bizee (Incfile): both posted rank-one rates below 5% in September 2026 despite meaningfully different top-three rates of 17.9% and 32.8%, respectively.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in each of the three months 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, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, private or sponsored channels, or causality from a metric movement alone. Movement in any single metric should not be read as a causal signal.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral, industry-level benchmark tracking how AI search surfaces recommend brands within a vertical. It reports presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment across six canonical AI surface families from a qualified set of prompt-level observations.

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

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