Law Firms: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Barley Snyder leads the Law Firms index in October 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 20.0%, up from 17.2% in July 2026, and holds a 10.0-point gap over Eckert Seamans, the next closest firm at 10.0% in October 2026. No tracked firm recorded a significant rise this month, and no tracked firm recorded a significant single-month decline in October 2026. Across the full July-to-October series, McNees Wallace & Nurick is the category's only significant decliner: valid recommendation coverage fell from 17.2% in July 2026 to 0.0% in October 2026, a cumulative decline of 17.2 points, including a 10.3-point drop from August 2026 to September 2026 and no change from 0.0% in September 2026 to 0.0% in October 2026. The largest coverage increase since baseline belongs to Barley Snyder, up 2.8 points from 17.2% in July 2026 to 20.0% in October 2026, though that move falls within normal month-to-month variation. The largest coverage decline since baseline is McNees Wallace & Nurick, down 17.2 points from 17.2% in July 2026 to 0.0% in October 2026, beyond normal month-to-month variation.

The benchmark began with 102 prompt-surface observations in October 2026 and produced 10 qualified observations after qualification. In July 2026, the benchmark began with 257 prompt-surface observations and produced 29 qualified observations.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the six canonical AI/search surface families (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode) with at least one qualified observation. The October 2026 series drew on three of the six: ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews. September 2026 reached four of the six, adding Copilot.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Law Firms

Research Scope and Qualification

Questions This Section Answers

• How many prompt-surface observations were collected, and how many survived qualification into the public benchmark?
• Why is the qualified observation count so much smaller than the raw collection universe?

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology

Current Brand Standings

Questions This Section Answers

• Which law firms lead the October 2026 standings on valid recommendation coverage?
• How do presence rate and valid recommendation coverage differ for the tracked firms?

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned in any form.
• Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand receives a valid recommendation.
• Top-three rate: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the first three recommendation positions.
• Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is recommended first.
• Net sentiment: positive mentions minus negative mentions, divided by total mentions.

For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions.

Company Focus: McCormick Law Firm

McCormick Law Firm recorded a 10.0% presence rate in October 2026, meaning the firm appeared in one in ten qualified observations, but its valid recommendation coverage, top-three rate, and rank-one rate each stood at 0.0%, with net sentiment flat at 0.0. Across the full July-to-October 2026 series, McCormick Law Firm's valid recommendation coverage shows no change, holding at 0.0% throughout.

Barley Snyder records 20.0% on valid recommendation coverage, while McCormick Law Firm stands at 0.0%. The more important issue is what that gap means for McCormick Law Firm's recommendation position: the firm is already being mentioned in qualified AI responses at a 10.0% presence rate, yet that presence has not converted into a single valid recommendation in October 2026 — a material gap against both the category leader and Eckert Seamans, which holds 10.0% coverage. Left unexamined, McCormick Law Firm remains visible in the information environment without that visibility translating into the recommendation outcomes buyers actually act on.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Why is McCormick Law Firm's 10.0% presence rate failing to convert into any valid recommendation coverage, while Barley Snyder converts comparable visibility into a 20.0% recommendation rate?

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Questions This Section Answers

• Which firm recorded the largest decline in valid recommendation coverage since the July 2026 baseline?
• Did any firm post a significant single-month change in October 2026?

Month-over-month, the October 2026 reading was quiet. Barley Snyder slipped 5.0 points from 25.0% in September 2026 to 20.0% in October 2026, while Saxton & Stump and Obermayer each fell 10.0 and 5.0 points respectively from the prior month, landing at 0.0%. None of these moves reached the level of a significant single-month shift. McNees Wallace & Nurick held at 0.0% for a second consecutive month, and Eckert Seamans held flat at 10.0%.

Largest Decline: McNees Wallace & Nurick

McNees Wallace & Nurick's valid recommendation coverage declined in each of the two months between July 2026 and the September 2026 floor, falling from 17.2% in July 2026 to 10.3% in August 2026 and then to 0.0% in September 2026, where it remained at 0.0% in October 2026. The cumulative July-to-October change is a decline of 17.2 points, beyond normal month-to-month variation. The firm's top-three and rank-one rates each fell from 17.2% in July 2026 to 0.0% in October 2026, and its net sentiment moved from 0.9 in July 2026 to 0.0 in October 2026. McNees Wallace & Nurick recorded 0 valid recommendations out of 10 qualified observations in October 2026.

Category Leader: Barley Snyder

Barley Snyder led valid recommendation coverage at 20.0% in October 2026, up 2.8 points from 17.2% in July 2026, representing 2 valid recommendations out of 10 qualified observations. The firm's presence rate slipped slightly from 31.0% in July 2026 to 30.0% in October 2026. Its top-three and rank-one rates each fell from 13.8% and 6.9% respectively in July 2026 to 0.0% and 0.0% in October 2026.

Among firms classified as stable, Eckert Seamans held near 10.0% across the series, ticking down 0.3 points from 10.3% in July 2026 to 10.0% in October 2026. McCormick Law Firm held at 0.0% throughout. Obermayer, Saxton & Stump, and Stevens & Lee each declined 3.5 points from 3.5% in July 2026 to 0.0% in October 2026. These movements fell within the normal range of variation across the series.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Questions This Section Answers

• Did any tracked firm place in the top three or first position in October 2026?
• How can a firm hold the highest recommendation coverage yet record no top-three placements?

Valid recommendation coverage does not show how prominently a firm is recommended. In October 2026, no tracked firm reached the top three or the first position in any qualified observation. Barley Snyder recorded the highest coverage at 20.0% but did so without placing in the top three in any of the 10 qualified observations, down from a 13.8% top-three rate and a 6.9% rank-one rate in July 2026. Eckert Seamans similarly held 10.0% coverage with a 0.0% top-three and 0.0% rank-one rate in October 2026, down from 6.9% and 3.5% in July 2026.

Coverage and placement can diverge sharply: Barley Snyder held the category's highest valid recommendation coverage at 20.0% in October 2026 but recorded no top-three or rank-one placements, while its July 2026 readings of 13.8% and 6.9% show the pattern is not fixed.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

In October 2026, all 10 qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation class, matching the pattern across the full series.

The current public series measures only the Brand Recommendation class of discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison classes.

This public benchmark covers the brand-recommendation moment. Paid plans track all 10 buying moments for your company, including pricing, comparisons and alternatives. Compare plans

Historical Measurement Record

Evidence and Source Layer

Questions This Section Answers

• What does the benchmark capture at the prompt level?
• Does a cited source prove that it caused a given recommendation?

This benchmark is built from prompt-level observations that retain the query, AI/search surface, answer, brand outcome, recommendation placement, sentiment, and, where exposed, citations or attributable evidence sources. Source presence is evidence about the information environment. It is not automatically proof that a cited source caused a given recommendation.

Scope Boundaries

This public benchmark does not measure market share, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, or private/sponsored channels. A metric movement alone does not establish causality.

Top 10 Cited Domains

Questions This Section Answers

• Which domains were cited most often in October 2026 AI responses?
• Which tracked law firm domains appeared among the most-cited sources?

Across all AI responses in the October 2026 measurement period, 786 citations were observed across 389 unique domains.

Citations are broadly distributed across the 389 unique domains observed, with the top ten accounting for a combined share well under a third of all citations. Three tracked brand domains appear in the top 10: eckertseamans.com at rank 4, mcneeslaw.com at rank 5, and stevenslee.com at rank 6. Beyond Google's own properties and Wikipedia, the mix skews toward professional and legal information sources: LinkedIn, bizjournals.com, legalclarity.org, and Reddit, alongside YouTube for video content.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery Index tracks how often tracked brands are mentioned and recommended across major AI/search surfaces, providing a neutral, repeatable industry-level benchmark. It is refreshed monthly on the same evergreen report.

• AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology
• AI Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions
• AI Visibility Market Discovery Research Standards
• Modeled AI Visibility Authority Value

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