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TECH & B2B

Defense & Aerospace AI Visibility Index 2026

Defense Index 2.0: Lockheed, Anduril and Northrop Lead

Published June 28, 2026 · Updated November 9, 2026

Lockheed Martin: 163/288 (56.6%; 95% interval 50.8–62.2%). Anduril: 135/288 (46.9%; 95% interval 41.2–52.6%). Their 95% intervals overlap; neither can be called the sole leader.

288

AI answers analyzed across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity

56.6%

of answers named Lockheed Martin, the most-named (163 of 288)

34

tracked companies named at least once (of 35)

100%

of Google searches showed an AI Overview (63 of 63)

Version 2. This version replaces the first version of this study, first published August 15, 2026. It uses measured counts, so the two versions are not comparable. Version 2 asks 24 questions three times each on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity (288 answers) and adds Google AI Overviews. Every rate comes with its count and a 95% interval.

What the data shows

01

Lockheed Martin, Anduril and Northrop Grumman

Lockheed Martin, Anduril and Northrop Grumman lead this measured set. Lockheed Martin: 163/288 (56.6%; 95% interval 50.8–62.2%). Anduril: 135/288 (46.9%; 95% interval 41.2–52.6%). Their 95% intervals overlap; neither can be called the sole leader.
02

87/288 (30.2%)

Lockheed Martin was the first company named in 87 of 288 answers, more than any other tracked company. Its average first position was 2.2.
03

34/288 (11.8%)

Lockheed Martin's own domains were cited in 34 of 288 grounded answers, more than any other tracked company. Anduril followed at 20 of 288. 10 of 35 tracked companies had 0 of 288.
04

63/63 (100%)

Google AI Overviews appeared on 63 of 63 searches (CI 94.3–100%).
05

39/63 (61.9%)

Lockheed Martin was the company named most often in AI Overviews, at 39 of 63, followed by Northrop Grumman at 27 of 63 (42.9%). In the four-engine set, Lockheed Martin was named in 163 of 288 answers (56.6%).
06

53/288 (18.4%)

en.wikipedia.org was cited in 53 of 288 grounded four-engine answers, with 80 of 2,529 citations (3.2%). newmarketpitch.com came second with 79 citations in 45 answers (15.6%).

Appearance rate across 288 four-engine answers. The bar is the 95% confidence interval; overlapping bars cannot be told apart at this sample size.

Which companies AI engines name

Lockheed Martin
56.6%
Anduril
46.9%
Northrop Grumman
46.2%
Boeing
43.8%
RTX
33.7%
General Dynamics
29.5%
L3Harris
28.8%
BAE Systems
26.0%
Shield AI
21.2%
Huntington Ingalls
18.8%
Leidos
15.3%
SpaceX
14.6%
AeroVironment
13.9%
Palantir
13.9%
Saronic
12.8%
#NameNamed inAppearance rate95% interval
1Lockheed Martin163/28856.6%50.8–62.2%
2Anduril135/28846.9%41.2–52.6%
3Northrop Grumman133/28846.2%40.5–52.0%
4Boeing126/28843.8%38.1–49.5%
5RTX97/28833.7%28.5–39.3%
6General Dynamics85/28829.5%24.5–35.0%
7L3Harris83/28828.8%23.9–34.3%
8BAE Systems75/28826.0%21.3–31.4%
9Shield AI61/28821.2%16.9–26.3%
10Huntington Ingalls54/28818.8%14.7–23.7%
11Leidos44/28815.3%11.6–19.9%
12SpaceX42/28814.6%11.0–19.1%
13AeroVironment40/28813.9%10.4–18.4%
14Palantir40/28813.9%10.4–18.4%
15Saronic37/28812.8%9.5–17.2%

The full list

Own-domain citation is the share of 288 grounded answers that cited the tracked name's own domains (subdomains included). Citation share is of all 2,529 citations.

#BrandNamed inAppearance rate95% intervalFirst mentionOwn-domain citationCitation share
1Lockheed Martin163/28856.6%50.8–62.2%2.211.8% (34/288)1.7%
2Anduril135/28846.9%41.2–52.6%36.9% (20/288)0.8%
3Northrop Grumman133/28846.2%40.5–52%3.65.9% (17/288)0.8%
4Boeing126/28843.8%38.1–49.5%3.94.5% (13/288)0.5%
5RTX97/28833.7%28.5–39.3%2.93.8% (11/288)0.4%
6General Dynamics85/28829.5%24.5–35%4.20.3% (1/288)0%
7L3Harris83/28828.8%23.9–34.3%6.12.1% (6/288)0.2%
8BAE Systems75/28826%21.3–31.4%5.70.7% (2/288)0.1%
9Shield AI61/28821.2%16.9–26.3%3.54.2% (12/288)0.5%
10Huntington Ingalls54/28818.8%14.7–23.7%4.13.1% (9/288)0.4%
11Leidos44/28815.3%11.6–19.9%6.32.1% (6/288)0.2%
12SpaceX42/28814.6%11–19.1%3.11% (3/288)0.2%
13AeroVironment40/28813.9%10.4–18.4%3.50.7% (2/288)0.1%
14Palantir40/28813.9%10.4–18.4%3.92.4% (7/288)0.3%
15Saronic37/28812.8%9.5–17.2%3.71% (3/288)0.1%
16Helsing32/28811.1%8–15.3%3.60% (0/288)0%
17Rocket Lab31/28810.8%7.7–14.9%2.81.4% (4/288)0.2%
18Epirus25/2888.7%5.9–12.5%50% (0/288)0%
19Firefly Aerospace23/2888%5.4–11.7%40.3% (1/288)0%
20Skydio23/2888%5.4–11.7%41% (3/288)0.1%
21Vantor22/2887.6%5.1–11.3%2.90.3% (1/288)0%
22Kratos21/2887.3%4.8–10.9%5.10.3% (1/288)0%
23Capella Space20/2886.9%4.5–10.5%2.21% (3/288)0.1%
24Umbra18/2886.3%4–9.7%31.4% (4/288)0.2%
25Castelion17/2885.9%3.7–9.2%5.20% (0/288)0%
26Planet Labs15/2885.2%3.2–8.4%2.91.4% (4/288)0.2%
27BlackSky14/2884.9%2.9–8%3.42.4% (7/288)0.3%
28Blue Origin12/2884.2%2.4–7.1%3.90% (0/288)0%

The full list (continued)

#BrandNamed inAppearance rate95% intervalFirst mentionOwn-domain citationCitation share
29United Launch Alliance12/2884.2%2.4–7.1%2.90% (0/288)0%
30Mach Industries10/2883.5%1.9–6.3%6.50% (0/288)0%
31Relativity Space6/2882.1%1–4.5%4.50% (0/288)0%
32Vannevar Labs6/2882.1%1–4.5%5.70% (0/288)0%
33Rebellion Defense2/2880.7%0.2–2.5%40.3% (1/288)0%
34Stoke Space1/2880.3%0.1–1.9%60% (0/288)0%
35Astranis0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%

Separate table: people from the earlier edition (not ranked)

Names the earlier edition tracked, counted in the same 288 answers but not ranked against the main list. Listed alphabetically; no own-domain figure.

NameNamed answersRate95% intervalNamed first
Alex Karp0/2880.0%0.0–1.3%0
Brandon Tseng0/2880.0%0.0–1.3%0
Brian Schimpf0/2880.0%0.0–1.3%0
Elon Musk1/2880.3%0.1–1.9%1
Palmer Luckey1/2880.3%0.1–1.9%1
Peter Thiel0/2880.0%0.0–1.3%0
Trae Stephens1/2880.3%0.1–1.9%1

The top eight, side by side

#NameAppearance rateAnswers and intervalOther measures
1Lockheed Martin56.6%163/288 answers · 95% CI 50.8–62.2%first-mention position: 2.2; owned-domain citation (34/288): 11.8%; citation share: 1.7%
2Anduril46.9%135/288 answers · 95% CI 41.2–52.6%first-mention position: 3; owned-domain citation (20/288): 6.9%; citation share: 0.8%
3Northrop Grumman46.2%133/288 answers · 95% CI 40.5–52%first-mention position: 3.6; owned-domain citation (17/288): 5.9%; citation share: 0.8%
4Boeing43.8%126/288 answers · 95% CI 38.1–49.5%first-mention position: 3.9; owned-domain citation (13/288): 4.5%; citation share: 0.5%
5RTX33.7%97/288 answers · 95% CI 28.5–39.3%first-mention position: 2.9; owned-domain citation (11/288): 3.8%; citation share: 0.4%
6General Dynamics29.5%85/288 answers · 95% CI 24.5–35%first-mention position: 4.2; owned-domain citation (1/288): 0.3%; citation share: 0%
7L3Harris28.8%83/288 answers · 95% CI 23.9–34.3%first-mention position: 6.1; owned-domain citation (6/288): 2.1%; citation share: 0.2%
8BAE Systems26.0%75/288 answers · 95% CI 21.3–31.4%first-mention position: 5.7; owned-domain citation (2/288): 0.7%; citation share: 0.1%

The four engines named the leading names at similar rates.

ChatGPT

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Same questions, different answers

Lockheed Martin
58.3%
Northrop Grumman
47.2%
Boeing
44.4%
Anduril
41.7%
RTX
36.1%
General Dynamics
29.2%

Claude

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Lockheed Martin
56.9%
Boeing
47.2%
Anduril
45.8%
Northrop Grumman
45.8%
RTX
36.1%
General Dynamics
33.3%

Gemini

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Lockheed Martin
59.7%
Anduril
52.8%
Boeing
48.6%
Northrop Grumman
44.4%
RTX
29.2%
L3Harris
29.2%

Perplexity

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Lockheed Martin
51.4%
Anduril
47.2%
Northrop Grumman
47.2%
Boeing
34.7%
RTX
33.3%
BAE Systems
31.9%

Google AI Overviews were captured through 63 U.S. desktop searches and scored only where an overview appeared, so five-engine figures use 288 + 63 = 351 answers.

The fifth engine

100%

Trigger rate: 63 of 63 searches

Google AI Overviews appeared on 63 of 63 searches (100%, CI 94.3–100%). The other 0 searches showed no overview. Within the 63 overviews, Lockheed Martin was named in 39 (61.9%), Northrop Grumman was named in 27 (42.9%), Anduril was named in 24 (38.1%), Boeing was named in 23 (36.5%). youtube.com was the most-cited source, with 29 citations and an appearance in 24 of 63 overviews.

Five-engine rankNameFive-engine rateFour-engine rank
1Lockheed Martin57.5%1
2Northrop Grumman45.6%3
3Anduril45.3%2
4Boeing42.5%4
5RTX33.6%5
6L3Harris29.6%7
7General Dynamics27.9%6
8BAE Systems25.1%8
9Shield AI21.7%9
10Huntington Ingalls16.5%10

Who each question surfaces first

Six questions from the set. Each tile uses that question's own four-engine answers as the denominator.

QuestionLeaderNextAI Overview
Q01 · 12 answersLockheed Martin 100.0%RTX 100.0%; Northrop Grumman 100.0%AI Overview shown on 0 of 0 searches
Q02 · 12 answersLockheed Martin 100.0%RTX 100.0%; General Dynamics 100.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q03 · 12 answersNorthrop Grumman 100.0%AeroVironment 100.0%; Anduril 91.7%AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches
Q04 · 12 answersAnduril 100.0%Lockheed Martin 100.0%; BAE Systems 100.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q05 · 12 answersPalantir 91.7%Anduril 83.3%; Shield AI 83.3%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q06 · 12 answersRTX 100.0%Anduril 100.0%; Lockheed Martin 100.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches

The four engines produced 2,529 citations in total. en.wikipedia.org was cited most often, with 80 citations (3.2%) across 53 answers. Next came newmarketpitch.com (79), marketsandmarkets.com (53), lockheedmartin.com (42), fortunebusinessinsights.com (29), mordorintelligence.com (29).

Four AI engines · share of 288 grounded answers

Most-cited domains

en.wikipedia.org
18.4%
marketsandmarkets.com
17.0%
newmarketpitch.com
15.6%
lockheedmartin.com
11.5%
fortunebusinessinsights.com
10.1%
mordorintelligence.com
10.1%
researchandmarkets.com
9.4%
defensenews.com
8.3%
wikipedia.org
8.3%
anduril.com
6.9%

Google AI Overviews · share of 63 overviews

youtube.com
38.1%
facebook.com
17.5%
en.wikipedia.org
12.7%
instagram.com
11.1%
linkedin.com
9.5%
reddit.com
7.9%
landbase.com
6.3%
sphericalinsights.com
6.3%
unmannedsystemstechnology.com
6.3%
brennancenter.org
4.8%

Citation share by source type

Share of all citations by the type of site cited.

Source typeFour AI engines (of 2,529 citations)Google AI Overviews (of 190 citations)
Other / unclassified1,045 (41.3%)56 (29.5%)
Company / brand sites380 (15%)22 (11.6%)
Research / data providers328 (13%)11 (5.8%)
General news / business press202 (8%)7 (3.7%)
Official / government143 (5.7%)7 (3.7%)
Reference116 (4.6%)8 (4.2%)
Trade / specialist press114 (4.5%)9 (4.7%)
Directories / rankings83 (3.3%)3 (1.6%)
Community / social82 (3.2%)62 (32.6%)
Review / comparison publishers19 (0.8%)1 (0.5%)
Institutions / trade bodies17 (0.7%)4 (2.1%)

How can companies improve their AI visibility?

These steps follow from the measured results above. They describe what the engines cited in this study and are not a guarantee of results.

StepWhat this study measured
Put your facts on your own domain.Lockheed Martin's own domains were cited in 11.8% of grounded answers, Anduril's in 6.9% and Northrop Grumman's in 5.9%.
Keep your facts accurate on the sites engines cite.The most-cited sites other than the tracked names' own were en.wikipedia.org (in 18.4% of grounded answers), marketsandmarkets.com (17.0%), newmarketpitch.com (15.6%), fortunebusinessinsights.com (10.1%) and mordorintelligence.com (10.1%). Research and data providers supplied 13.0% of citations and general news and business press 8.0%.
Check each engine separately.Gemini named Boeing in 48.6% of answers against 34.7% on Perplexity. Perplexity named BAE Systems in 31.9% of answers against 19.4% on Gemini.
Watch names outside the tracked list.Saab AB (33 answers), Elbit Systems Ltd (24 answers), General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (22 answers), Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (22 answers), China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (21 answers) were named often but were not tracked.
Re-run the same questions every month.Compare counts and intervals, not ranks. The 24 questions are in the appendix.

What AI answers

Which companies lead these AI answers?

Lockheed Martin, Anduril and Northrop Grumman lead this measured set. Lockheed Martin: 163/288 (56.6%; 95% interval 50.8–62.2%). Anduril: 135/288 (46.9%; 95% interval 41.2–52.6%). Their 95% intervals overlap; neither can be called the sole leader.

Which company is named first most often?

Lockheed Martin was the first company named in 87 of 288 answers, with an average first position of 2.2.

How often do Google AI Overviews appear for these questions?

An overview appeared on 63 of 63 searches (100%, CI 94.3–100%). Within those 63 overviews, Lockheed Martin was named most often, in 39 (61.9%).

Which sources do the engines cite?

Across 2,529 four-engine citations, en.wikipedia.org was cited most (80 citations, in 53 of 288 grounded answers), followed by newmarketpitch.com (79 citations).

Do the four engines agree?

Largely. No tracked name differed by more than 12 points between engines.

How this study was measured

24 questions × 3 runs each × 4 AI engines = 288 answers + 63 Google searches · 63 AI Overviews

24 questions asked three times on each of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, measured November 3, 2026. United States, English; Google retrieval uses desktop results. Models: gpt-5-mini, claude-sonnet-5-5, gemini-3.6-flash only, sonar-pro. Google AI Overviews come from DataForSEO, not inferred chat answers. Appearance counts returned text, including ungrounded answers; citation rates use grounded answers. Longer overlapping names suppress shorter ones; First mention is the earliest eligible name order. Own-domain rates include declared domains and subdomains; shared parent scopes may count for multiple names and cannot be summed as unique citations.

EngineModel IDs calledAskedReturnedGrounded
ChatGPTgpt-5-mini727272
Claudeclaude-sonnet-5-5727272
Geminigemini-3.6-flash727272
Perplexitysonar-pro727272
Google AI OverviewsDataForSEO Google SERP (live, advanced)6363 shown63

Own-domain citations count a domain plus all its subdomains, with the same rule in every table.

Definitions

  • Appearance rate: answers naming the tracked name ÷ answers returned, with Wilson 95% intervals.
  • First mention: average order in which the tracked name first appears (1 = first).
  • Own-domain citation: grounded answers citing the tracked name's domains ÷ grounded answers.
  • Citation share: citations to the tracked name's domains ÷ all citations.

Limits

  • Only 35 tracked companies are ranked; results are not an exhaustive market ranking.
  • Only the tracked companies were scored. Untracked names that appeared often were not scored, including Saab AB (33 answers), Elbit Systems Ltd (24 answers), General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (22 answers), Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (22 answers), China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (21 answers).
  • 351 of 360 planned results were returned. 9 AI Overview lookups were excluded after at most three total attempts.
  • 63 successful Google searches: 63 overviews shown; 0 without an overview. Failures are excluded, not scored as zero.
  • All returned chat answers had search sources.
  • Question 10 names Anduril and Lockheed Martin, so both counts include up to 12 answers to that question.
  • Without that question, Anduril is named in 123 of 276 answers and stays within Lockheed Martin's margin (151 of 276).
  • Removing 1 Core question naming tracked subjects leaves 276 eligible answers. The top two are Lockheed Martin (151/276) and Northrop Grumman (130/276); their order changes.
  • Unverified own domains are not available, never zero or guessed. Source types use Company / brand sites only for verified official organisations; other unresolved sites are Other / unclassified.
  • Wilson 95% intervals are descriptive; overlapping leading intervals do not establish a sole leader. Measurements do not endorse medical, legal, financial or product claims.
  • Companies from the earlier edition plus primes, shipbuilders and space firms the questions cover. People named in the earlier edition (founders and CEOs) are not ranked; only companies are. Anduril raised $5 billion at a $61 billion valuation in May 2026 and remains private. Boeing is tracked as one company; answers about its commercial aircraft are kept but noted in review. Names the earlier edition tracked (people) are counted in a separate table that is not ranked against the main list; the main ranking and title stay on the main list. They have no own-domain figure.
  • Google Shopping links and unresolved google.com/goto redirect links are not counted as cited sources; original URLs remain in the evidence.
  • Answers were collected through each engine's API using the model IDs listed in the methodology. The consumer ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity apps can answer differently.

The 24 questions

Questions marked "Core question" are the original study questions, asked word for word. The others are added neutral questions.

#QuestionGroupSource
01What are the leading defense technology companies in the US?Defense Index 2.0Core question
02Who are the biggest US defense contractors?Defense Index 2.0Core question
03Which companies make the best military drones?Defense Index 2.0Core question
04Which companies are leading in autonomous weapons systems?Defense Index 2.0Core question
05Which companies are building AI for the military?Defense Index 2.0Core question
06Which companies lead in counter-drone technology?Defense Index 2.0Core question
07What are the top space launch companies?Defense Index 2.0Core question
08Which companies provide satellite imagery to the US government?Defense Index 2.0Core question
09Which defense startups are growing the fastest?Defense Index 2.0Core question
10Anduril vs Lockheed Martin: how do their approaches differ?Defense Index 2.0Core question
11Which companies build autonomous naval vessels?Defense Index 2.0Core question
12Which companies build the most advanced fighter jets?Defense Index 2.0Added question
13Which companies make missile defense systems for the US?Defense Index 2.0Added question
14Who are the leading US shipbuilders for the Navy?Defense Index 2.0Added question
15Which companies make small drones for the US Army?Defense Index 2.0Added question
16Which companies develop directed energy weapons?Defense Index 2.0Added question
17Which software companies have the biggest Pentagon contracts?Defense Index 2.0Added question
18Which companies build military satellites?Defense Index 2.0Added question
19What are the leading small satellite launch companies?Defense Index 2.0Added question
20Which companies are developing hypersonic weapons?Defense Index 2.0Added question
21Which defense tech companies have raised the most venture funding?Defense Index 2.0Added question
22Which companies provide commercial radar satellite data?Defense Index 2.0Added question
23Which companies make autonomous underwater vehicles for the military?Defense Index 2.0Added question
24Which companies build AI-piloted aircraft?Defense Index 2.0Added question

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