Top 20 managed detection and response services by AI search visibility (2026)
Managed detection and response providers used to deliver continuous threat monitoring, triage, investigation, and guided response for security teams that need always-on coverage. 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
Huntress leads the managed detection and response AI visibility landscape with a composite score of 40.0, meaningfully ahead of second-ranked Arctic Wolf at 25.0. That 15-point gap is significant given the category average composite sits far below both, and the data shows no other brand exceeding 25.0. Huntress is the only brand simultaneously achieving above-average visibility (25.0%) and dominant citation rates (75.0%), suggesting Google AI Mode is treating it as a primary reference point across multiple query types in this category.
The sharpest divergence between visibility and citation belongs to UnderDefense and SentinelOne Vigilance. UnderDefense holds zero visibility yet earns a 75.0% citation rate — matching Huntress on citations despite never appearing as a named brand in AI-generated answers. SentinelOne Vigilance similarly records 0.0% visibility against 50.0% citations. Conversely, Red Canary achieves 25.0% visibility but 0.0% citations, meaning AI surfaces it by name but does not link or attribute it as a source. These are structurally opposite failure modes.
Every brand in the top 10 shares Google AI Mode as its top engine, indicating this category's AI visibility landscape is currently a single-engine phenomenon with no meaningful Bing or Perplexity presence in the data. Among cited sources, underdefense.com and huntress.com appear alongside third-party authorities gartner.com and g2.com, suggesting the AI anchors responses on a mix of brand-owned content and analyst/review platforms. The presence of youtube.com and bitdefender.com in the top cited sources indicates the AI is also drawing on non-traditional and adjacent-category content.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Huntress 0% → 25% · rank #0 → #1+25pp
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Arctic Wolf 0% → 25% · rank #0 → #2+25pp
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Red Canary 0% → 25% · rank #0 → #4+25pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
huntress.com
|
25% | 75% | Google AI Mode |
Huntress is the only brand exceeding the category average on both visibility (25.0%) and citations (75.0%), giving it a composite score 15 points clear of the next competitor. |
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| 2 |
arcticwolf.com
|
25% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Arctic Wolf matches Huntress on visibility at 25.0% but its citation rate of 25.0% is one-third of Huntress's, reflecting a significant gap in how often AI attributes or links to it. |
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| 3 |
underdefense.com
|
0% | 75% | Google AI Mode |
UnderDefense posts 0.0% visibility yet achieves a 75.0% citation rate — the highest in the category alongside Huntress — making it the clearest example of a cited-but-unnamed brand. |
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| 4 |
redcanary.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Red Canary achieves 25.0% visibility, level with Huntress and Arctic Wolf, but records 0.0% citations, meaning AI names it but never uses its content as a sourced reference. |
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| 5 |
sentinelone.com
|
0% | 50% | Google AI Mode |
SentinelOne Vigilance mirrors UnderDefense's pattern with 0.0% visibility and 50.0% citations, ranking it as the second most-cited zero-visibility brand in the category. |
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| 6 |
esentire.com
|
12% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
expel.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
sophos.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
reliaquest.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
criticalstart.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
rapid7.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
cybereason.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
deepwatch.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
crowdstrike.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
secureworks.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
netsurion.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
adlumin.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
bluevoyant.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
trustwave.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
blackpointcyber.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on managed detection and response services, 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 managed detection and response services 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 managed detection and response services AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in managed detection and response services?
Huntress leads with a composite score of 40.0 and the category's joint-highest citation rate of 75.0%, placing it clearly ahead of second-ranked Arctic Wolf at 25.0.
Which MDR brands are cited by AI but not named in AI-generated answers?
UnderDefense (75.0% citations, 0.0% visibility) and SentinelOne Vigilance (50.0% citations, 0.0% visibility) are the most prominent examples of brands cited as sources without being surfaced as named answers.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for MDR category research?
The top cited sources include underdefense.com, gartner.com, g2.com, and huntress.com, indicating the AI blends brand-owned content with third-party analyst and review platforms.
Are any MDR brands visible in AI answers but never cited as sources?
Yes — Red Canary achieves 25.0% visibility but 0.0% citations, meaning it appears by name in AI responses but its domain content is not being attributed or linked.
How concentrated is AI visibility in this MDR category?
Visibility is highly concentrated: the category average is just 4.4%, while only three brands — Huntress, Arctic Wolf, and Red Canary — each reach 25.0%, and seven of the top ten record 0.0% visibility.
Which AI engine dominates the MDR services category?
Google AI Mode is the top engine for every brand in the top 10, with no other engine appearing in the data, suggesting this category's AI presence is currently a single-platform phenomenon.