AEO for security awareness training software: AI search visibility ranking
How AI search engines rank security awareness training software 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. Security awareness training platforms used to educate employees, run phishing simulations, improve reporting behavior, and reduce human-driven security risk. 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 inquire about Security awareness training software, AI engines frequently mention KnowBe4 as the clear leader in this category. Boasting a visibility percentage of 75.0, KnowBe4 is most often cited, followed by brands like Hoxhunt and NINJIO. These names consistently surface as top contenders in providing effective solutions for security training.
The rankings largely reflect citations from sources like adaptivesecurity.com, g2.com, and gartner.com, indicating a blend of both expert reviews and user-generated insights. Additionally, platforms like reddit.com contribute community-driven feedback. These aggregator and review sites influence how AI engines rank the brands, leading to a nuanced view based on diverse opinions and data.
For buyers evaluating options, it is important to consider how frequently recent reviews and third-party validations are factored into these rankings. AI engines emphasize brands that not only have topical authority but also demonstrate ongoing relevance in the security awareness niche. This focus may guide your decision toward brands that uphold credibility through consistent, reliable presence in trusted sources.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
KnowBe4 leads the security awareness training category by a significant margin, with 75.0% visibility and 87.5% citation rate against a category average visibility of just 15.0%. The gap between KnowBe4 and the second-ranked Hoxhunt (62.5% visibility) is notable but not extreme in visibility terms. However, the composite score gap is stark: 78.8 for KnowBe4 versus 55.0 for Hoxhunt, driven almost entirely by KnowBe4's citation dominance. This suggests AI Mode treats KnowBe4 as a reference-grade source, not merely a named brand.
A clear divergence exists between brands that appear in AI responses and those that get cited as sources. Hoxhunt has 62.5% visibility but only 37.5% citation, and Proofpoint achieves 50.0% visibility with zero citations. Meanwhile, Usecure and Living Security show the inverse pattern: 0.0% visibility but 25.0% citation each. These brands are being pulled into AI-generated source lists without appearing in the main narrative, suggesting third-party review content references them even when AI Mode does not surface them directly.
Google AI Mode is the top engine for every brand in this dataset, indicating the audit is heavily weighted toward that surface. Among cited sources, adaptivesecurity.com and reddit.com appear alongside gartner.com and g2.com, which points to AI Mode anchoring on a mix of peer review platforms, analyst sites, and community forums. KnowBe4 is one of the few brands whose own domain (knowbe4.com) appears in the top cited sources list, reinforcing its dual role as both subject and reference authority in this category.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
KnowBe4 25% → 75% · rank #1 → #1+50pp
-
Hoxhunt 12% → 62% · rank #2 → #2+50pp
-
NINJIO 12% → 50% · rank #4 → #3+38pp
The AEO ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
knowbe4.com
|
75% | 88% | Google AI Mode |
KnowBe4 sits at 75.0% visibility and 87.5% citation rate, both the highest in the category, with its domain appearing directly in the top cited sources list. |
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| 2 |
hoxhunt.com
|
62% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
Hoxhunt's 62.5% visibility is well above the 15.0% category average, but its 37.5% citation rate signals AI Mode names it more often than it trusts it as a source. |
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| 3 |
ninjio.com
|
50% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
NINJIO rose one rank to third with 50.0% visibility, but its 25.0% citation rate and composite score of 42.5 show limited trust signal relative to its naming frequency. |
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| 4 |
proofpoint.com
|
50% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Proofpoint matches NINJIO's 50.0% visibility but holds a 0.0% citation rate, the largest visibility-to-citation gap among the top five brands. |
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| 5 |
mimecast.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Mimecast's 25.0% visibility and 0.0% citation rate place it at a composite score of 17.5, equal to Infosec IQ and well below the top four brands. |
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| 6 |
infosecinstitute.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
arcticwolf.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
usecure.io
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
livingsecurity.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
outthink.io
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
sophos.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
keepnetlabs.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
terranovasecurity.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
ironscales.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
cofense.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
microsoft.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
metacompliance.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
phished.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
culture.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
hooksecurity.co
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on security awareness training 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 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 security awareness training software 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 security awareness training software
Who leads AI visibility in security awareness training software?
KnowBe4 leads with 75.0% visibility and a composite score of 78.8, which is more than 23 points above the second-ranked Hoxhunt at 55.0.
Which brands are cited most often by Google AI Mode in this category?
KnowBe4 has the highest citation rate at 87.5%, with its own domain listed among the top cited sources alongside adaptivesecurity.com, gartner.com, and g2.com.
Are there brands that appear in AI responses without being cited as sources?
Yes. Proofpoint achieves 50.0% visibility with a 0.0% citation rate, and Mimecast and Infosec IQ both show 25.0% visibility with zero citations.
Are there brands cited as sources that do not appear in AI narrative responses?
Usecure and Living Security both show 0.0% visibility but 25.0% citation rates, meaning AI Mode references them in source lists without including them in main response text.
What external sources does Google AI Mode anchor on for security awareness training queries?
The top cited sources include adaptivesecurity.com, reddit.com, gartner.com, g2.com, and cybersecurityventures.com, suggesting a mix of analyst, review, and community content drives AI citations.
Which brands grew visibility the most in the most recent period?
KnowBe4 and Hoxhunt each gained 50.0 percentage points in visibility, while NINJIO gained 37.5 points, making all three the biggest risers in the category.