Small business▼−2Since September 2026: 7% → 5%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
5%from 7% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 9 pointsRank 3 → 4 of 57
Microsoft · 1 category · RankedMicrosoft Authenticator
52Judge labels
6First choices
8Negative labels
12 / 14Models named it
1Category
October 2026 Edition. Every number here is derived from the raw labels under vendor table v2026-10.8, every buyer segment counted.
Best standing
4% in MFA for small business buyers
Rank 5 of 77 in the mid-market standingaccepted challenger
0 of 14 models made it the first choice on the direct prompt; 19% of its 21 labels there were negative.
What the models named instead of Microsoft Authenticator →By buyer segmentRead the same way at every buyer size.
Small business5 of 60
4%26 labels
accepted challenger
Mid-market5 of 77
2%21 labels
accepted challenger
Enterprise4 of 63
3%5 labels
under the label threshold
In mfa · each standing computed within its segment · bars are 0 to 100 · the accent bar is the product's own best reading
Standing by category
Every category where a model named Microsoft Authenticator for a mid-market B2B company. Share is first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts; rank is within every product named in that category.
| Category | Function | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Quadrant | Since September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-factor authentication | Identity and access | 2% | 5 of 77 | 19% | 21 | accepted challenger | ▼−4Since September 2026: 6% → 2%, −4 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
Movement
Since September 2026, Microsoft Authenticator held within the floor in its one category: no change cleared 11 points.
Best category · MFA · by segment
Mid-market▼−4Since September 2026: 6% → 2%, −4 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
2%from 6% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 7 pointsRank 4 → 5 of 69
Enterprise▲+4Since September 2026: 0% → 4%, +4 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
4%from 0% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 7 pointsRank 14 → 4 of 59
All categories · Mid-market
| Category | September 2026 | Now | Change | Reading | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MFA | 6% | 2% | ▼−4Since September 2026: 6% → 2%, −4 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 4 → 5 of 77 |
Shares here are read over the models both editions asked, so they can differ by a point or two from the standing above, which counts every model in this edition.
The floor is 11 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. Movement is read over the twelve models both editions asked; GPT-6 Luna, Muse Glimmer 30B joined this edition and are in the standing but not yet in the comparison. How the floor is measured · The editions
By model
How each model treated Microsoft Authenticator across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.ShowHide
By model
How each model treated Microsoft Authenticator across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.
ShowHide| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Negative | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
By framing
Which of the six questions produced the naming. By model says how often; this says asked what. The first-choice count on the right carries the marks of the models that produced it.
FramingLabels by classFirst choices
Direct7 labelsNone
Paraphrase6 labels1
Comparative8 labelsNone
Budget-constrained14 labels4
Scale-constrained7 labels1
Negative10 labelsNone
First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative52 labels in all, every segment counted; 6 of the 6 first choices count toward share, since the comparative and negative framings do not. The bar is one segment per label class, to scale within the framing.
What the models said for it
Verbatim evidence the judge attached to positive labels.
“start with Microsoft Authenticator (if using M365) or Duo Free — both offer solid security with minimal cost” MiniMax M2.5 · MFA · budget prompt · first choice
“Microsoft\u2019s own guidance highlights Authenticator, FIDO2 security keys/passkeys, certificate-based auth, and Windows Hello for Business” GPT-5.4 mini · MFA · comparative prompt · alternative
“Using apps like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or Authy is completely free” Mistral Small · MFA · budget prompt · alternative
“Free authenticator apps like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or Authy” Claude Haiku 4.5 · MFA · budget prompt · alternative
And against it
Verbatim evidence attached to negative labels. A warning on a product with few labels is a warning; on a product with many, it is one voice among them.
“Only use push notification systems (like Microsoft Authenticator or Duo) if they are configured to require Number Matching” Gemini 3.5 Flash · MFA · negative prompt · soft negative
“These aren't full enterprise MFA solutions on their own ... They lack central management, enforcement, or reporting.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · MFA · budget prompt · soft negative
“TOTP Authenticator Apps (Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator) ... are phishable.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · MFA · negative prompt · soft negative
“Push notifications (e.g., ... Microsoft Authenticator push): Susceptible to MFA fatigue/bombing” Grok 4.20 · MFA · negative prompt · soft negative
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Microsoft Authenticator, over the 52 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Microsoft Authenticator was named but was not.ShowHide
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Microsoft Authenticator, over the 52 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Microsoft Authenticator was named but was not.
ShowHideProductSame answerTook the first choice insteadHead to head
A head-to-head page exists where both products are among a category's top eight. The other rows are the same fact without a page behind them, so they link to the product instead.
What carried it into the answer
The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Microsoft Authenticator. A fact about retrieval, not a lever on the model.
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list, five of the fourteen in this edition, so these counts come from 37 of the 52 answers that named Microsoft Authenticator and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
expertinsights.com19
duo.com17
okta.com15
aimultiple.com14
encomputers.com12
miniorange.com12
learn.microsoft.comYour site11
linkedin.com11
rippling.com11
gbhackers.com10
121 of the 132 domain citations in answers naming Microsoft Authenticator came from somebody else's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
Search and answers
Where Microsoft Authenticator stands in Google search beside where it stands in the models' answers.ShowHide
Search and answers
Where Microsoft Authenticator stands in Google search beside where it stands in the models' answers.
ShowHideIn search
Google, US estimates- Searches for its name, Google
- 90,500 a month (“microsoft authenticator”)
- AI search demand for its name, est.
- 4,964 a month
- Its own site
- It sits on Microsoft's site (microsoft.com), so there are no site figures for it alone
In answers
This editionShare of first choices
2%
rank 5 of 77 in MFA
Segment leader
47%
Cisco Duo
- First choices
- 6 across its categories
- Named in
- 52 answers
- Its own site cited
- in 37 of the answers that named it
Search figures are US estimates from DataForSEO, read September 28, 2026; AI search demand is its modeled, directional estimate, not a count of queries to any assistant. The answers are this edition's. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
Names read as Microsoft Authenticator
What the judge wrote, as written, with how often. The vendor table decides that these count as Microsoft Authenticator; a claim can dispute any of them.
Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) & Microsoft Authenticator 1Microsoft Authenticator (with Azure AD) 1Microsoft Authenticator/Entra ID MFA 1Microsoft Entra ID + Microsoft Authenticator 1
Follow Microsoft Authenticator
An email the morning each edition publishes: where this product moved, where it held, and by how much against the noise floor. One address, confirmed by a click; a stop link in every email.
Already following? Everything you follow, with a stop for each.
The company
Microsoft is the company behind Microsoft Authenticator.ShowHide
The company
Microsoft is the company behind Microsoft Authenticator.
ShowHideOn record
Company records- Also from Microsoft
- Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 Admin Center, Microsoft 365 Administration, Microsoft 365 Backup, Microsoft 365 Compliance Center, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, Microsoft 365 DSC and 164 more
In its own words
Stated by the vendor, not checked- Positioning
- Protect your personal and business data from outside breaches by securely logging into any account with the Microsoft Authenticator app.
- For
- personal and business
- Not stated on the pages read
- Price, starting price, free plan or trial, integrations, certifications, hosting, customers
What Microsoft Authenticator's own pages state, read October 5, 2026: microsoft.com/en-us/security/mobile-authenticator-app. A claimed page can correct any of them.
Is this your product?
Claim this page
Claiming is free and changes nothing in the data. A claimed page shows a verified contact who is told when each edition publishes and when Microsoft Authenticator's standing changes by more than the noise floor; the right to propose corrections to the vendor table, meaning names the judge wrote that should or should not read as Microsoft Authenticator, applied by version and listed in the change log; and a one-line description supplied by the vendor and marked as such.
What a new claim receivesHide what a new claim receives
A new claim receives the current edition's vendor brief for Microsoft Authenticator by email, built from the raw record of the edition. It shows:
- where Microsoft Authenticator is named, by buyer and by framing, and which cells hold its first choices;
- the claims the models make when they name it, ranked, with the strongest and the weakest quoted;
- its vocabulary against the segment leader's, and the pages the models cited;
- who was chosen in the answers that did not name Microsoft Authenticator, and every reason the record gives;
- a battlecard for each top rival: the head-to-head split, why they win, and the reservation quoted against them;
- one page of published figures cleared to show a buyer.