Law Firms: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Barley Snyder led the Law Firm index in August 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 17.2%, unchanged from 17.2% in July 2026. The gap to the next closest firm, shared by Eckert Seamans and McNees Wallace & Nurick, stood at 6.9 percentage points in August 2026, widening from 0.0 points in July 2026.

This was a quiet month for the category. No tracked firm recorded a significant rise or decline, and every movement stayed within normal month-to-month variation. No firm recorded a coverage increase this month; within that flat pattern, McNees Wallace & Nurick's valid recommendation coverage moved the most, down 6.9 points from 17.2% to 10.3%, while Obermayer and Stevens & Lee each declined 3.5 points, from 3.5% to 0.0%.

Across the full series, Barley Snyder and Eckert Seamans each held steady at 17.2% and 10.3% respectively from July 2026 to August 2026, while Saxton & Stump held at 3.5% and McCormick Law Firm remained at 0.0% in both months.

The benchmark began with 257 prompt-surface observations in July 2026 and 271 in August 2026, producing 29 qualified observations in each month after qualification.

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 August 2026 series drew on three of the six: ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews.

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

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: 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 Market Discovery Metric Definitions.

Recommendation Coverage Movement

The month-over-month moves matched the baseline-to-current moves for every firm, since the series spans only two months. McNees Wallace & Nurick recorded the largest single-month drop, falling 6.9 points from July 2026 to August 2026, while Obermayer and Stevens & Lee each declined 3.5 points. No firm rose from July 2026 to August 2026.

All seven firms were classified as stable; none moved beyond normal month-to-month variation, so no significant riser or decliner subsections apply.

Category Leader: Barley Snyder

Barley Snyder led valid recommendation coverage at 17.2% in August 2026, unchanged from 17.2% in July 2026 and representing 5 valid recommendations out of 29 qualified observations in each month. Its presence rate rose from 31.0% in July 2026 to 34.5% in August 2026, while its top-three rate eased from 13.8% to 10.3% and its rank-one rate from 6.9% to 3.5% over the same period.

Company Focus: McCormick Law Firm

McCormick Law Firm held a 3.5% presence rate in both July 2026 and August 2026, meaning it was mentioned in roughly 1 of the 29 qualified observations each month. That presence did not translate into any valid recommendation, top-three placement, or rank-one placement in either month, and valid recommendation coverage held at 0.0% across the full two-month series. Net sentiment stood at 0.0 in both months.

Barley Snyder records 17.2% valid recommendation coverage in August 2026, while McCormick Law Firm stands at 0.0%. The more important issue is what that gap means for McCormick Law Firm's recommendation position: McCormick Law Firm's existing AI presence is not converting into a recommendation of any kind, let alone a top-three or first-choice placement, in a market where the leader is doing so more than 1 in 6 times. This is a clear gap on the metric that most directly reflects commercial outcome, and it has persisted unchanged across both measured months rather than showing early movement in either direction.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Why is McCormick Law Firm's existing AI presence failing to convert into any valid recommendation, and what would need to change in how the firm is described or cited on qualifying surfaces to close the gap to Barley Snyder's 17.2% coverage?

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Valid recommendation coverage does not show how prominently a firm is recommended. In August 2026, Barley Snyder held the highest top-three rate at 10.3% (3 observations), and McNees Wallace & Nurick matched that top-three rate while leading the rank-one rate at 10.3% (3 observations). Eckert Seamans held a 3.5% top-three rate with no rank-one placements in August 2026, down from a 6.9% top-three rate and 3.5% rank-one rate in July 2026.

Similar coverage levels can still hide different first-position rates: Eckert Seamans and McNees Wallace & Nurick shared 10.3% valid recommendation coverage in August 2026, but McNees Wallace & Nurick reached the first position in 10.3% of observations while Eckert Seamans recorded no rank-one placements.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

In both July 2026 and August 2026, all 29 qualified observations in each month fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

The current public series measures only the Brand Recommendation class of discovery. Price, value, and head-to-head comparison have no public signal in this data.

Historical Measurement Record

Evidence and Source Layer

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. The two-month series is too short to treat any movement as a trend.

About This Benchmark

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

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