Endpoint detection and response software: AI search visibility ranking (2026)
How AI search engines rank endpoint detection and response software by visibility and citations. 20 brands measured monthly across Google AI Mode: which brands the AI names in answers, which domains it cites as sources, and how the leaders compare. Endpoint detection and response platforms used to monitor endpoints, investigate threats, contain attacks, and automate response across devices and workloads. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
Download this ranking as a PDF
We'll email it to you. One-off send — no list, no follow-up, no surprise marketing.
When AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini answer questions about endpoint detection and response software, SentinelOne comes up most often, appearing in 62.5% of tracked responses across the category. Huntress and CrowdStrike round out the top three. If you are evaluating EDR platforms, these are the names AI systems consistently treat as the reference points for the category.
The sources AI engines pull from most heavily include huntress.com, sentinelone.com, gartner.com, underdefense.com, and YouTube. The presence of Gartner signals that analyst validation carries weight in how AI ranks these tools. Vendor-owned content (SentinelOne and Huntress both appear as top cited domains) also plays a meaningful role, meaning brands that publish detailed, authoritative technical content earn more AI visibility than those that do not.
When choosing from this list, pay attention to which brands have recent third-party validation, not just AI visibility. A brand ranking high here because Gartner or independent reviewers consistently cite it is a stronger signal than one appearing mainly through its own marketing pages. Cross-check AI-recommended brands against current reviews on G2 or Gartner Peer Insights to confirm the reputation AI engines are reflecting is still accurate.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
SentinelOne leads the EDR category with a composite score of 62.5, more than 14 points ahead of second-ranked Huntress at 48.8, and over 20 points ahead of CrowdStrike at 42.5. The category average visibility sits at just 10.0 percent, meaning SentinelOne's 62.5 percent visibility score is more than six times the norm. That gap is significant because it means buyers receiving AI-generated answers are heavily exposed to SentinelOne framing before encountering any competing narrative.
Huntress presents the sharpest visibility-to-citation divergence in the dataset. Its visibility is 37.5 percent but its citation rate reaches 75.0 percent, the highest citation figure of any brand in the category. CrowdStrike shows the inverse pattern, with 50.0 percent visibility but only 25.0 percent citation rate, meaning AI surfaces CrowdStrike frequently but trusts it as a source far less often. Microsoft Defender follows a similar low-trust pattern, with visibility at 25.0 percent but citation at just 12.5 percent.
All ten ranked brands share Google AI Mode as their top engine, confirming this category's AI visibility is essentially a single-engine story with no meaningful distribution across other platforms. The top cited sources list shows huntress.com ranked first, ahead of sentinelone.com, with youtube.com, gartner.com, and specialist sites such as underdefense.com, clearnetwork.com, and redcanary.com also appearing. The presence of managed-service and analyst-tier domains alongside vendor sites suggests Google AI Mode is anchoring on third-party practitioner content rather than vendor pages alone.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Huntress 25% → 38% · rank #4 → #2+12pp
-
Sophos 0% → 12% · rank #9 → #5+12pp
-
Bitdefender 0% → 12% · rank #16 → #6+12pp
Biggest visibility fallers
-
Microsoft Defender 50% → 25% · rank #3 → #4-25pp
-
Fortinet 12% → 0% · rank #7 → #7-12pp
-
Trend Micro 12% → 0% · rank #6 → #10-12pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
sentinelone.com
|
62% | 62% | Google AI Mode |
SentinelOne holds a composite score of 62.5, more than 14 points above second-placed Huntress and over six times the category average visibility of 10.0 percent. |
||||
| 2 |
huntress.com
|
38% | 75% | Google AI Mode |
Huntress has the highest citation rate in the category at 75.0 percent, nearly double its visibility of 37.5 percent, and ranks first in the top cited sources list. |
||||
| 3 |
crowdstrike.com
|
50% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
CrowdStrike reaches 50.0 percent visibility but only 25.0 percent citation, a 25-point gap that is the largest negative visibility-to-citation divergence among the top five brands. |
||||
| 4 |
microsoft.com
|
25% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
Microsoft Defender's visibility fell 25 points from the previous period to 25.0 percent, with citation static at 12.5 percent, marking the steepest visibility decline in the dataset. |
||||
| 5 |
sophos.com
|
12% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
Sophos rose four rank positions from ninth to fifth after its visibility recovered from 0.0 to 12.5 percent, though its citation rate remains at the category floor of 12.5 percent. |
||||
| 6 |
bitdefender.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
fortinet.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
withsecure.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
paloaltonetworks.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
trendmicro.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
cybereason.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
trellix.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
malwarebytes.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
checkpoint.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
vmware.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
cisco.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
elastic.co
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
eset.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
blackberry.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. 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 →
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. How AI search ranking works →
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 the endpoint detection and response software category?
SentinelOne leads with a composite score of 62.5 and visibility of 62.5 percent, more than six times the category average of 10.0 percent.
Which EDR brand is cited most often by Google AI Mode even though its visibility is lower?
Huntress holds the highest citation rate at 75.0 percent despite a visibility score of only 37.5 percent, and it ranks first in the overall top cited sources list for the category.
What sources does Google AI Mode anchor on most when answering EDR queries?
The top cited sources include huntress.com, youtube.com, sentinelone.com, underdefense.com, gartner.com, clearnetwork.com, cynet.com, and redcanary.com, combining vendor, analyst, and managed-service practitioner domains.
Which major EDR brand has seen the biggest drop in AI visibility recently?
Microsoft Defender fell 25 visibility points from the previous period, dropping from 50.0 percent to 25.0 percent, the largest single-brand decline in the dataset.
Is AI visibility in this category spread across multiple engines or concentrated in one?
Every ranked brand lists Google AI Mode as its top engine, making this category an almost entirely single-engine visibility story with no recorded distribution elsewhere.
Which brands show a high visibility score but low AI citation trust, and what does that indicate?
CrowdStrike has 50.0 percent visibility but only 25.0 percent citation, and Microsoft Defender has 25.0 percent visibility but only 12.5 percent citation, suggesting AI surfaces these brands in answers but rarely pulls from their own domains as authoritative sources.