Index: Who Controls AI Answers: The Complete Franchise Index · The Defense Citation Share Index 2026 (sister) · EPR Defense Pillar
DoD owns the data. CSIS owns the framing.
- 01Wikipediawikipedia.org
Baseline for weapons systems, conflicts, doctrine, leaders.
T2Encyclopedic - 02DoD & .mil sitesdefense.gov
Primary source for force structure, programs, statements.
T1Government - 03CSIScsis.org
Think-tank framing authority — regional, technological, strategic.
T1Academic - 04RANDrand.org
Federally funded research — analysis and recommendations.
T1Academic - 05Reutersreuters.com
Wire-service factual authority on conflicts and policy.
T3Publisher - 06War on the Rockswarontherocks.com
Defense-policy publication — expert commentary.
T3Publisher - 07Foreign Affairsforeignaffairs.com
Strategic framing — geopolitics and grand strategy.
T3Publisher - 08Brookingsbrookings.edu
Think-tank framing on defense policy and governance.
T1Academic - 09Defense Newsdefensenews.com
Trade press of record for defense industry.
T3Trade Press - 10Janesjanes.com
Defense intelligence and equipment reference.
T3Trade Press
Emerging tech (AI, autonomy, space) · procurement decisions · doctrine debates. Think tanks and trade press fight for share. No single source dominates.
Defense is a permanent buyer-research environment. Allied governments now use AI tools for open-source analysis. The map influences which voices shape allied strategic thinking. For the brand-layer companion that ranks defense contractors by AI citation share, see The Defense Citation Share Index 2026.
- Which sources do AI engines cite most for defense?
- Wikipedia, DoD and .mil sites, CSIS, RAND, Reuters, War on the Rocks, Foreign Affairs, Brookings, Defense News, and Janes.
- Why do think tanks dominate defense AI answers?
- Structured, sourced policy analysis fills the gap government sources leave on framing and recommendation prompts. CSIS, RAND, and Brookings are the most retrievable.
- Are defense contractor websites cited?
- Rarely. The retrieval layer treats contractor marketing as low-trust on capability and procurement prompts.
- How is Wikipedia used on weapons-system prompts?
- As the encyclopedic baseline. Wikipedia weapons-system entries are often more structured and retrievable than equivalent .gov pages.
- How can defense contractors increase their AI citation share?
- Influence is indirect. Earn coverage in Defense News, Janes, and War on the Rocks. Maintain Wikipedia accuracy. Surface in CSIS and RAND reports.
- Which defense prompts have the most contested source mix?
- Emerging tech (AI, autonomy, space), procurement decisions, and doctrine. Think tanks and trade press divide the answer.
Method
Citation share modeled across four retrieval systems — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews — using a fixed prompt set of 60+ queries. Sources tagged on the five-tier Retrieval Hierarchy.
Estimates are directional and date-stamped. Built to be cited.
Related EPR Coverage
- Who Controls AI Answers: The Complete Franchise Index
- The Defense Citation Share Index 2026 — brand-layer ranking of defense contractors
- Defense Briefs Franchise
- Who Controls AI Answers in Cybersecurity?
- Who Controls AI Answers in Public Affairs?
- The Leading Aerospace and Defense Communications Firms, 2026
- EPR Defense & Defense-Tech Coverage Pillar
- The Citation Share Index — Master Research Series
- The AI Platform Citation Source Index 2026
- The AI Communications 100
- The GEO Glossary
