CiteGround teardown / passwordmgr-category

When your buyers ask AI about password managers, who gets named?

password managers · 10 buyer prompts · 90 runs across ChatGPT (API, web-grounded), Google AI Overviews, Perplexity (API) · rolling 28-day window · generated 2026-07-11 10:22 UTC

Episode 1 of a weekly series: this basket re-runs with the standing Monday pull, so the leaderboard accrues history. Even in the most review-site-heavy category on the internet, the top grounding domains are the vendors' own pages.

Most-cited grounding domains · all 10 prompts, 90 runs

bitwarden.com67

1password.com44

reddit.com40

youtube.com37

securden.com31

pcmag.com30

passwordmanager.com19

security.org18

Share of voice across the basket

Fig. 01 / share of answers mentioning the brand90 runs

Bitwarden86%

1Password78%

Keeper47%

Dashlane41%

NordPass38%

Proton Pass22%

LastPass14%

RoboForm13%

Zoho Vault4%

Passbolt0%

Share of all 90 archived runs in the window that mention the brand. Basket-level only; per-query AI rank is statistical noise and is never reported here.

Prompt-by-prompt: what the AI actually says

Prompt 019 runs

“best password manager for small business teams”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

1Password (9/9)Bitwarden (9/9)Dashlane (7/9)NordPass (5/9)Keeper (4/9)LastPass (1/9)RoboForm (1/9)Proton Pass (1/9)

Grounding sources: 1password.com, bitwarden.com, g2.com (23 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 029 runs

“best password manager for startups 2026”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

1Password (8/9)Bitwarden (8/9)NordPass (4/9)Dashlane (3/9)Proton Pass (3/9)Keeper (2/9)LastPass (2/9)

AI answer returned in 8/9 runs.

Grounding sources: youtube.com, linkedin.com, reddit.com (23 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 039 runs

“1Password vs Bitwarden for business use”

set agreement 67% (mixed)

The AI names:

1Password (9/9)Bitwarden (9/9)

Grounding sources: bitwarden.com, 1password.com, tech-insider.org (18 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 049 runs

“most secure password manager for enterprise”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

1Password (9/9)Bitwarden (9/9)Keeper (8/9)Dashlane (5/9)NordPass (3/9)RoboForm (1/9)Proton Pass (1/9)

Grounding sources: bitwarden.com, 1password.com, gartner.com (18 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 059 runs

“best free password manager for a team”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

Bitwarden (9/9)Proton Pass (5/9)Zoho Vault (4/9)Dashlane (4/9)1Password (3/9)NordPass (2/9)

Grounding sources: bitwarden.com, techrepublic.com, securden.com (24 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 069 runs

“password manager with SSO and SCIM provisioning”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

1Password (8/9)Bitwarden (8/9)Dashlane (7/9)Keeper (6/9)LastPass (4/9)NordPass (3/9)

AI answer returned in 8/9 runs.

Grounding sources: bitwarden.com, 1password.com, microsoft.com (14 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 079 runs

“Bitwarden alternative for companies”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

Bitwarden (9/9)1Password (8/9)Dashlane (8/9)Keeper (7/9)NordPass (5/9)LastPass (4/9)Proton Pass (4/9)RoboForm (1/9)

Grounding sources: privacyguides.net, youtube.com, bitwarden.com (24 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 089 runs

“is a paid password manager worth it for a small company”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

Bitwarden (4/9)Keeper (4/9)RoboForm (3/9)NordPass (3/9)1Password (2/9)Proton Pass (1/9)

AI answer returned in 6/9 runs.

Grounding sources: bitwarden.com, security.org, reddit.com (16 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 099 runs

“how to choose a password manager for my company”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

Bitwarden (6/9)1Password (6/9)Keeper (6/9)NordPass (4/9)RoboForm (3/9)Proton Pass (3/9)LastPass (2/9)Dashlane (1/9)

Grounding sources: pcmag.com, securden.com, bitwarden.com (24 distinct domains cited across runs)

Prompt 109 runs

“best passkey manager for business”

set agreement 33% (unstable)

The AI names:

1Password (8/9)Bitwarden (6/9)NordPass (5/9)Keeper (5/9)RoboForm (3/9)Dashlane (2/9)Proton Pass (2/9)

Grounding sources: pcmag.com, 1password.com, heimdalsecurity.com (23 distinct domains cited across runs)

Run GapCheck: see who owns your category's AI answers

Method: each prompt runs multiple times per engine; brands and cited domains are extracted per run and archived append-only from run #1. Counts of runs, not certainty theater. Presence counts (k/n) and set agreement are two different measurements: an answer can include a brand in every run while the full named set still churns. Engine access, reading construction, and what we exclude: /methods.