# Cisco Identity Services Engine: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 59 judge labels across 2 categories by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cisco-identity-services-engine

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Network access control](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/network-access-control/index.md) | 2% | 14 | 52% | 58 |
| [Microsegmentation](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/microsegmentation/index.md) | 0% | 40 | 0% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "the most searched / mindshare leader... It remains the enterprise standard and is the default for large enterprises already running Cisco infrastructure" (Muse Glimmer 30B, NAC)
- "The market leader and industry standard for large enterprises. It offers the most granular control and features in the world." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, NAC)
- "Choose Cisco ISE if you are a Cisco shop needing the deepest policy control and TrustSec segmentation." (Kimi K2, NAC)
- "For large enterprises with complex networks, Cisco ISE or Forescout remain strong choices." (MiniMax M2.5, NAC)

## And against it

- "Avoid solutions like Cisco ISE unless you have dedicated security engineering resources to maintain policy rule sets." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, NAC)
- "Many AI models and experts recommend avoiding it unless you are already deeply invested in Cisco's ecosystem" (Mistral Small, NAC)
- "Unpatched instances of ISE or ClearPass with known 2026 authentication / RCE CVEs" (Muse Glimmer 30B, NAC)
- "Avoid High-Cost Options: Skip Cisco ISE, Aruba ClearPass, or Forescout" (Grok 4.20, NAC)

## By model

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

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Cisco Identity Services Engine, from 151 of the 173 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- portnox.com: 71
- peerspot.com: 69
- cybersecuritynews.com: 57
- cyberpress.org: 48
- softwareadvice.com: 47
- cisco.com: 44 (its own site)
- g2.com: 44
- fortinet.com: 42
- guideflow.com: 33
- gane.ai/index: 30

### Pages cited

- https://cybersecuritynews.com/best-nac-solutions: 56
- https://cyberpress.org/nac-solutions-by-business-size: 47
- https://peerspot.com/categories/network-access-control-nac: 40
- https://softwareadvice.com/network-access-control: 39
- https://guideflow.com/blog/network-access-control-software: 33
- https://fortinet.com/products/network-access-control: 28
- https://us.fitgap.com/search/network-access-control-software: 26
- https://capterra.com/network-access-control-software: 23

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.