Tax Preparation Software: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

FreeTaxUSA led the Tax Preparation Software benchmark in August 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 82.5%, down from 84.3% in July 2026. TurboTax followed at 81.4% in August 2026, down from 82.5% in July 2026, a gap of 1.1 percentage points between the two leaders.

The largest coverage decline belonged to Jackson Hewitt, which fell to 10.9% in August 2026 from 18.5% in July 2026. Cash App Taxes also recorded a notable decline to 64.6% in August 2026 from 71.3% in July 2026. No brand showed a significant increase in coverage this month, with the category seeing movement concentrated among decliners.

The notable gaps between brands are also shifting. The gap between Jackson Hewitt and TaxAct widened from 34.3 percentage points in July 2026 to 44.3 percentage points in August 2026, and the gap between Cash App Taxes and TaxAct narrowed from 18.5 percentage points to 9.4 percentage points over the same period.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 678 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. All six families were represented in both months.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Tax Preparation Software

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 qualification rules, see 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: share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned at all.
• Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a recommendation shortlist.
• Top-three rate: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the first three recommendation slots.
• Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is the first recommendation.
• Net sentiment: positive mentions minus negative mentions as a share of all mentions, ranging from -1 to 1.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Largest Decline: Jackson Hewitt

Jackson Hewitt saw the largest decline this month, with valid recommendation coverage falling to 10.9% in August 2026 from 18.5% in July 2026, a drop beyond normal month-to-month variation. Its presence rate also declined to 15.0% in August 2026 from 23.9% in July 2026. The brand appeared in 74 qualified observations in August 2026, down from 124 in July 2026.

Largest Decline: Cash App Taxes

Cash App Taxes also declined significantly, with valid recommendation coverage falling to 64.6% in August 2026 from 71.3% in July 2026. Its presence rate declined to 68.7% in August 2026 from 74.8% in July 2026. The brand appeared in 438 qualified observations in August 2026, down from 478 in July 2026.

Category Leader: FreeTaxUSA

FreeTaxUSA remained the category leader with valid recommendation coverage of 82.5% in August 2026, down from 84.3% in July 2026. The decline was within normal month-to-month variation. Its presence rate held at 91.6% in August 2026, down slightly from 92.4% in July 2026.

The remaining eight brands held steady within normal variation. Notably, TaxAct edged up to 55.2% in August 2026 from 52.8% in July 2026, and Liberty Tax rose to 3.2% in August 2026 from 2.2% in July 2026, both moves within normal monthly variation.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The leading cluster shows how placement rates can differ meaningfully even when coverage is similar.

FreeTaxUSA and TurboTax have nearly identical coverage rates in August 2026, but TurboTax claims the first position at 34.1% versus 27.6% for FreeTaxUSA. Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class of discovery, where consumers are seeking which brand to use.

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

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 media 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 AI and search surfaces present brands during the discovery and consideration phase of the buyer journey. It measures presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment across six canonical AI/search surface families.

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

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