Managed Detection and Response: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

CrowdStrike Falcon led the Managed Detection and Response benchmark with 71.4% valid recommendation coverage in August 2026, up from 66.0% in July 2026. The gap over the next closest brand, SentinelOne at 60.9% in August 2026, widened to 10.5 points from 9.9 points in July 2026.

No tracked brand moved beyond normal month-to-month variation in August 2026. The largest coverage increase was CrowdStrike Falcon, which rose 5.4 points from 66.0% in July 2026 to 71.4% in August 2026. The largest coverage decline was Sophos Intercept X, which fell 4.1 points from 44.8% in July 2026 to 40.7% in August 2026.

Since the baseline month of July 2026, CrowdStrike Falcon, Rapid7 InsightIDR, Secureworks Taegis, and SentinelOne have moved upward on valid recommendation coverage, while Arctic Wolf, Deepwatch, eSentire, Expel, Red Canary, and Sophos Intercept X have moved downward, all within normal variation. The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 447 qualified observations in August 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. Both months reached the maximum breadth of six.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Managed Detection and Response

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.

For full methodology, see AI Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: share of qualified observations in which the brand is mentioned at all.
• Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations in which the brand earns a valid recommendation.
• Top-three rate: share of qualified observations in which the brand appears in the top three recommended positions.
• Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations in which the brand is the first recommendation.
• Net sentiment: ratio of positive to total sentiment-bearing mentions, from 0 to 1.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

August 2026 was a quiet month for the Managed Detection and Response benchmark. No brand moved beyond normal month-to-month variation on valid recommendation coverage. All ten tracked brands are classified as stable.

A closer look at supporting metrics shows Sophos Intercept X declined across all three secondary signals in August 2026: presence rate fell 10.6 points from 59.8% in July 2026 to 49.2% in August 2026, top-three rate fell 10.0 points from 26.1% to 16.1%, and rank-one rate fell 3.6 points from 5.8% to 2.2%. The primary coverage measure moved a smaller 4.1 points and is classified as stable.

Largest Increase: CrowdStrike Falcon

CrowdStrike Falcon's valid recommendation coverage rose 5.4 points from 66.0% in July 2026 to 71.4% in August 2026, within normal variation. The brand's presence rate was effectively steady at 95.5% in August 2026, down 1.4 points from 96.9% in July 2026. Its top-three rate declined 6.5 points and its rank-one rate declined 5.0 points despite higher coverage.

Largest Decline: Sophos Intercept X

Sophos Intercept X's valid recommendation coverage fell 4.1 points from 44.8% in July 2026 to 40.7% in August 2026, within normal variation. Supporting metrics showed much larger point movements, including a 10.6-point presence decline.

Category Leader: CrowdStrike Falcon

CrowdStrike Falcon remained the category leader for valid recommendation coverage at 71.4% in August 2026, up from 66.0% in July 2026. SentinelOne held second place at 60.9% in August 2026, up from 56.1% in July 2026. The leader's gap over SentinelOne widened from 9.9 points in July 2026 to 10.5 points in August 2026.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The top two brands by valid recommendation coverage show different placement profiles. CrowdStrike Falcon led both top-three and rank-one rates in August 2026, while SentinelOne's rank-one rate was markedly lower despite high coverage.

Arctic Wolf, at 23.0% valid recommendation coverage in August 2026, achieved an 8.1% rank-one rate, higher than SentinelOne's 2.5% despite less than half the coverage. Close coverage can still hide very different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class, representing discovery and consideration intent.

The current public series measures Brand Recommendation discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison classes.

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 or sales attribution
• Every possible AI response to a given query
• Organic-search ranking positions
• Social mention volume
• Private or sponsored channels
• Causality from a metric movement alone

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how brands appear and are recommended across six canonical AI/search surface families: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. It is a neutral industry benchmark; every brand is treated on its own terms.

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

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