AEO for devSecOps platforms: AI search visibility ranking
How AI search engines rank devSecOps 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. DevSecOps platforms used to embed security into developer workflows, scan code and dependencies, and reduce release risk across modern pipelines. 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 buyers ask AI engines about DevSecOps platforms, Snyk frequently emerges as the top recommendation. This leader, along with GitHub Advanced Security and Checkmarx, stands out in the industry. Notably, Snyk has a visibility score of 75%, making it the most recognizable name among AI-generated suggestions in this category.
The rankings are shaped by the domains AI engines frequently pull data from, such as endorlabs.com, aikido.dev, and cycode.com. These are key sources for information, often including aggregator or review sites, which consolidate insights and user feedback, thereby influencing AI engines' brand mentions and rankings.
For buyers, understanding these AI-driven recommendations means considering factors like the freshness of reviews and third-party validation. AI engines value recent, comprehensive analyses, so focusing on brands with strong topical authority and consistent expert feedback in the DevSecOps subcategory can be crucial in decision-making.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
Snyk and GitHub Advanced Security share the top visibility score of 75.0%, well above the category average of 13.8%, which means these two brands dominate AI-generated responses while the remaining 18 brands are largely absent. Snyk holds rank 1 with a composite score of 56.2 versus GitHub Advanced Security's 52.5, a gap driven entirely by citation rate (12.5% versus 0.0%). The distance between these two leaders and the rest of the field is steep, with rank 3 Checkmarx sitting at 50.0% visibility and no brand below rank 4 exceeding 12.5% visibility.
Cycode presents the sharpest divergence between visibility and citation in the dataset. It holds 0.0% visibility but 62.5% citation, the highest citation rate of any brand, giving it rank 5 overall. This means AI is referencing Cycode as a source but not naming it in descriptive answers. Checkmarx shows the inverse pattern at a healthier balance, with 50.0% visibility and 50.0% citation. GitHub Advanced Security sits at the opposite extreme from Cycode, with 75.0% visibility and 0.0% citation, meaning it is named frequently but never used as a source.
Google AI Mode is the top engine for every single brand in this dataset, indicating the audit is anchored almost entirely on that one engine's behaviour. The top cited sources list is dominated by third-party and niche domains such as endorlabs.com, aikido.dev, and accuknox.com rather than the major platform vendors themselves. Checkmarx.com and cycode.com are the only brand-owned domains appearing in the top cited sources list, suggesting AI is pulling supporting evidence from analyst and community content rather than vendor sites.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
GitHub Advanced Security 0% → 75% · rank #9 → #2+75pp
-
Checkmarx 0% → 50% · rank #6 → #3+50pp
-
Snyk 38% → 75% · rank #2 → #1+38pp
The AEO ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
snyk.io
|
75% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
Snyk leads with 75.0% visibility and a 12.5% citation rate, giving it the highest composite score of 56.2, ahead of all 20 brands in the category. |
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| 2 |
github.com
|
75% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
GitHub Advanced Security matches Snyk on visibility at 75.0% but records 0.0% citation, the largest visibility-to-citation gap among the top five brands. |
||||
| 3 |
checkmarx.com
|
50% | 50% | Google AI Mode |
Checkmarx is the only top-five brand with balanced scores, posting identical 50.0% visibility and citation rates after rising from rank 6 with a 50-point visibility gain. |
||||
| 4 |
gitlab.com
|
62% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
GitLab holds 62.5% visibility, above the category average by nearly 49 points, but its 12.5% citation rate keeps its composite score at 47.5, behind Checkmarx. |
||||
| 5 |
cycode.com
|
0% | 62% | Google AI Mode |
Cycode posts the highest citation rate in the dataset at 62.5% but 0.0% visibility, making it the most-cited brand that AI never names in direct responses. |
||||
| 6 |
mend.io
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
aquasec.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
paloaltonetworks.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
jfrog.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
sysdig.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
legitsecurity.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
apiiro.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
tenable.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
sonarsource.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
veracode.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
boostsecurity.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
armorcode.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
anchore.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
spectralops.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
crowdstrike.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on devSecOps 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 devSecOps 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 devSecOps platforms
Who leads AI visibility in DevSecOps platforms?
Snyk and GitHub Advanced Security are tied on visibility at 75.0%, but Snyk leads overall with a composite score of 56.2 due to its 12.5% citation rate versus GitHub Advanced Security's 0.0%.
What is the average AI visibility for DevSecOps platforms?
The category average visibility is 13.8% and average citation is 10.6%, meaning most of the 20 brands audited have very little presence in AI-generated responses.
Which brand has the biggest gap between being named and being cited?
Cycode has the largest inverse gap, with 0.0% visibility and 62.5% citation, while GitHub Advanced Security shows the opposite gap with 75.0% visibility and 0.0% citation.
What sources does AI cite most for DevSecOps platform research?
The top cited sources are dominated by third-party domains including endorlabs.com, aikido.dev, and accuknox.com, with only checkmarx.com and cycode.com appearing as brand-owned sites in that list.
Which brands have risen most in AI visibility recently?
GitHub Advanced Security gained 75 visibility points from a previous score of 0.0% to reach rank 2, while Checkmarx gained 50 points and Snyk gained 37.5 points in the same period.
Which AI engine dominates citations in the DevSecOps platforms category?
Google AI Mode is listed as the top engine for every brand in the audit, indicating all visibility and citation activity recorded in this dataset originates from that single engine.