The most visible antivirus apps in Europe, October 2026

October 2026 · 105 questions asked from 7 countries · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 420 answers read

Where engines disagree most

Malwarebytes

1/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on Google AI Mode, not on Gemini, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT

Brands

Search is not measured for this board yet, so it ranks on AI answers.

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
1 Microsoft Defender US New entry 48 , range 45–53 48#1
48
  • : score 48 · #1
43% 30% First reading
2 Bitdefender RO New entry 48 , range 45–53 48#2
48
  • : score 48 · #2
44% 29% First reading
3 Norton US New entry 37 , range 34–40 37#3
37
  • : score 37 · #3
30% 13% First reading
4 Malwarebytes US New entry 33 , range 31–36 33#4
33
  • : score 33 · #4
20% 13% First reading
5 Kaspersky RU New entry 21 , range 12–31 21#5
21
  • : score 21 · #5
19% 2% First reading
6 Avast CZ New entry 21 , range 10–31 21#6
21
  • : score 21 · #6
15% 5% First reading
7 ESET SK New entry 16 , range 9–30 16#7
16
  • : score 16 · #7
11% 7% First reading
8 McAfee US New entry 9 , range 7–20 9#8
9
  • : score 9 · #8
11% 3% First reading
9 AVG CZ New entry 6 , range 4–9 6#9
6
  • : score 6 · #9
7% 2% First reading
10 Intego FR New entry 4 , range 2–6 4#10
4
  • : score 4 · #10
3% 2% None First reading

“=” marks brands whose score ranges overlap, so the test cannot separate them. Every brand named in at least three answers is ranked. AI gives each brand’s score and rank from the engines’ answers; Search is not measured for this board yet. By engine has one dot per engine (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode), darker the more often it names the brand.

Most cited sources

Rank Source Type Cited in Engines Pages cited Brands its pages mention
1 allaboutcookies.org Reference 1.9% 2 of 4 6 4
2 veiliginternetten.nl Reference 0.7% 2 of 4 6 Not read
3 inesdi.com Reference 0.7% 1 of 4 1 10
4 digitalsafetyproject.org Reference 0.5% 1 of 4 1 Not read
5 sdsu.edu Reference 0.5% 2 of 4 1 Not read
6 aprender21.com Reference 0.2% 1 of 4 1 Not read
7 bfw.ac.at Reference 0.2% 1 of 4 1 Not read
8 bobsbusiness.co.uk Reference 0.2% 1 of 4 1 Not read
9 internetmatters.org Reference 0.2% 1 of 4 1 Not read
10 oakland.edu Reference 0.2% 1 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
do i need antivirus protection if i only download apps from official stores English Microsoft Defender
what can replace relying on built-in security to protect my laptop English Malwarebytes
how can i replace separate security apps with one for my devices English Microsoft Defender
i work remotely and need to protect my laptop on public wi-fi English No brand recommended
i have children using shared devices and need to block unsafe downloads English No brand recommended

Each engine's top three

Method

Each leaderboard ranks brands on two sides. AI is how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode answer the board's buyer questions. Search is Google's top 10 results for the keywords behind those questions. All combines the two, where Search is measured.

For the AI side, each month Heralded asks every engine the same buyer questions, twice each, and reads every answer. An answer counts 0 for a brand it leaves out, 50 for a brand it names and 100 for a brand it recommends, and the Heralded Score is built from those. A brand named in at least three answers gets a score and a place.

How the leaderboards are measured