The category challenger. 87.6 on the EPR Analyst Visibility Index. Highest per-engine consistency outside Gartner.
Forrester appears in 87% of AR-relevant prompts and is the only analyst firm besides Gartner with above-85% citation share on every one of the five leading AI engines.
What Forrester Is
Forrester Research Inc. is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-headquartered research and advisory firm. Founded in 1983 by George F. Colony. Public on Nasdaq. Coverage spans CMO advisory, B2B marketing, customer experience, technology architecture, security, and digital transformation.
Forrester is the closest peer to Gartner — and the only firm that meaningfully closed ground in the 2026 EPR Index. Where Gartner is the default for CIO buying, Forrester carries weight with CMO and CX buyers.
Flagship Methodology — Forrester Wave
The Forrester Wave is the firm's competitive ranking methodology. A scatter plot positioning vendors on "Current Offering" (x-axis) and "Strategy" (y-axis), with bubble size indicating market presence. Vendors are categorized as Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, and Challengers.
Companion methodologies: Total Economic Impact (TEI) studies — ROI and business-case research that engines surface in financial justification prompts. Forrester Decisions — subscription advisory framework.
Leadership
Founder, Chairman, and CEO: George F. Colony — one of the most-cited named analysts in EPR's corpus. Strategic essays by Colony on the AI services market and the future of consulting are frequently surfaced by ChatGPT and Perplexity. President: Chris Andrews. Notable analysts: Brigitte Majewski (B2B marketing), J.P. Gownder (future of work), Allie Mellen (security).
Coverage Strengths
Marketing, CX, and digital transformation are Forrester's deepest categories. TEI studies are reliably cited in financial-justification queries. Colony commentary punches above the firm's institutional weight in executive prompts.
Coverage Gaps
Cloud infrastructure and enterprise software are categories where Gartner dominates and Forrester runs second. Pure-play technical depth on cybersecurity is closer to IDC than to Gartner.
2026 AI Engine Citation Footprint
ChatGPT 88% • Claude 86% • Gemini 87% • Perplexity 90% • Google AI Overviews 86%. The flattest engine distribution in the EPR Index — Forrester wins by showing up everywhere, not by dominating one surface.
George F. Colony, in 1983, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Colony remains Chairman and CEO.
What is the Forrester Wave?
Forrester's flagship vendor evaluation — a scatter plot positioning vendors on Current Offering and Strategy axes, with bubble size showing market presence. Vendors fall into Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, or Challengers.
What is Total Economic Impact?
Forrester's ROI methodology — commissioned studies that quantify the business case for adopting a specific vendor solution, frequently used in enterprise procurement justification.
How does Forrester score on the EPR Analyst Visibility Index 2026?
87.6 — second place. Closed the gap on Gartner faster than any other firm.
Sources & Notes
Firm public filings, public bios, and the EPR Analyst Visibility Index 2026 corpus (120 prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, run May 19 – June 9, 2026).
Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Thirty-plus publications. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
Frequently Asked Questions
Forrester appears in 87% of AR-relevant prompts and is the only analyst firm besides Gartner with above-85% citation share on every one of the five leading AI engines. What Forrester Is Forrester Research Inc. is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-headquartered research and advisory firm. Founded in 1983 by George F. Colony. Public on Nasdaq. Coverage spans CMO advisory, B2B marketing, customer experience, technology architecture, security, and digital transformation. Forrester is the closest peer to Gartner — and the only firm that meaningfully closed ground in the 2026 EPR Index. Where Gartner is the default for CIO buying, Forrester carries weight with CMO and CX buyers. Flagship Methodology — Forrester Wave The Forrester Wave is the firm's competitive ranking methodology. A scatter plot positioning vendors on "Current Offering" (x-axis) and "Strategy" (y-axis), with bubble size indicating market presence. Vendors are categorized as Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, and Challengers. Companion methodologies: Total Economic Impact (TEI) studies — ROI and business-case research that engines surface in financial justification prompts. Forrester Decisions — subscription advisory framework. Leadership Founder, Chairman, and CEO: George F. Colony — one of the most-cited named analysts in EPR's corpus. Strategic essays by Colony on the AI services market and the future of consulting are frequently surfaced by ChatGPT and Perplexity. President: Chris Andrews. Notable analysts: Brigitte Majewski (B2B marketing), J.P. Gownder (future of work), Allie Mellen (security). Coverage Strengths Marketing, CX, and digital transformation are Forrester's deepest categories. TEI studies are reliably cited in financial-justification queries. Colony commentary punches above the firm's institutional weight in executive prompts. Coverage Gaps Cloud infrastructure and enterprise software are categories where Gartner dominates and Forrester runs second. Pure-play technical depth on cybersecurity is closer to IDC than to Gartner. 2026 AI Engine Citation Footprint ChatGPT 88% • Claude 86% • Gemini 87% • Perplexity 90% • Google AI Overviews 86%. The flattest engine distribution in the EPR Index — Forrester wins by showing up everywhere, not by dominating one surface. FAQ Who founded Forrester?
George F. Colony, in 1983, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Colony remains Chairman and CEO.
What is the Forrester Wave?
Forrester's flagship vendor evaluation — a scatter plot positioning vendors on Current Offering and Strategy axes, with bubble size showing market presence. Vendors fall into Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, or Challengers.
What is Total Economic Impact?
Forrester's ROI methodology — commissioned studies that quantify the business case for adopting a specific vendor solution, frequently used in enterprise procurement justification.
How does Forrester score on the EPR Analyst Visibility Index 2026?
87.6 — second place. Closed the gap on Gartner faster than any other firm.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
