AEO for cybersecurity awareness training platforms: AI search visibility ranking
How AI search engines rank cybersecurity awareness training platforms by visibility and citations. 20 brands measured quarterly across Google AI Mode: which brands the AI names in answers, which domains it cites as sources, and how the leaders compare. Cybersecurity awareness training platforms used to educate employees, simulate phishing attacks, and strengthen human-layer security across organizations. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
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When asked about top Cybersecurity awareness training platforms, AI engines frequently highlight KnowBe4 as the leader. Its dominant visibility score of 75.0% underscores its prominence. Hoxhunt and Proofpoint also feature prominently in recommendations, showing robust presence in search visibility among buyers.
The rankings reflect the influence of top-cited sources, with engines often referencing domains like reddit.com, adaptivesecurity.com, and gartner.com. These aggregator and review sites play a significant role in forming the rankings, pointing to sources that consistently validate product efficacy and relevance.
For buyers, this ranking means the selection should factor in platforms recognized by AI engines for their recent reviews and third-party validation. Evaluating how a platform is perceived in authoritative sources and its topical authority within cybersecurity can lead to a more informed and strategic choice.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
KnowBe4 dominates this category with a visibility score of 75% and a citation rate of 87.5%, producing a composite score of 78.8 against a category average visibility of just 15.6%. The next closest brands, Hoxhunt and Proofpoint, both sit at 42.5% composite, meaning the gap between first and second place is larger than the entire score of most competitors. That concentration at the top signals that Google AI Mode has formed a strong preference for one authoritative brand, making displacement difficult for challengers without significant AEO effort.
A clear divergence between visibility and citation emerges across several brands in this category. Living Security holds a 0% visibility score yet a 37.5% citation rate, meaning the AI references it as a source without surfacing it as a recommended brand. NINJIO shows the same inversion at a smaller scale, with 12.5% visibility but 37.5% citations. Infosec IQ and Curricula achieve 25% visibility each while recording zero citations, indicating they appear in AI answers but are not trusted enough to be linked as sources.
Google AI Mode is the top engine for every brand in this dataset, confirming that AEO performance in this category is almost entirely determined by how that single engine interprets and cites content. Among the cited sources anchoring AI responses, reddit.com and gartner.com appear alongside brand-owned domains such as knowbe4.com and ninjio.com. The presence of reddit.com and adaptivesecurity.com as top cited sources suggests the AI is drawing on community discussion and third-party analysis rather than relying solely on vendor-owned content.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
KnowBe4 25% → 75% · rank #2 → #1+50pp
-
Wizer 0% → 38% · rank #9 → #4+38pp
-
Hoxhunt 25% → 50% · rank #1 → #2+25pp
The AEO ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
knowbe4.com
|
75% | 88% | Google AI Mode |
KnowBe4 leads every metric, with visibility at 75% and citation at 87.5%, both more than triple the category averages of 15.6% and 13.8% respectively. |
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| 2 |
hoxhunt.com
|
50% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Hoxhunt sits joint second on composite score at 42.5% but its citation rate dropped 50 points period-on-period, signalling weakening trust signals despite strong visibility. |
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| 3 |
proofpoint.com
|
50% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Proofpoint matches Hoxhunt's composite score of 42.5% with identical visibility and citation figures, yet lacks the upward momentum Hoxhunt recorded in recent visibility growth. |
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| 4 |
wizer-training.com
|
38% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Wizer is the biggest rank riser in the dataset, jumping from 9th to 4th with visibility climbing from 0% to 37.5%, though citation remains modest at 25%. |
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| 5 |
ninjio.com
|
12% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
NINJIO shows an inverted profile, with citation at 37.5% outpacing visibility at 12.5%, suggesting it is cited as a source more often than it is featured as a recommended brand. |
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| 6 |
infosecinstitute.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
huntress.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
mimecast.com
|
12% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
livingsecurity.com
|
0% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
cofense.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
microsoft.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
usecure.io
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
keepnetlabs.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
terranovasecurity.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
cybeready.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
hooksecurity.co
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
riotsecurity.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
metacompliance.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
safetitan.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
sophos.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on cybersecurity awareness training platforms, these are the domains Google AI Mode cited most often. If you're not on this list — or if your competitors are — that's a concrete PR / linkbuilding target.
How to read this AEO ranking
Four things worth knowing before you act on the numbers above. These are the same definitions across every industry page — for category-specific observations, see the What we observed section above (where available) and the per-brand insights inline in the ranking.
Visibility = being named
A brand's visibility % is the share of AI answers that mention it by name in the response prose. This is who AI engines actively recommend to the buyer. More on visibility →
Citation rate = being trusted
Citation rate is the share of AI answers that include the brand's domain as a clickable source link. This is what the AI treats as authoritative evidence, different from being named. More on citation rate →
Top engine differs by brand
The "top engine" column shows which AI surface each brand performs best on. Big gaps between a brand's score across engines usually points to specific content or schema gaps. How AI engines pick sources →
AEO rankings move month to month
AI engines re-crawl and re-rank on shorter cycles than classical search. We re-audit every brand on this list at least every 90 days and refresh this page automatically. How AI search ranking works →
Run an AEO audit on your own cybersecurity awareness training platforms brand
The brands above were curated from public market-leader lists. Want the same answer engine optimisation measurement against your own brand — including the queries you appear on, which competitors get named instead, and a prioritised fix list? Run a free preview.
Frequently asked about AEO for cybersecurity awareness training platforms
Who leads AEO in cybersecurity awareness training platforms?
KnowBe4 leads by a wide margin, scoring 78.8% composite against the next-placed brands at 42.5%. Its citation rate of 87.5% is the highest in the category and more than six times the category average.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for cybersecurity awareness training research?
The top cited sources in this category include reddit.com, gartner.com, adaptivesecurity.com, and brand-owned domains such as knowbe4.com and ninjio.com, indicating the AI draws on a mix of community, analyst, and vendor content.
Can a brand be cited by AI without appearing in its visible recommendations?
Yes. Living Security has a 0% visibility score but a 37.5% citation rate in this category, meaning Google AI Mode references it as a source while not surfacing it as a featured brand in answers.
Which brands in this category have the weakest AEO performance despite some market presence?
Infosec IQ and Curricula both record 25% visibility but zero citations, meaning they appear in AI answers without being treated as trusted sources worth linking.
How concentrated is AEO performance in the cybersecurity awareness training category?
Performance is heavily concentrated at the top. KnowBe4's composite score of 78.8% is nearly double that of the joint second-placed brands, while the category average visibility sits at just 15.6%.
Which engine should cybersecurity awareness training brands prioritise for AEO?
All ten ranked brands in this dataset record Google AI Mode as their top engine, making it the single most important platform for AEO investment in this category.