UK Legal AI Visibility Study 2026
How AI assistants name, recommend and cite UK law firms when people ask for legal help. A point-in-time study of thousands of AI answers.
People increasingly ask an AI assistant before they ask a solicitor. This study measures which UK firms are named in those answers, how often they are actively recommended, and which kinds of sources the assistants lean on.
What the answers showed
Citations analysed 4,921 AI answers to 250 buyer questions across 4 AI assistants, and recorded 1,349 operating brands being named in UK legal services.
Irwin Mitchell was the most visible brand in the sample, named in 10.5% of analysed answers, with 95.4% of its appearances presented as an active recommendation. DLA Piper followed at 9.7%.
This is a point-in-time research snapshot, not a live ranking.
Scale of the sample
Top 25 most visible brands
| # | Brand | Sampled visibility | Recommendation rate | Avg position | Questions covered | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irwin Mitchell | 10.5% | 95.4% | 2.69 | 110 | Strong |
| 2 | DLA Piper | 9.7% | 90.2% | 2.85 | 138 | Strong |
| 3 | Pinsent Masons | 8.8% | 93.1% | 3.33 | 123 | Strong |
| 4 | Shoosmiths | 7.7% | 95% | 2.88 | 98 | Strong |
| 5 | Freeths | 7.3% | 95.8% | 3.1 | 73 | Strong |
| 6 | CMS | 7.2% | 86.9% | 3.52 | 106 | Strong |
| 7 | Eversheds Sutherland | 7.1% | 91.7% | 3.33 | 120 | Strong |
| 8 | Shakespeare Martineau | 6.2% | 94.1% | 3.73 | 94 | Strong |
| 9 | Addleshaw Goddard | 6% | 92.9% | 2.75 | 85 | Strong |
| 10 | Browne Jacobson | 5.5% | 95.6% | 2.65 | 86 | Strong |
| 11 | Osborne Clarke | 5.4% | 96.3% | 2.63 | 70 | Strong |
| 12 | Weightmans | 5.2% | 91.4% | 3.06 | 62 | Strong |
| 13 | Blake Morgan | 5% | 87.7% | 2.52 | 62 | Strong |
| 14 | Mills & Reeve | 4.8% | 93.2% | 3.12 | 72 | Strong |
| 15 | Gateley | 4.7% | 97.8% | 3.45 | 69 | Strong |
| 16 | TLT | 4.6% | 97.4% | 3.54 | 76 | Strong |
| 17 | Mishcon de Reya | 4.2% | 90.4% | 3.16 | 53 | Strong |
| 18 | Womble Bond Dickinson | 3.6% | 88.1% | 2.69 | 66 | Strong |
| 19 | Harper James | 3.4% | 95.8% | 1.56 | 46 | Strong |
| 20 | Bird & Bird | 3.4% | 94.7% | 2.91 | 38 | Strong |
| 21 | Fieldfisher | 3.3% | 93.1% | 2.79 | 50 | Strong |
| 22 | Brabners | 3.2% | 92.4% | 2.69 | 43 | Strong |
| 23 | Birketts | 3% | 92.6% | 1.98 | 34 | Strong |
| 24 | Lewis Silkin | 2.9% | 94.3% | 2.9 | 41 | Strong |
| 25 | Linklaters | 2.9% | 84.8% | 2.6 | 51 | Strong |
How the assistants differ
Answers analysed per assistant
- gemini1,249 (25.4%)
- claude1,248 (25.4%)
- perplexity1,247 (25.3%)
- chatgpt1,177 (23.9%)
Leading brands by assistant
- Irwin Mitchellchatgpt: 16%gemini: 11.8%claude: 8.3%perplexity: 6.4%
- DLA Piperclaude: 21.2%gemini: 7.3%perplexity: 5.7%chatgpt: 4.5%
- Pinsent Masonschatgpt: 17.5%claude: 7.1%gemini: 6.8%perplexity: 4.3%
- Shoosmithschatgpt: 12.3%gemini: 11.5%perplexity: 4.3%claude: 3%
- Freethschatgpt: 13.1%gemini: 10.6%perplexity: 5.1%claude: 0.5%
- CMSclaude: 11.6%perplexity: 9.1%gemini: 6.2%chatgpt: 1.4%
- Eversheds Sutherlandclaude: 15%chatgpt: 8.9%perplexity: 3.8%gemini: 0.9%
- Shakespeare Martineauchatgpt: 11.5%claude: 5.6%gemini: 5.4%perplexity: 2.6%
Each percentage is measured against the answers analysed on that assistant.
The kinds of sites the answers lean on
Aggregated across the whole study. Individual pages and answer-level citations are not published; only domains observed at least three times appear here.
| Domain | Share of observed source uses | Type |
|---|---|---|
| legal500.com | 6.4% | unknown |
| lawsociety.org.uk | 5.4% | unknown |
| chambers.com | 5.1% | unknown |
| trustpilot.com | 4.6% | review |
| sra.org.uk | 1.6% | unknown |
| gov.uk | 1.5% | unknown |
| reviewsolicitors.co.uk | 1.5% | affiliate |
| which.co.uk | 1.5% | unknown |
| irwinmitchell.com | 1% | unknown |
| harperjames.co.uk | 1% | unknown |
| womblebonddickinson.com | 1% | unknown |
| blakemorgan.co.uk | 0.9% | unknown |
| solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk | 0.8% | unknown |
| brownejacobson.com | 0.7% | unknown |
| cms.law | 0.7% | unknown |
| weightmans.com | 0.7% | unknown |
| bestlawyers.com | 0.7% | affiliate |
| linkedin.com | 0.6% | social |
| pinsentmasons.com | 0.6% | unknown |
| clarkewillmott.com | 0.6% | unknown |
Where the leading brands appear
- Commercial contracts25 of the top 25 brands
- Commercial property25 of the top 25 brands
- Regulatory and compliance25 of the top 25 brands
- Retail and ecommerce25 of the top 25 brands
- Commercial litigation24 of the top 25 brands
- Hospitality and leisure24 of the top 25 brands
- Mergers and acquisitions24 of the top 25 brands
- Professional services24 of the top 25 brands
- Technology and SaaS law24 of the top 25 brands
- Corporate law23 of the top 25 brands
- Data protection and privacy23 of the top 25 brands
- Financial services23 of the top 25 brands
How to read these numbers
Sampled AI visibility is the share of the analysed AI answers in this study in which a brand was named. Recommendation rate is the share of those appearances where the answer actively recommended the brand rather than mentioning it in passing. Per-engine visibility is measured against the answers analysed on that engine only. Confidence reflects sample size: Directional up to 20 qualifying observations, Moderate from 21 to 100, Strong above 100.
Directories, ranking bodies, regulators and publishers are classified separately and excluded from the operating-brand leaderboard. This is a point-in-time research snapshot, not a live ranking.
