---
title: "How endpoint security vendors win deals when CISOs ask AI"
description: "Endpoint security vendors earn AI shortlist places through public test results, incident transparency and consistent facts, not self-ranked lists."
canonical: "https://underneath.agency/resources/endpoint-security-enterprise-customers-ai-search"
published: 2026-10-07
updated: 2026-10-08
publisher: "Underneath (https://underneath.agency/agent)"
entity: "https://underneath.agency/.well-known/entity.json"
---
Guide · AI search

# How do endpoint security vendors win enterprise deals when CISOs ask AI which EDR to buy?

By making the evidence that decides endpoint deals, independent test results, deployment facts and incident history, easy for AI answers to find and repeat. Endpoint protection is the largest single category in security spending, and large enterprises already run it, so most deals mean displacing an incumbent. An AI answer that names you at the start of that replacement cycle can be worth years of revenue.

## The short version

1. Endpoint protection platforms are the single largest security category at $17.8 billion, growing 14.5%, and will add $14.2 billion of spending by 2030, according to Gartner’s forecast as summarized by [Louis Columbus](https://softwarestrategiesblog.com/2026/04/01/top-10-fastest-growing-security-categories-gartner-2026-forecast/).
2. The buying trigger is ransomware: [Verizon](https://verizon.com/about/news/2025-data-breach-investigations-report) found it in 44% of breaches in its 2025 report, up 37% from the year before.
3. Endpoint products are tested in public: [AV-Comparatives](https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/business-security-test-2025-august-november/) ran 461 real-world test cases against business products from August to November 2025, and [AV-TEST](https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/business-windows-client/) evaluated 15 endpoint products in July and August 2026.
4. The prize for winning is large: [CrowdStrike](https://www.01net.it/crowdstrike-reports-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2026-financial-results/) reported $5.25 billion in annual recurring revenue, and 50% of its subscription customers used six or more of its modules.
5. AI answers move around: in [our consistency study](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-recommendation-consistency-study), a single ChatGPT answer showed only 57.8% of the brands it named across five runs of the same question.

## Who signs off on an EDR purchase, and how much is an account worth?

A CISO decides with the security operations team and IT; a won account grows by endpoints and modules.

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) watches laptops, servers and workloads for attacks and lets analysts respond; extended detection and response (XDR) adds signals from email, identity, network and cloud. Managed detection and response (MDR) wraps a service around either. Gartner’s 1Q26 forecast, summarized by Columbus, puts endpoint protection platforms at $17.8 billion, the single largest category in the security forecast, with the largest dollar increase of any category through 2030.

Three groups shape the decision:

- **The CISO**, who answers to the board if ransomware gets through.
- **The security operations team**, who live in the console every day and care about detection quality, false alarms and investigation speed.
- **IT operations**, who deploy the agent to every device and fear performance problems and outages.

The IT concern became sharper after July 2024, when a faulty CrowdStrike update crashed Windows machines worldwide. [Microsoft estimated](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/07/20/helping-our-customers-through-the-crowdstrike-outage/) that 8.5 million Windows devices were affected, “less than one percent of all Windows machines.” Since then, update safety and vendor resilience are, we infer, standard questions in endpoint evaluations.

A won customer is worth a lot and tends to expand. CrowdStrike’s results for fiscal 2026 show ending annual recurring revenue of $5.25 billion, up 24%. Its module adoption figures show how accounts grow after the first sale: 50% of subscription customers used six or more modules, 34% seven or more and 24% eight or more. Accounts on its flexible Falcon Flex licensing reached $1.69 billion in ending recurring revenue.

## What triggers an enterprise endpoint purchase?

Ransomware incidents, renewals of an incumbent contract, platform consolidation, and doubts about the current vendor.

- **Ransomware.** Verizon’s 2025 report, which analyzed 12,195 confirmed data breaches, found ransomware in 44% of them. For smaller organizations, IDC’s Craig Robinson noted in the release, it was present in 88% of breaches.
- **Exposed weaknesses.** Exploitation of vulnerabilities was the entry point in 20% of breaches, up 34%, with a focus on perimeter devices and VPNs that an endpoint agent may not cover.
- **Renewals and consolidation.** Most large organizations already have endpoint protection, so a new vendor usually wins at an incumbent’s renewal, often as part of a platform deal. CrowdStrike notes, for example, that buyers can now buy its platform through Microsoft Marketplace using their existing Azure spending commitment. Marketplace listings matter for cloud tools too, as [our guide for cloud security vendors](https://underneath.agency/resources/cloud-security-enterprise-buyers-ai-search) explains.
- **Loss of confidence.** An outage, a missed detection or a bundled alternative from an existing supplier can reopen a decision mid-contract.

Each trigger produces a specific question, and those questions are increasingly put to AI assistants first. For identity vendors, a credential breach plays this role, covered in [our guide for identity platforms](https://underneath.agency/resources/iam-enterprise-demand-ai-search).

## Where does AI search sit in an endpoint security evaluation?

At the research and shortlist stage, though no vendor-neutral study measures CISOs’ use of AI assistants specifically.

The nearest evidence comes from surveys of technology buyers across categories, not security teams alone. In [TrustRadius’s 2026 B2B Buying Disconnect Report](https://www.demandgenreport.com/industry-news/news-brief/trustradius-ai-has-changed-how-buyers-research-but-not-what-they-trust/53853/), 63% of buyers used AI during their purchase journey and 94% of those fact-checked its answers at least some of the time. 83% shortlisted three or fewer products. TrustRadius sells review visibility, so it has an interest in the topic.

For endpoint security, the fact-checking step matters more than usual. Buyers can check claims against public test reports, peer reviews and incident records, and an AI answer is only the first filter. A reasonable expectation is that an answer which names a vendor without supporting evidence will not survive that check.

AI answers also vary. In our consistency study, ChatGPT named the same first brand in two runs of a question only 53.8% of the time. B2B software was the most stable industry we tested, with mean overlap of 0.708 across assistants, but even there a single answer is a sample, not a verdict.

## What do CISOs and SOC leads ask assistants about EDR?

Questions about comparisons, test results, resilience, coverage and cost of switching. We wrote the renewal-season prompts below to illustrate; they are not drawn from real CISO queries.

| Buying moment | Illustrative prompt |
|---|---|
| Comparison | “CrowdStrike Falcon vs SentinelOne Singularity vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for 8,000 endpoints?” |
| Category | “Do we need XDR, or is EDR plus a managed service enough for a 300-person company?” |
| Evidence | “Which EDR products did best in the latest MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations and AV-Comparatives tests?” |
| Resilience | “How do endpoint vendors test updates before release, and who has had outages?” |
| Coverage | “Which EDR tools protect Linux servers, Macs and older Windows systems equally well?” |
| Switching | “How hard is it to replace our current antivirus with a new EDR across 20 sites?” |
| Bundling | “Is Defender for Endpoint in Microsoft 365 E5 good enough, or do we need a specialist?” |

Each prompt can trigger several searches. Google documents that AI Overviews and AI Mode [may use a “query fan-out” technique](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features), and OpenAI documents that [ChatGPT search rewrites a question](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-chatgpt-search) into “one or more targeted queries.” For an evidence question, we infer those searches will reach test labs’ reports and vendors’ own readings of them.

## How does a place in an AI answer turn into a per-endpoint contract?

Through the renewal window: AI answer, shortlist, proof of concept on real devices, then a multi-year, per-endpoint contract.

1. Ahead of a renewal or after an incident, a CISO or SOC lead asks an assistant to compare options.
2. The answer names a few vendors; the team checks them against test reports, reviews and peers.
3. Two or three vendors run a proof of concept on a sample of real devices, often with a simulated attack.
4. The winner replaces the incumbent across the estate, priced per endpoint.
5. The account expands into more modules and sometimes a managed service, as CrowdStrike’s module figures show.

The AI answer matters most at step 2, and the timing is unforgiving. Endpoint contracts usually run for years, so a vendor absent from the shortlist at renewal may wait a full contract term for the next chance, we infer.

## What puts one endpoint agent on an assistant’s list and leaves another off?

No platform documents how it chooses vendors; cited lists often promote their publishers, and buyers verify independent evidence.

**What Google and OpenAI disclose.** Both say their AI answers search the web and link to the pages behind them; neither explains how it picks which EDR or XDR vendors to recommend.

**Observed in studies.** Endpoint vendors often publish their own “best EDR” lists, and AI answers do cite such lists. In [our study of cited “best of” lists](https://underneath.agency/research/self-promoting-best-lists-study), 24.2% of 269 cited numbered lists with an identifiable publisher ranked their own publisher first, and when a publisher included itself, 92.9% of the time it was number one. Those lists were only 1.1% of all citations, and we found no detectable difference in how often a self-ranking list’s top entry was named compared with an independent list’s. Why an independent ranking counts for more than a vendor’s own “best EDR” page is covered in our guide to [which pages to target](https://underneath.agency/resources/best-of-lists-ai-recommendations).

**The independent evidence buyers check.** Endpoint security has more public testing than almost any software category:

- **AV-Comparatives** publishes business tests twice a year. To earn its December 2025 “Approved Business Product” award, a product had to score at least 90% in the Malware Protection Test with zero false alarms on common business software.
- **AV-TEST** scores business endpoint products every two months on protection, performance and usability.
- **MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations** are another widely cited test series, but we could not verify their results from a saved source, so we draw nothing from them here.
- **Peer reviews**, such as Gartner Peer Insights, which CrowdStrike cites for its Customers’ Choice recognition.

**Our inference.** These sources are public, specific and repeated in security media, which makes them natural material for AI answers. A reasonable expectation is that a vendor whose test participation, results and methods are clearly explained on its own site, and accurately reported elsewhere, is easier to name with confidence. We have not tested this for endpoint vendors. How CISOs rank these trust signals is covered in our article on [cybersecurity software and AI search](https://underneath.agency/resources/cybersecurity-software-revenue-from-ai-search).

## What does an endpoint vendor lose by being left out at renewal?

A missed renewal window, which in this category can mean years; no study has measured it in dollars.

- **Short lists.** With 83% of technology buyers shortlisting three or fewer products, and endpoint leaders well known, a challenger left out of the first answer may not get a proof of concept at all.
- **Long contracts.** A lost renewal locks the estate to another agent for the contract term, we infer.
- **Expansion lost too.** The first sale is the foothold for later modules; half of CrowdStrike’s subscription customers used six or more.
- **Inaccurate answers.** An AI answer that repeats an old test result, wrong platform coverage or an incident without its resolution can cost a shortlist place. If an assistant is repeating stale test results or coverage, [how to fix wrong brand information in AI answers](https://underneath.agency/resources/fix-wrong-brand-information-in-ai-answers) sets out the steps.

## What does GEO look like for an EDR or XDR vendor?

It makes your test evidence, coverage and track record easy for assistants to repeat; it cannot promise a recommendation.

1. **Explain your test results honestly.** Publish which independent tests you entered, what they measured and how you did, with links to the lab’s own report. Do not overclaim; buyers and journalists check.
2. **State coverage precisely.** List supported operating systems, versions, server and cloud workloads, and offline or air-gapped options on plain pages.
3. **Publish update and resilience practices.** Explain how updates are staged and tested, and how customers control rollout. Buyers now ask.
4. **Be transparent about incidents.** Keep clear, dated public records of past problems and what changed. If the only account of an outage an assistant can find is someone else’s, that is the version it will repeat.
5. **Earn independent coverage.** Threat research, incident response reports and expert comment after major attacks give security media something to cite. Wider authority-building for security brands is covered in [how brands build authority for AI search](https://underneath.agency/resources/how-brands-build-authority-for-ai-search).
6. **Build peer proof.** Encourage detailed reviews from security teams that run the product, without incentives that breach platform rules.
7. **Avoid self-ranking lists as a strategy.** They are a small share of citations and buyers discount them.
8. **Measure repeatedly.** Run renewal-season questions across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Claude several times; see [how many prompts to track](https://underneath.agency/resources/how-many-prompts-to-track-ai-visibility).

## What can’t the evidence yet tell endpoint security vendors?

It cannot yet show that assistants rely on lab results when naming EDR vendors, or that visibility moves win rates.

- **No CISO-specific study.** TrustRadius covers technology buyers broadly; we found no vendor-neutral, public study of how CISOs use AI to choose endpoint products.
- **MITRE results.** We could not save a primary source for the latest MITRE evaluation results, so we cite no figures from them.
- **Test labs differ.** AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives measure different things, and vendors choose which to enter.
- **No tie to win rates or contracts has been shown.** For what is known so far, see [does AI visibility drive business results](https://underneath.agency/resources/does-ai-visibility-drive-business-results).

## What should an endpoint vendor check before its target accounts reach renewal?

Ask the renewal-season questions your target accounts would ask, and see how assistants describe your evidence.

Cover comparison, evidence, resilience, coverage and switching, and repeat each question in every major assistant, since a single answer is only a sample. Note whether you are named, which test results and incidents come up, and which sources are cited. Gaps usually show missing or unclear public evidence rather than missing marketing pages.

That check is where our work with security vendors begins: [ask us to review your standing in EDR comparisons](https://underneath.agency/contact). We will show how AI answers present you against incumbents in enterprise endpoint evaluations, and which gaps are most likely costing you proof-of-concept invitations at renewal time. Our [generative engine optimization service](https://underneath.agency/services/generative-engine-optimization) page outlines the work that follows, such as plain pages on test results and coverage, clear incident records and repeated renewal-season checks.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations help endpoint vendors appear in AI answers?

Untested. We have not verified MITRE results against a saved source, and no study has measured whether any lab’s test series changes which vendors AI answers recommend.

### Should we publish our own “best EDR tools” list?

It is a weak strategy. In our study, 92.9% of self-including lists put their publisher first, and such lists were only 1.1% of AI citations.

### Can a challenger compete with CrowdStrike and Microsoft in AI answers?

It can, through specific, verifiable proof for a defined buyer, but it starts behind brands with far more coverage.

### How should we handle a past incident in AI answers?

Publish a clear, dated account of what happened and what changed, so answers have your verified record and not only third-party summaries.

## Sources

- Louis Columbus, Software Strategies Blog (2026-04-01), [Gartner’s $246.2B Security Forecast shows 10 categories growing 2x to 3x the market](https://softwarestrategiesblog.com/2026/04/01/top-10-fastest-growing-security-categories-gartner-2026-forecast/)
- Verizon (2025-04-23), [2025 Data Breach Investigations Report news release](https://verizon.com/about/news/2025-data-breach-investigations-report)
- AV-Comparatives (2025-12-15), [Business Security Test 2025 (August–November)](https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/business-security-test-2025-august-november/)
- AV-TEST (2026-08), [Test antivirus software for Windows: business users](https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/business-windows-client/)
- CrowdStrike, via 01net (2026-03-03), [CrowdStrike Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results](https://www.01net.it/crowdstrike-reports-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2026-financial-results/)
- Microsoft (2024-07-20), [Helping our customers through the CrowdStrike outage](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/07/20/helping-our-customers-through-the-crowdstrike-outage/)
- Demand Gen Report, James Hickey (2026-07-30), [TrustRadius: AI Has Changed How Buyers Research, But Not What They Trust](https://www.demandgenreport.com/industry-news/news-brief/trustradius-ai-has-changed-how-buyers-research-but-not-what-they-trust/53853/)
- Google Search Central (2025), [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features)
- OpenAI Help Center (2025), [ChatGPT search](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-chatgpt-search)
- Underneath (2026), [Ask an AI the same question 5 times: do the brands change?](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-recommendation-consistency-study)
- Underneath (2026), [How many “best of” lists cited by AI rank their own brand first?](https://underneath.agency/research/self-promoting-best-lists-study)

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