Divorce Lawyers: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Cordell & Cordell led the Divorce Lawyers benchmark in August 2026 with 31.0% valid recommendation coverage. The brand remains the category leader but is a significant decliner in this series, falling from 41.9% in July 2026, a move beyond normal month-to-month variation. The gap to the next brand, Stange Law Firm at 16.0% in August 2026, narrowed to 15.0 percentage points from 29.6 points in July 2026.

No brand posted a significant coverage increase this month. Stange Law Firm's rise to 16.0% in August 2026 from 12.3% in July 2026 was the largest numeric gain in the category but remained within normal month-to-month variation. Three brands joined Cordell & Cordell as significant decliners: Goldberg Jones fell to 3.7% in August 2026 from 14.5% in July 2026, McKinley Irvin declined to 6.4% in August 2026 from 15.6% in July 2026, and Wilkinson & Finkbeiner dropped to 2.7% in August 2026 from 7.3% in July 2026.

The benchmark began with 212 prompt-surface observations in July 2026 and 240 in August 2026, producing 179 and 187 qualified observations respectively after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation. The six families tested are ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. In August 2026, five of the six families had qualified observations, up from four in July 2026.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design. Brand-level percentages in this report use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection.

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

Current Brand Standings

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the AI answer at all.
• Valid recommendation coverage: Share of qualified observations where the brand receives a clear, actionable recommendation.
• Top-three rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand appears among the top three recommended options.
• Rank-one rate: Share of qualified observations where the brand is the single top recommendation.
• Net sentiment: 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

Largest Decline: Cordell & Cordell

Cordell & Cordell remained the category leader but saw its valid recommendation coverage fall to 31.0% in August 2026 from 41.9% in July 2026, a decline beyond normal month-to-month variation. Presence rate held relatively steady at 70.1% in August 2026, down from 71.5% in July 2026, while top-three rate fell to 21.9% in August 2026 from 30.7% in July 2026.

Largest Decline: Goldberg Jones

Goldberg Jones declined to 3.7% in August 2026 from 14.5% in July 2026, with presence rate dropping to 4.8% in August 2026 from 15.6% in July 2026. Top-three rate fell to 0.5% in August 2026 from 5.6% in July 2026, and rank-one rate declined to 0.0% in August 2026 from 3.4% in July 2026.

Largest Decline: McKinley Irvin

McKinley Irvin declined to 6.4% in August 2026 from 15.6% in July 2026, a move beyond normal variation. Presence rate fell to 10.2% in August 2026 from 16.8% in July 2026, and top-three rate declined to 5.3% in August 2026 from 10.6% in July 2026.

Largest Decline: Wilkinson & Finkbeiner

Wilkinson & Finkbeiner declined to 2.7% in August 2026 from 7.3% in July 2026, with presence rate dropping to 2.7% in August 2026 from 7.3% in July 2026. Net sentiment held at 1.0 across both months.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended when it does appear. Cordell & Cordell held the highest top-three rate in August 2026, while several smaller brands showed more efficient placement relative to their limited coverage.

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates. Boyd Law and Wilkinson & Finkbeiner both held 2.7% valid recommendation coverage in August 2026, yet Wilkinson & Finkbeiner reached rank one in 1.6% of observations versus 1.1% for Boyd Law.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

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

The current public series measures brand-recommendation discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the pricing or multi-brand comparison classes.

Historical Measurement Record

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 and how prominently brands appear in AI-generated answers across major AI surfaces. It is a neutral, industry-level benchmark built from prompt-level observations.

Research links:

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

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