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.
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
AI answers analyzed across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity
of answers named Lockheed Martin, the most-named (163 of 288)
tracked companies named at least once (of 35)
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
Lockheed Martin, Anduril and Northrop Grumman
87/288 (30.2%)
34/288 (11.8%)
63/63 (100%)
39/63 (61.9%)
53/288 (18.4%)
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
| # | Name | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lockheed Martin | 163/288 | 56.6% | 50.8–62.2% |
| 2 | Anduril | 135/288 | 46.9% | 41.2–52.6% |
| 3 | Northrop Grumman | 133/288 | 46.2% | 40.5–52.0% |
| 4 | Boeing | 126/288 | 43.8% | 38.1–49.5% |
| 5 | RTX | 97/288 | 33.7% | 28.5–39.3% |
| 6 | General Dynamics | 85/288 | 29.5% | 24.5–35.0% |
| 7 | L3Harris | 83/288 | 28.8% | 23.9–34.3% |
| 8 | BAE Systems | 75/288 | 26.0% | 21.3–31.4% |
| 9 | Shield AI | 61/288 | 21.2% | 16.9–26.3% |
| 10 | Huntington Ingalls | 54/288 | 18.8% | 14.7–23.7% |
| 11 | Leidos | 44/288 | 15.3% | 11.6–19.9% |
| 12 | SpaceX | 42/288 | 14.6% | 11.0–19.1% |
| 13 | AeroVironment | 40/288 | 13.9% | 10.4–18.4% |
| 14 | Palantir | 40/288 | 13.9% | 10.4–18.4% |
| 15 | Saronic | 37/288 | 12.8% | 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.
| # | Brand | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lockheed Martin | 163/288 | 56.6% | 50.8–62.2% | 2.2 | 11.8% (34/288) | 1.7% |
| 2 | Anduril | 135/288 | 46.9% | 41.2–52.6% | 3 | 6.9% (20/288) | 0.8% |
| 3 | Northrop Grumman | 133/288 | 46.2% | 40.5–52% | 3.6 | 5.9% (17/288) | 0.8% |
| 4 | Boeing | 126/288 | 43.8% | 38.1–49.5% | 3.9 | 4.5% (13/288) | 0.5% |
| 5 | RTX | 97/288 | 33.7% | 28.5–39.3% | 2.9 | 3.8% (11/288) | 0.4% |
| 6 | General Dynamics | 85/288 | 29.5% | 24.5–35% | 4.2 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 7 | L3Harris | 83/288 | 28.8% | 23.9–34.3% | 6.1 | 2.1% (6/288) | 0.2% |
| 8 | BAE Systems | 75/288 | 26% | 21.3–31.4% | 5.7 | 0.7% (2/288) | 0.1% |
| 9 | Shield AI | 61/288 | 21.2% | 16.9–26.3% | 3.5 | 4.2% (12/288) | 0.5% |
| 10 | Huntington Ingalls | 54/288 | 18.8% | 14.7–23.7% | 4.1 | 3.1% (9/288) | 0.4% |
| 11 | Leidos | 44/288 | 15.3% | 11.6–19.9% | 6.3 | 2.1% (6/288) | 0.2% |
| 12 | SpaceX | 42/288 | 14.6% | 11–19.1% | 3.1 | 1% (3/288) | 0.2% |
| 13 | AeroVironment | 40/288 | 13.9% | 10.4–18.4% | 3.5 | 0.7% (2/288) | 0.1% |
| 14 | Palantir | 40/288 | 13.9% | 10.4–18.4% | 3.9 | 2.4% (7/288) | 0.3% |
| 15 | Saronic | 37/288 | 12.8% | 9.5–17.2% | 3.7 | 1% (3/288) | 0.1% |
| 16 | Helsing | 32/288 | 11.1% | 8–15.3% | 3.6 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 17 | Rocket Lab | 31/288 | 10.8% | 7.7–14.9% | 2.8 | 1.4% (4/288) | 0.2% |
| 18 | Epirus | 25/288 | 8.7% | 5.9–12.5% | 5 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 19 | Firefly Aerospace | 23/288 | 8% | 5.4–11.7% | 4 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 20 | Skydio | 23/288 | 8% | 5.4–11.7% | 4 | 1% (3/288) | 0.1% |
| 21 | Vantor | 22/288 | 7.6% | 5.1–11.3% | 2.9 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 22 | Kratos | 21/288 | 7.3% | 4.8–10.9% | 5.1 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 23 | Capella Space | 20/288 | 6.9% | 4.5–10.5% | 2.2 | 1% (3/288) | 0.1% |
| 24 | Umbra | 18/288 | 6.3% | 4–9.7% | 3 | 1.4% (4/288) | 0.2% |
| 25 | Castelion | 17/288 | 5.9% | 3.7–9.2% | 5.2 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 26 | Planet Labs | 15/288 | 5.2% | 3.2–8.4% | 2.9 | 1.4% (4/288) | 0.2% |
| 27 | BlackSky | 14/288 | 4.9% | 2.9–8% | 3.4 | 2.4% (7/288) | 0.3% |
| 28 | Blue Origin | 12/288 | 4.2% | 2.4–7.1% | 3.9 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
The full list (continued)
| # | Brand | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | United Launch Alliance | 12/288 | 4.2% | 2.4–7.1% | 2.9 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 30 | Mach Industries | 10/288 | 3.5% | 1.9–6.3% | 6.5 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 31 | Relativity Space | 6/288 | 2.1% | 1–4.5% | 4.5 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 32 | Vannevar Labs | 6/288 | 2.1% | 1–4.5% | 5.7 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 33 | Rebellion Defense | 2/288 | 0.7% | 0.2–2.5% | 4 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 34 | Stoke Space | 1/288 | 0.3% | 0.1–1.9% | 6 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 35 | Astranis | 0/288 | 0% | 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.
| Name | Named answers | Rate | 95% interval | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Karp | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Brandon Tseng | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Brian Schimpf | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Elon Musk | 1/288 | 0.3% | 0.1–1.9% | 1 |
| Palmer Luckey | 1/288 | 0.3% | 0.1–1.9% | 1 |
| Peter Thiel | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Trae Stephens | 1/288 | 0.3% | 0.1–1.9% | 1 |
The top eight, side by side
| # | Name | Appearance rate | Answers and interval | Other measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lockheed Martin | 56.6% | 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% |
| 2 | Anduril | 46.9% | 135/288 answers · 95% CI 41.2–52.6% | first-mention position: 3; owned-domain citation (20/288): 6.9%; citation share: 0.8% |
| 3 | Northrop Grumman | 46.2% | 133/288 answers · 95% CI 40.5–52% | first-mention position: 3.6; owned-domain citation (17/288): 5.9%; citation share: 0.8% |
| 4 | Boeing | 43.8% | 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% |
| 5 | RTX | 33.7% | 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% |
| 6 | General Dynamics | 29.5% | 85/288 answers · 95% CI 24.5–35% | first-mention position: 4.2; owned-domain citation (1/288): 0.3%; citation share: 0% |
| 7 | L3Harris | 28.8% | 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% |
| 8 | BAE Systems | 26.0% | 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
Claude
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Gemini
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Perplexity
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
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
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 rank | Name | Five-engine rate | Four-engine rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lockheed Martin | 57.5% | 1 |
| 2 | Northrop Grumman | 45.6% | 3 |
| 3 | Anduril | 45.3% | 2 |
| 4 | Boeing | 42.5% | 4 |
| 5 | RTX | 33.6% | 5 |
| 6 | L3Harris | 29.6% | 7 |
| 7 | General Dynamics | 27.9% | 6 |
| 8 | BAE Systems | 25.1% | 8 |
| 9 | Shield AI | 21.7% | 9 |
| 10 | Huntington Ingalls | 16.5% | 10 |
Who each question surfaces first
Six questions from the set. Each tile uses that question's own four-engine answers as the denominator.
| Question | Leader | Next | AI Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q01 · 12 answers | Lockheed Martin 100.0% | RTX 100.0%; Northrop Grumman 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 0 of 0 searches |
| Q02 · 12 answers | Lockheed Martin 100.0% | RTX 100.0%; General Dynamics 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
| Q03 · 12 answers | Northrop Grumman 100.0% | AeroVironment 100.0%; Anduril 91.7% | AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches |
| Q04 · 12 answers | Anduril 100.0% | Lockheed Martin 100.0%; BAE Systems 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
| Q05 · 12 answers | Palantir 91.7% | Anduril 83.3%; Shield AI 83.3% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
| Q06 · 12 answers | RTX 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
Google AI Overviews · share of 63 overviews
Citation share by source type
Share of all citations by the type of site cited.
| Source type | Four AI engines (of 2,529 citations) | Google AI Overviews (of 190 citations) |
|---|---|---|
| Other / unclassified | 1,045 (41.3%) | 56 (29.5%) |
| Company / brand sites | 380 (15%) | 22 (11.6%) |
| Research / data providers | 328 (13%) | 11 (5.8%) |
| General news / business press | 202 (8%) | 7 (3.7%) |
| Official / government | 143 (5.7%) | 7 (3.7%) |
| Reference | 116 (4.6%) | 8 (4.2%) |
| Trade / specialist press | 114 (4.5%) | 9 (4.7%) |
| Directories / rankings | 83 (3.3%) | 3 (1.6%) |
| Community / social | 82 (3.2%) | 62 (32.6%) |
| Review / comparison publishers | 19 (0.8%) | 1 (0.5%) |
| Institutions / trade bodies | 17 (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.
| Step | What 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.
| Engine | Model IDs called | Asked | Returned | Grounded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | gpt-5-mini | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Claude | claude-sonnet-5-5 | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Gemini | gemini-3.6-flash | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Perplexity | sonar-pro | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Google AI Overviews | DataForSEO Google SERP (live, advanced) | 63 | 63 shown | 63 |
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.
| # | Question | Group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | What are the leading defense technology companies in the US? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 02 | Who are the biggest US defense contractors? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 03 | Which companies make the best military drones? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 04 | Which companies are leading in autonomous weapons systems? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 05 | Which companies are building AI for the military? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 06 | Which companies lead in counter-drone technology? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 07 | What are the top space launch companies? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 08 | Which companies provide satellite imagery to the US government? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 09 | Which defense startups are growing the fastest? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 10 | Anduril vs Lockheed Martin: how do their approaches differ? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 11 | Which companies build autonomous naval vessels? | Defense Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 12 | Which companies build the most advanced fighter jets? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 13 | Which companies make missile defense systems for the US? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 14 | Who are the leading US shipbuilders for the Navy? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 15 | Which companies make small drones for the US Army? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 16 | Which companies develop directed energy weapons? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 17 | Which software companies have the biggest Pentagon contracts? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 18 | Which companies build military satellites? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 19 | What are the leading small satellite launch companies? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 20 | Which companies are developing hypersonic weapons? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 21 | Which defense tech companies have raised the most venture funding? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 22 | Which companies provide commercial radar satellite data? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 23 | Which companies make autonomous underwater vehicles for the military? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 24 | Which companies build AI-piloted aircraft? | Defense Index 2.0 | Added question |
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