Every category where a model named Microsoft Defender for Endpoint 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
Endpoint detection and response	Security operations	30%	1 of 55	11%	57	accepted challenger	▲+14Since September 2026: 20% → 34%, +14 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.
Endpoint protection	IT operations and endpoint	22%	1 of 86	5%	40	accepted challenger	▲+5Since September 2026: 18% → 23%, +5 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
Client-side protection	Security operations	2%	11 of 120	0%	9	under 10 labels · led by cside at 13%
Extended detection and response	Security operations	2%	7 of 58	0%	4	under 10 labels · led by Microsoft Defender XDR at 40%	▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
AI security platforms	Security operations	2%	27 of 233	0%	1	under 10 labels · led by SentinelOne Singularity at 11%
Microsoft 365 management	IT operations and endpoint	0%	40 of 149	0%	2	under 10 labels · led by CoreView at 20%
Network access control	Network and edge	0%	82 of 111	0%	1	under 10 labels · led by Portnox Cloud at 35%

Movement

Since September 2026, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint moved past the floor in one of seven categories: EDR, +14 points to 34%. It held within the floor in the other six.

Best category · EDR · by segment

Small business▲+3Since September 2026: 2% → 5%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.

5%from 2% in September 2026

Inside the floor by 8 pointsRank 6 → 4 of 46

Mid-market▲+14Since September 2026: 20% → 34%, +14 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.

34%from 20% in September 2026

Cleared the floor by 3 pointsRank 2 → 1 of 52

Enterprise▼−11Since September 2026: 39% → 27%, −11 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.

27%from 39% in September 2026

Cleared the floor by 0 pointsRank 2 of 43, unchanged

All categories · Mid-market

Category	September 2026	Now	Change	Reading	Rank
EDR	20%	34%	▲+14Since September 2026: 20% → 34%, +14 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.	Moved past the floor	Rank 2 → 1 of 55
Endpoint protection	18%	23%	▲+5Since September 2026: 18% → 23%, +5 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.	Within noise	Rank 3 → 1 of 86
Client-side protection	0%	3%	newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 3% now.	New this edition	Rank 11 of 120, unchanged
XDR	0%	2%	▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.	Within noise	Rank 19 → 7 of 58
AI security	0%	2%	newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 2% now.	New this edition	Rank 27 of 233, unchanged
M365 management	0%	0%	newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.	New this edition	Rank 40 of 149, unchanged
NAC	0%	0%	newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.	New this edition	Rank 82 of 111, unchanged

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 Defender for Endpoint across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.

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Model	First choice	Alternative	Mention	Negative	Labels
Claude Haiku 4.5	2	5	5	0	12
GPT-5.4 mini	2	3	2	0	7
Gemini 3.5 Flash	1	5	2	1	9
Perplexity Sonar	2	4	2	0	8
Grok 4.20	2	4	0	1	7
Mistral Small	2	4	3	1	10
DeepSeek V4 Flash	6	1	1	1	9
Llama 4 Maverick	1	0	3	0	4
Qwen 3.7 Flash	4	3	0	1	8
Kimi K2	4	5	2	2	13
GLM 4.7 FlashX	1	3	2	0	6
MiniMax M2.5	6	3	0	0	9
GPT-6 Luna	1	3	1	0	5
Muse Glimmer 30B	2	3	1	1	7

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

Direct64 labels20

Paraphrase56 labels20

Comparative65 labels14not counted in share

Budget-constrained52 labels44

Scale-constrained31 labels4

Negative41 labels3not counted in share

First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative309 labels in all, every segment counted; 88 of the 105 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.

“I'd suggest starting with a pilot of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (if you're in the Microsoft ecosystem) or Bitdefender GravityZone” Kimi K2 · Endpoint protection · paraphrase prompt · first choice

“Microsoft Defender and Bitdefender are especially recommended for their balance of cost, ease of use, and effectiveness for small businesses.” Mistral Small · Endpoint protection · budget prompt · first choice

“if you're already a Microsoft-centric organization on M365 E5, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is the smartest financial move.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · EDR · paraphrase prompt · first choice

“Best choice if you are already heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem (Office 365, Intune, Azure). High value, low friction.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · EDR · scale prompt · first choice

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.

“Commonly cited limitations are platform scope and detection depth... it may not perform as well in non-Windows environments.” Muse Glimmer 30B · EDR · negative prompt · soft negative

“These enterprise-grade platforms are highly powerful, but they generate massive volumes of alerts and complex telemetry.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · EDR · negative prompt · soft negative

“in hybrid environments, integration conflicts with other security tools can sometimes cause hidden performance spikes” Qwen 3.7 Flash · EDR · negative prompt · soft negative

“Cons: Windows-first architecture, limited autonomous rollback, compliance reporting weak outside Microsoft stack” Kimi K2 · EDR · negative prompt · soft negative

Named alongside

The products named in the same answers as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, over the 307 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint was named but was not.

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ProductSame answerTook the first choice insteadHead to head

SentinelOne Singularity194 of 30722Compare →

Sophos Intercept X138 of 3075Compare →

CrowdStrike Falcon Insight111 of 30748Compare →

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR109 of 3070Not among the top eight

CrowdStrike Falcon105 of 30740Compare →

Huntress Managed EDR60 of 30710Compare →

SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint48 of 3072Compare →

Bitdefender GravityZone41 of 3073Compare →

CrowdStrike39 of 3072Not among the top eight

Bitdefender GravityZone EDR30 of 3070Compare →

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 Defender for Endpoint. 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 268 of the 307 answers that named Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and are not a share of its labels.

Domains cited

huntress.com126

sentinelone.com101

guideflow.com83

kaseya.com81

techrepublic.com76

crowdstrike.com72

acronis.com66

cybersecuritynews.com63

expertinsights.com61

iru.com60

789 of the 789 domain citations in answers naming Microsoft Defender for Endpoint came from somebody else's page.

Pages cited

kaseya.com/blog/best-edr-solutions79

guideflow.com/blog/best-endpoint-protection-software63

techrepublic.com/article/best-edr-software63

acronis.com/en/blog/posts/best-edr-endpoint-detection-and-response-solutions-in-202662

huntress.com/enterprise-cybersecurity-guide/best-endpoint-protection-solutions-compared58

senseon.io/blog/best-edr-solutions57

decryptiondigest.com/blog/best-edr-platforms-202653

deel.com/blog/best-endpoint-protection-for-business51

Pages are listed as the models cited them.

Search and answers

Where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint stands in Google search beside where it stands in the models' answers.

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In search

Google, US estimates

Searches for its name, Google: 3,600 a month (“microsoft defender for endpoint”)
AI search demand for its name, est.: 148 a month
Its own site: It sits on Microsoft Defender's site (microsoft.com), so there are no site figures for it alone

In answers

This edition

Share of first choices

30%

rank 1 of 55 in EDR

First choices

across its categories

Named in: 307 answers
Its own site cited: in 268 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 Defender for Endpoint

What the judge wrote, as written, with how often. The vendor table decides that these count as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; a claim can dispute any of them.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 4Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) 3Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (Plan 2) 3Windows Defender 3Microsoft Defender for Business / Defender for Endpoint 2Microsoft Defender 1Microsoft Defender (Windows Security) 1Microsoft Defender For Endpoint 1Microsoft Defender for Business / Endpoint 1Microsoft Defender for Business/Endpoint 1Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 1

Follow Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

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 Defender is the company behind Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

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On record

Company records

Also from Microsoft Defender: Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Attack Simulation Training, Microsoft Defender Experts, Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, Microsoft Defender TI, Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management and 12 more

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 Defender for Endpoint'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 Defender for Endpoint, 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 Defender for Endpoint by email, built from the raw record of the edition. It shows:

where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint 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 Defender for Endpoint, 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.

Badges

Wins only: a badge exists where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.

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Endpoint detection and response

AI models recommend Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first in Endpoint detection and response this edition. Each badge says so in the buyer's words, names the edition, and links to the standing. The next edition issues a new badge; this one stays true as a record of October 2026.

Wide · 320 × 104 Website, beside other badges

Show the code

<a href="https://it-ai-index.com/security/endpoint-detection-and-response/"><img src="https://it-ai-index.com/badges/2026-10/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint--endpoint-detection-and-response-wide.svg" alt="AI models' first choice in Endpoint detection and response, October 2026 Edition, IT AI Recommendation Index" width="320" height="104"></a>

Copy the code as it is. The link is part of the badge: it points at the Endpoint detection and response standing, where the claim can be checked.

Square · 240 × 240 LinkedIn, slides

Show the code

<a href="https://it-ai-index.com/security/endpoint-detection-and-response/"><img src="https://it-ai-index.com/badges/2026-10/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint--endpoint-detection-and-response-square.svg" alt="AI models' first choice in Endpoint detection and response, October 2026 Edition, IT AI Recommendation Index" width="240" height="240"></a>

Copy the code as it is. The link is part of the badge: it points at the Endpoint detection and response standing, where the claim can be checked.

Compact · 200 × 56 Email signature, footer

Show the code

<a href="https://it-ai-index.com/security/endpoint-detection-and-response/"><img src="https://it-ai-index.com/badges/2026-10/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint--endpoint-detection-and-response-compact.svg" alt="AI models' first choice in Endpoint detection and response, October 2026 Edition, IT AI Recommendation Index" width="200" height="56"></a>

Copy the code as it is. The link is part of the badge: it points at the Endpoint detection and response standing, where the claim can be checked.

Endpoint protection

AI models recommend Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first in Endpoint protection this edition. Each badge says so in the buyer's words, names the edition, and links to the standing. The next edition issues a new badge; this one stays true as a record of October 2026.

Wide · 320 × 104 Website, beside other badges

Show the code

<a href="https://it-ai-index.com/operations/endpoint-protection/"><img src="https://it-ai-index.com/badges/2026-10/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint--endpoint-protection-wide.svg" alt="AI models' first choice in Endpoint protection, October 2026 Edition, IT AI Recommendation Index" width="320" height="104"></a>

Copy the code as it is. The link is part of the badge: it points at the Endpoint protection standing, where the claim can be checked.

Square · 240 × 240 LinkedIn, slides

Show the code

<a href="https://it-ai-index.com/operations/endpoint-protection/"><img src="https://it-ai-index.com/badges/2026-10/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint--endpoint-protection-square.svg" alt="AI models' first choice in Endpoint protection, October 2026 Edition, IT AI Recommendation Index" width="240" height="240"></a>

Copy the code as it is. The link is part of the badge: it points at the Endpoint protection standing, where the claim can be checked.

Compact · 200 × 56 Email signature, footer

Show the code

<a href="https://it-ai-index.com/operations/endpoint-protection/"><img src="https://it-ai-index.com/badges/2026-10/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint--endpoint-protection-compact.svg" alt="AI models' first choice in Endpoint protection, October 2026 Edition, IT AI Recommendation Index" width="200" height="56"></a>

Copy the code as it is. The link is part of the badge: it points at the Endpoint protection standing, where the claim can be checked.

Badges read on light and dark pages. Alt text carries the claim, the category, the edition and the index, so it stays a citation where the image does not load.