Web Hosting: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Hostinger led the Web Hosting benchmark in August 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 69.0%, down from 73.3% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand, SiteGround at 53.9%, was 15.1 percentage points. The largest coverage increase among tracked brands was GoDaddy, which rose from 7.4% in July 2026 to 9.8% in August 2026. The largest coverage decline was DreamHost, which fell from 55.5% in July 2026 to 48.2% in August 2026.

The month showed significant movement, with three brands registering declines beyond normal month-to-month variation: Bluehost, DreamHost, and SiteGround. Across the full July 2026 to August 2026 series, nine of the ten tracked brands saw their valid recommendation coverage decline, while GoDaddy was the only brand to increase. Hostinger held the top position in both months, with its 4.3 percentage point decline falling within normal variation.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 620 qualified observations in August 2026 after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI and search surface families with at least one qualified observation in the month: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. All six families were active in both July and August 2026.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design, so qualified counts are reported alongside the full collection funnel.

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

Current Brand Standings

The table below is the primary current-month benchmark view for August 2026, sorted by valid recommendation coverage.

How to Read the Standings

Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand was mentioned at all. Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand received a valid recommendation. Top-three rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand appeared in the first three recommendation positions. Rank-one rate is the share where the brand was the first recommendation. Net sentiment is the balance of positive over negative mentions among qualified observations.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Since July 2026 was the first comparable month in this series, the prior-to-current movement is identical to the baseline-to-current movement for every brand.

Largest Decline: DreamHost

DreamHost's valid recommendation coverage fell 7.3 percentage points, from 55.5% in July 2026 to 48.2% in August 2026. This was the largest single-month decline in the series and was beyond normal month-to-month variation. Presence rate also fell, from 67.3% to 62.4%, while top-three rate rose from 10.8% to 12.3%.

Largest Decline (Shared): Bluehost

Bluehost also registered a significant decline, with valid recommendation coverage down 7.2 percentage points from 58.6% in July 2026 to 51.4% in August 2026. Presence rate fell from 88.0% to 84.4%, and top-three rate declined from 34.7% to 32.6%.

Largest Decline (Shared): SiteGround

SiteGround's valid recommendation coverage declined 6.2 percentage points, from 60.1% in July 2026 to 53.9% in August 2026, beyond normal variation. Presence rate declined from 77.7% to 74.2%, but rank-one rate rose from 3.7% to 4.3%.

Category Leader: Hostinger

Hostinger led for the second consecutive month. Its valid recommendation coverage of 69.0% in August 2026 was down 4.3 percentage points from 73.3% in July 2026, though the decline stayed within normal month-to-month variation. Presence rate held at 92.3%, essentially flat from 92.1% in July 2026.

Stable Brands

Seven brands moved within normal month-to-month variation. GoDaddy was the only brand to rise, from 7.4% to 9.8%, with its presence rate rising from 39.6% to 45.3%. Namecheap and IONOS also declined, by 4.2 and 3.9 percentage points respectively, staying within the range of normal month-to-month variation. Hostinger, HostGator, InMotion Hosting, and A2 Hosting each moved by 4.3 points or less.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the category leaders, Hostinger stands out sharply on placement, with a top-three rate of 63.4% and a rank-one rate of 50.6% in August 2026. SiteGround and Bluehost, while close on coverage, differ markedly on placement.

Despite close coverage rates in August 2026, first-position recommendation rates differ sharply, with Hostinger's 50.6% far ahead of SiteGround's 4.3% and Bluehost's 4.0%.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

In both July and August 2026, all qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation class, where the AI surface was asked to recommend a hosting provider directly.

The current public series measures Brand Recommendation discovery only 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, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, private or sponsored channels, or causality from a metric movement alone. It records changes in how AI and search surfaces present tracked brands within the qualified observation set.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how often brands appear and are recommended across major AI and search surfaces. It is a neutral, industry-level benchmark designed to show category-wide movement rather than company-specific outcomes.

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

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