Top 20 endpoint detection and response software by AI search visibility (2026)
Endpoint detection and response platforms used to monitor endpoints, investigate threats, contain attacks, and automate response across devices and workloads. Ranked by a composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
Refreshed Jun 06, 2026At a glance
What we observed in this categoryauto-generated
SentinelOne dominates the EDR AI visibility landscape with a composite score of 66.2 — nearly 20 points ahead of second-ranked CrowdStrike at 46.2, and more than 27 points above third-ranked Microsoft Defender at 38.8. The category average visibility sits at just 11.2%, making SentinelOne's 62.5% an extreme outlier. This gap is not marginal; it signals that Google AI Mode is treating SentinelOne as the default reference point for the category, while the remaining 17 brands cluster far below with composite scores under 30.
A striking divergence exists between being named and being trusted as a source. Microsoft Defender matches CrowdStrike on visibility (both at 50.0%) but receives citations at only 12.5% versus CrowdStrike's 37.5%, suggesting the AI mentions Microsoft Defender frequently but anchors its sourcing elsewhere. Palo Alto Cortex XDR presents the sharpest inversion: 0.0% visibility yet a 50.0% citation rate, meaning it is actively used as a reference source by the AI without being surfaced as a named recommendation. Huntress similarly punches above its visibility weight with a 37.5% citation rate despite only 25.0% visibility.
Google AI Mode is the top engine for every brand in this dataset without exception, confirming the category's AI citation activity is concentrated there. The top cited external sources include gartner.com, reddit.com, youtube.com, and vendor domains sentinelone.com and huntress.com directly, alongside niche security publishers clearnetwork.com, xcitium.com, and cybernx.com. The presence of reddit.com and youtube.com alongside Gartner indicates the AI is drawing on community and practitioner content, not solely analyst or vendor authority, to construct its EDR responses.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
SentinelOne 0% → 62% · rank #0 → #1+62pp
-
CrowdStrike 0% → 50% · rank #0 → #2+50pp
-
Microsoft Defender 0% → 50% · rank #0 → #3+50pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
sentinelone.com
|
62% | 75% | Google AI Mode |
SentinelOne leads with 62.5% visibility and 75.0% citation rate — both figures are the highest in the category and multiples above the 11.2% and 13.1% averages respectively. |
||||
| 2 |
crowdstrike.com
|
50% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
CrowdStrike matches Microsoft Defender on visibility at 50.0% but nearly triples its citation rate (37.5% vs 12.5%), indicating stronger sourcing authority despite equal named presence. |
||||
| 3 |
microsoft.com
|
50% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
Microsoft Defender holds 50.0% visibility but a citation rate of only 12.5%, the lowest among the top three, suggesting the AI names it but rarely anchors responses on its own content. |
||||
| 4 |
huntress.com
|
25% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
Huntress achieves a 37.5% citation rate from only 25.0% visibility, outperforming its named presence and ranking as a top cited source domain, signalling disproportionate content authority. |
||||
| 5 |
paloaltonetworks.com
|
0% | 50% | Google AI Mode |
Palo Alto Cortex XDR records 0.0% visibility yet a 50.0% citation rate, the most extreme named-vs-trusted divergence in the dataset, functioning as a source without appearing as a recommendation. |
||||
| 6 |
trendmicro.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
fortinet.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
cybereason.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
sophos.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
trellix.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
malwarebytes.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
checkpoint.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
vmware.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
cisco.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
elastic.co
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
bitdefender.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
eset.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
blackberry.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
withsecure.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
watchguard.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on endpoint detection and response software, 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 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.
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.
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.
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 30 days and refresh this page automatically.
Get your own endpoint detection and response software brand audited
The brands above were curated from public market-leader lists. Want the same 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 endpoint detection and response software AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in endpoint detection and response software?
SentinelOne leads with a composite score of 66.2, a visibility rate of 62.5%, and a citation rate of 75.0% — all the highest figures in the category by a significant margin.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for EDR research?
The most frequently cited sources are gartner.com, youtube.com, reddit.com, sentinelone.com, huntress.com, clearnetwork.com, xcitium.com, and cybernx.com, combining analyst, community, and vendor content.
Which EDR brands are cited as sources but not surfaced as named recommendations?
Palo Alto Cortex XDR is the clearest example, with a 50.0% citation rate but 0.0% visibility, meaning the AI uses it as a reference without recommending it by name.
How does the average EDR brand perform in AI visibility compared to the top brands?
The category average visibility is 11.2% and average citation rate is 13.1%, compared to SentinelOne's 62.5% and 75.0% respectively, illustrating how concentrated AI presence is at the top.
Which engine is driving AI visibility for EDR brands?
Google AI Mode is the top-performing engine for every brand in the dataset without exception, making it the singular channel driving AI citation activity in this category.
Does high visibility in EDR always correlate with a high citation rate?
No — Microsoft Defender has 50.0% visibility but only a 12.5% citation rate, while Palo Alto Cortex XDR has 0.0% visibility but a 50.0% citation rate, showing the two metrics can diverge sharply.