STD Tests: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Questions This Section Answers

• Which STD testing brand led by valid recommendation coverage in the October 2026 benchmark?
• Which brands saw the largest coverage increases and declines since the July 2026 baseline?

Everlywell led the STD Tests category by valid recommendation coverage in October 2026 at 31.2%, ahead of LetsGetChecked at 27.3% and myLAB Box at 26.6%. The largest coverage increases since baseline came from QuestDirect and plushcare, both up 4.3 points: QuestDirect's valid recommendation coverage rose to 6.4% in October 2026 from 2.1% in July 2026, and plushcare's rose to 4.3% in October 2026 from 0.0% in July 2026, each movement beyond normal month-to-month variation. The largest coverage decline came from myLAB Box, whose valid recommendation coverage fell to 26.6% in October 2026 from 37.5% in July 2026, also beyond normal variation. Everlywell, Nurx, and PlushCare also declined beyond normal variation from their July 2026 baselines. The month was mixed: six brands moved beyond normal variation from baseline.

Most brands that had fallen in the two prior months recovered in October 2026. Everlywell rose to 31.2% in October 2026 from 20.7% in September 2026, and LetsGetChecked rose to 27.3% from 18.5%, both moves beyond normal month-to-month variation. myLAB Box rose to 26.6% from 21.7%, and Nurx rose to 13.5% from 9.2%, both within normal month-to-month variation. Despite the recovery, Everlywell, myLAB Box, and Nurx each remain below their July 2026 baselines. The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 282 qualified observations in October 2026.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth measures the number of canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation. The six families are ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending STD Tests

Research Scope and Qualification

Questions This Section Answers

• How do raw prompt-surface observations become the qualified benchmark observations used in the public percentages?

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design. The qualification funnel shows how raw prompt-surface observations become the public denominator.

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

Current Brand Standings

Questions This Section Answers

• Where did Everlywell, LetsGetChecked, and myLAB Box separate on rank-one and top-three rates?
• How wide was the recommendation coverage gap between the three leading STD testing brands and the rest of the tracked brands?

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

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: the share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned in any context, regardless of recommendation.
• Valid recommendation coverage: the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a valid recommendation shortlist. This is the primary benchmark metric.
• Top-three rate: the share of qualified observations where the brand ranks within the top three recommendations.
• Rank-one rate: the share of qualified observations where the brand is the first recommendation.
• Net sentiment: the balance of positive over negative mentions, scored from 0.0 to 1.0.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Questions This Section Answers

• Which STD testing brands moved beyond normal variation from the July 2026 baseline to October 2026?
• What do the largest increase and largest decline show about shortlist placement in this category?

Coverage movement across the tracked brands, comparing July 2026 (baseline) to October 2026 (current).

Largest Increase: QuestDirect

QuestDirect's valid recommendation coverage rose by 4.3 percentage points, to 6.4% in October 2026 from 2.1% in July 2026, an increase beyond normal month-to-month variation. The brand also rose in October 2026 from 1.0% in September 2026, its most recent monthly move beyond normal variation. Its presence rate rose to 17.0% in October 2026 from 6.5% in July 2026, a move beyond normal variation, and its top-three rate rose to 2.5% from 0.3%. The brand held 18 valid recommendations in October 2026, up from 6 in July 2026.

Largest Increase: plushcare

plushcare's valid recommendation coverage rose to 4.3% in October 2026 from 0.0% in each of the three prior months, an increase beyond normal variation. The brand had no tracked recommendations in July 2026 or the two months that followed and entered the standings in October 2026 with a presence rate of 4.6%, a top-three rate of 2.5%, and a rank-one rate of 1.1%. The brand held 12 valid recommendations in October 2026.

Largest Decline: myLAB Box

myLAB Box's valid recommendation coverage fell by 10.9 percentage points, to 26.6% in October 2026 from 37.5% in July 2026, a decline beyond normal month-to-month variation. The brand held 75 valid recommendations in October 2026, down from 110 in July 2026. Its presence rate fell to 62.1% in October 2026 from 72.4% in July 2026, and its rank-one count fell to 23 from 33.

Category Leader: Everlywell

Everlywell led by valid recommendation coverage in October 2026 at 31.2%, ahead of LetsGetChecked at 27.3% and myLAB Box at 26.6%. The leader changed through the middle of the series, with myLAB Box holding the top position in September 2026 at 21.7% before Everlywell returned to the lead. Everlywell also led on rank-one rate at 15.6%, holding 44 first-position placements, and on top-three rate at 28.7%.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Questions This Section Answers

• Why do LetsGetChecked and myLAB Box show similar top-three rates but different first-position rates?
• How does placement within the shortlist separate Everlywell from the other leading STD testing brands?

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Placement within the shortlist reveals whether a brand is cited as a top option or merely listed. Among the leading brands in October 2026:

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates. LetsGetChecked and myLAB Box held broadly similar top-three rates in October 2026, but their rank-one rates differed: Everlywell's rank-one rate of 15.6% was more than double LetsGetChecked's 7.1% and well above myLAB Box's 8.2%.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

In October 2026, all 282 qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

The current public series measures only 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

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, 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. Figures reflect the qualified public sample for each month, not the entire universe of AI-generated answers.

Top 10 Cited Domains

Across all AI platform responses in this measurement period, 6,538 citations were observed across 1,267 unique domains.

Citations are broadly distributed rather than concentrated: the ten most-cited domains together account for roughly one third of all citations across 1,267 unique domains. Five tracked brands' own domains appear in the top ten, including everlywell.com, nurx.com, ondemand.labcorp.com, letsgetchecked.com, and mylabbox.com. Health information publishers and consumer health comparison sites also feature prominently, with healthline.com holding the top position and goodrx.com and testing.com in the list, alongside google.com and youtube.com as general reference surfaces.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery Index is a neutral, monthly industry benchmark that measures how AI and search surfaces present brands across six canonical surfaces: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. It tracks presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment for each tracked brand in a category, using a consistent, audited research protocol.

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

Get a Company-Level Authority Index

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

Get my free AI Company Index