Criminal Defense Lawyers: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Spodek Law Group led the Criminal Defense Lawyers benchmark in September 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 21.4%, up slightly from 21.0% in August 2026. The next closest brand was Kraut Law Group at 14.4% in September 2026, up from 11.9% in August 2026, leaving a 7.0 percentage-point gap between the two leaders.

The largest coverage increase this month belonged to Kraut Law Group, which rose from 11.9% in August 2026 to 14.4% in September 2026, a gain of 2.5 points. No brand posted a coverage decline beyond normal month-to-month variation in September 2026.

This was a quiet month at the category level, with no significant movement beyond normal variation. Over the full series from July 2026, the larger moves have already occurred: Spodek Law Group declined from 27.9% in July 2026 to 21.4% in September 2026, while The Rodriguez Law Group fell from 14.7% in July 2026 to 6.9% in September 2026. Monder Criminal Lawyer Group rose from 0.0% in July 2026 to 2.3% in September 2026, a move beyond normal month-to-month variation.

The benchmark began with 340 prompt-surface observations in September 2026 and produced 173 qualified observations 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. In September 2026, all six families were represented, up from four in July 2026. August 2026 marked the first appearance of ChatGPT in the series.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Criminal Defense 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. AI Market Discovery Methodology

Current Brand Standings

How to Read the Standings

Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in any capacity. Valid recommendation coverage is the share where the brand receives a valid recommendation. Top-three rate is the share where the brand appears among the first three recommended options. Rank-one rate is the share where the brand is the first or only recommendation. Net sentiment measures the tone of mentions on a scale from negative to positive.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Largest Increase: Monder Criminal Lawyer Group

Monder Criminal Lawyer Group rose from 0.0% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 2.3% in September 2026, a gain of 2.3 points based on only 4 qualified recommendations. Presence rate rose from 0.0% to 2.3% over the same period. This brand moved beyond normal month-to-month variation, driven entirely by its August 2026 increase from 0.0% to 2.3%, which held steady into September 2026.

Largest Decline: The Rodriguez Law Group

The Rodriguez Law Group fell from 14.7% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 6.9% in September 2026, a decline of 7.8 points based on only 12 qualified recommendations. Rank-one rate fell from 7.3% in July 2026 to 2.3% in September 2026. The bulk of the decline occurred between July and August 2026, from 14.7% to 6.8%, with coverage holding at 6.9% in September 2026.

Category Leader: Spodek Law Group

Spodek Law Group remained the category leader in September 2026 at 21.4% valid recommendation coverage, down from 27.9% in July 2026. The brand also led in top-three rate at 17.9% and rank-one rate at 12.7% in September 2026. While the decline of 6.5 points since baseline stayed within normal variation, coverage did tick up 0.4 points from August 2026 to September 2026, its first increase since July 2026.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leading brands, placement patterns varied. Spodek Law Group converted most of its coverage into top-three and first-position slots, while Kraut Law Group held meaningful coverage with a much lower top-three rate and a small rank-one rate in September 2026.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

The qualified observations in September 2026 fell into the Brand Recommendation class, which captures discovery and consideration intent.

All qualified observations sat in one class in both months. The current public series measures Brand Recommendation discovery 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, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, or private or sponsored channels. A metric movement alone does not establish causality.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how often brands appear and are recommended across major AI and search surfaces, providing an industry-level view of AI-driven discovery.

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

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