Bankruptcy Lawyers: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Upsolve led the Bankruptcy Lawyers benchmark with a valid recommendation coverage of 48.8% in September 2026, down from 57.5% in July 2026. The next closest brand, John T. Orcutt, held valid recommendation coverage of 3.6% in September 2026, leaving a 45.2-point gap between the leader and the next brand.

The month was quiet overall, with no tracked brand moving beyond normal month-to-month variation on the primary metric. The largest coverage increase was Cibik Law, rising to 2.4% in September 2026 from 0.0% in July 2026. The largest coverage decline was Upsolve, falling to 48.8% in September 2026 from 57.5% in July 2026. While the overall coverage movement for the category leader remained within normal variation, Upsolve's recommended top-three rate fell to 3.6% in September 2026 from 19.1% in July 2026, and its rank-one rate fell to 3.6% from 17.7% over the same span.

The benchmark began with 301 prompt-surface observations in July 2026 and 409 in September 2026, producing 141 and 166 qualified observations respectively after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. All six families were represented in both July 2026 and September 2026. In August 2026, all six families were represented as well.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

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.

For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

The category is defined by a single dominant leader rather than a competitive cluster. This table is the primary current-month benchmark view, sorted by valid recommendation coverage.

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned at all.
• Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand receives a valid recommendation.
• Top-three rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a top-three recommendation.
• Rank-one rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand is the first-ranked recommendation.
• Net sentiment is the balance of positive over negative mentions, from -1.0 to +1.0.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

All changes in this table fall within normal variation except Cibik Law's gain. Available observations are small for most brands; for example, Cibik Law's gain reflects 4 valid recommendations out of 166 observations, while The Semrad Law Firm's decline reflects 1 observation in July 2026 and 0 in September 2026. John T. Orcutt and Sasser Law Firm both rose to 3.6% in September 2026 from 2.7% in August 2026.

Largest Increase: Cibik Law

Cibik Law rose to 2.4% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026 from 0.0% in July 2026, the largest movement of any tracked brand across the three-month period. The brand has risen in each of the two months since July 2026, reaching 1.4% in August 2026 before 2.4% in September 2026. Presence rate rose to 2.4% from 0.0% over the same span, and the top-three rate moved in step at 2.4% in September 2026. The movement should not yet be treated as a trend given the small count behind it.

Largest Decline: Upsolve

Upsolve's valid recommendation coverage declined to 48.8% in September 2026 from 57.5% in July 2026, a drop of 8.7 points that stayed within normal variation for the category leader. The brand declined in each of the two months since July 2026, falling to 52.0% in August 2026 before 48.8% in September 2026. Presence held relatively steady at 87.9% in September 2026 versus 89.4% in July 2026. Placement metrics moved lower by more: the top-three rate fell to 3.6% in September 2026 from 19.1% in July 2026, and the rank-one rate fell to 3.6% from 17.7% over the same span.

Category Leader: Upsolve

Upsolve remained the category leader at 48.8% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026, down from 57.5% in July 2026. A stable coverage lead masks a sharper loss in first-choice positioning. Presence held at 87.9% in September 2026 versus 89.4% in July 2026. Top-three and rank-one rates both pulled back more sharply, each falling to 3.6% in September 2026.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leading brands, placement varied.

For Upsolve, every top-three placement was also a first-position placement in September 2026, at a 3.6% rank-one rate. Sasser Law Firm converted most of its top-three placements to first position in September 2026, while both John T. Orcutt and Allmand Law appeared in top-three placements with few or no first-position results.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

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

Historical Measurement Record

This is an evergreen benchmark URL. New measurements are added to the same report.

Evidence and Source Layer

The 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 the source caused the recommendation.

Scope Boundaries

This public benchmark does not measure:

• Market share or commercial performance
• Attributable sales or client conversions
• Every possible AI response, including private or personalized outputs
• Organic-search rankings on traditional engines
• Social media mention volume
• Private or sponsored channels
• Causality from a metric movement alone

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral industry benchmark tracking how often and how prominently brands appear in AI-generated answers and recommendations across six canonical AI surface families. It is updated monthly as an evergreen report.

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

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The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper. The public benchmark cannot identify the prompts, competitors, or sources causing the result.

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