of B2B buyers using AI say it has shaped their vendor shortlist, while 83% say it has influenced their final vendor decision.
Semrush, 2026How AI chooses UK law firms · Benchmark, first edition
UK Law Firms in AI Search 2026
We asked 90 high intent buyer questions and reviewed 1,485 AI answers to build a map of how ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity recommend firms across 15 areas of UK law.
Find out which firms AI recommends, which sources shape those answers and how that compares with established legal rankings. The benchmark will be rerun to track how AI visibility changes over time.
What we found
Three findings
24 top-ranked firms were invisible in their own practice area.
24 of the 85 firms with a Legal 500 tier-1 ranking got no AI recommendation at all in a practice area they are ranked top for. Clifford Chance, Slaughter and May, Norton Rose Fulbright and Mayer Brown, all tier 1 for commercial property, were not named on a single property question.
31 of 75 high intent buyer questions were won by a firm outside tier 1.
Landau Law over BDBF on a discriminatory bonus cut; Higgs over Farrer & Co on a contested will; Clarke Willmott and Wedlake Bell over Shoosmiths on an unpaid debt.
Mishcon de Reya was the most-recommended firm overall.
Named in 240 of 810 answers and appearing on 66 of the 75 legal problems, ahead of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, CMS, Freshfields and A&O Shearman.
Why this matters now
AI is becoming part of how prospective clients choose which firm to instruct
Buyers are increasingly using AI to research options, compare firms and decide who to choose. The route to the shortlist is shifting, and being part of the consideration set is becoming increasingly commercially valuable.
of consumers have replaced traditional search engines with generative AI tools as their go-to for product and service recommendations, up from 25% in 2023.
Capgemini Research Institute, 2025of Google searches are expected to include AI-generated summaries by 2028.
McKinsey, 2025AI-referred visitors converted better than non-AI traffic in July 2026.
Adobe Digital Insights, U.S. retail dataSearch the benchmark
Search your firm.
Every UK law firm the study recorded, with its Legal 500 tier.
Ranked table
Practice area
Legal 500 tier
Sort by
522 firms. Counts are answers out of the 810 captured for all 90 questions. Recommended = the answer named the firm; cited = the answer linked to the firm’s website. Click a column to sort; click a firm for its full record.
| Top question | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mishcon.com | Tier 1 | 240of 810 | 13of 810 | 80of 90 | 15of 15 | Intellectual property | Someone is using my business name. What can I do?Recommended 8/9 |
| herbertsmithfreehills.com | Tier 1 | 159of 810 | 8of 810 | 50of 90 | 12of 15 | Commercial disputes | Best commercial litigation firms in LondonRecommended 9/9 |
| cms.law | Tier 1 | 151of 810 | 23of 810 | 54of 90 | 12of 15 | Corporate and M&A | Best corporate law firms in London for selling a businessRecommended 8/9 |
| freshfields.com | Tier 1 | 145of 810 | 1of 810 | 35of 90 | 9of 15 | Regulatory | We have found a problem internally. Do we have to report it to the regulator?Recommended 9/9 |
| allenovery.com | Tier 1 | 141of 810 | 5of 810 | 42of 90 | 11of 15 | Restructuring and insolvency | Best insolvency solicitors in LondonRecommended 9/9 |
| kingsleynapley.co.uk | Tier 1 | 137of 810 | 31of 810 | 45of 90 | 14of 15 | White-collar crime | Best fraud solicitors in LondonRecommended 7/9 |
| linklaters.com | Tier 1 | 134of 810 | 2of 810 | 38of 90 | 10of 15 | Regulatory | Best insolvency solicitors in LondonRecommended 9/9 |
| cliffordchance.com | Tier 1 | 131of 810 | 2of 810 | 35of 90 | 10of 15 | Restructuring and insolvency | My company cannot pay its debts. What are the options?Recommended 8/9 |
| farrer.co.uk | Tier 1 | 116of 810 | 9of 810 | 51of 90 | 14of 15 | Private client and probate | Are family trusts protected from divorce?Recommended 8/9 |
| slaughterandmay.com | Tier 1 | 115of 810 | 10of 810 | 31of 90 | 8of 15 | Regulatory | Best commercial litigation firms in LondonRecommended 8/9 |
| hoganlovells.com | Tier 1 | 105of 810 | 0of 810 | 41of 90 | 9of 15 | Commercial disputes | Best commercial litigation firms in LondonRecommended 7/9 |
| stewartslaw.com | Tier 1 | 103of 810 | 4of 810 | 40of 90 | 11of 15 | Family and divorce | Best commercial litigation firms in LondonRecommended 6/9 |
| pinsentmasons.com | Tier 1 | 98of 810 | 18of 810 | 44of 90 | 11of 15 | Commercial disputes | We need to stop a former director using our confidential information. How quickly can we get an injunction?Recommended 8/9 |
| addleshawgoddard.com | Tier 1 | 88of 810 | 1of 810 | 36of 90 | 10of 15 | Commercial disputes | What should we sort out before we take the business to market?Recommended 5/9 |
| twobirds.com | Tier 1 | 86of 810 | 1of 810 | 22of 90 | 7of 15 | Intellectual property | Best IP lawyers in LondonRecommended 9/9 |
| irwinmitchell.com | Tier 2 | 85of 810 | 9of 810 | 34of 90 | 12of 15 | Private client and probate | A tackle ended my career. Can I bring a claim?Recommended 8/9 |
| bristows.com | Tier 1 | 80of 810 | 4of 810 | 22of 90 | 7of 15 | Intellectual property | Best IP lawyers in LondonRecommended 7/9 |
| withersworldwide.com | Tier 1 | 78of 810 | 11of 810 | 29of 90 | 10of 15 | Family and divorce | Best private client solicitors in LondonRecommended 8/9 |
| dlapiper.com | Tier 1 | 78of 810 | 5of 810 | 36of 90 | 11of 15 | Data protection | Does data protection law apply to my business?Recommended 6/9 |
| charlesrussellspeechlys.com | Tier 1 | 77of 810 | 4of 810 | 39of 90 | 13of 15 | Private client and probate | What happens when a trustee does not follow the trust?Recommended 5/9 |
| lw.com | Tier 1 | 75of 810 | 11of 810 | 25of 90 | 8of 15 | Restructuring and insolvency | Best regulatory lawyers in LondonRecommended 9/9 |
| rpc.co.uk | Tier 1 | 69of 810 | 4of 810 | 32of 90 | 11of 15 | Media and reputation | What happens when we report a breach to the ICO?Recommended 5/9 |
| fieldfisher.com | Tier 2 | 65of 810 | 1of 810 | 29of 90 | 11of 15 | Data protection | Does data protection law apply to my business?Recommended 6/9 |
| russell-cooke.co.uk | Tier 2 | 63of 810 | 13of 810 | 36of 90 | 12of 15 | Private client and probate | Best private client solicitors in LondonRecommended 4/9 |
| eversheds-sutherland.com | Tier 1 | 63of 810 | 6of 810 | 35of 90 | 11of 15 | Corporate and M&A | Best corporate law firms in London for selling a businessRecommended 5/9 |
| ashurst.com | Tier 1 | 62of 810 | 9of 810 | 26of 90 | 8of 15 | Regulatory | How should a company respond to a dawn raid?Recommended 7/9 |
| osborneslaw.com | Tier 2 | 59of 810 | 31of 810 | 16of 90 | 4of 15 | Family and divorce | A tackle ended my career. Can I bring a claim?Recommended 7/9 |
| lewissilkin.com | Tier 1 | 56of 810 | 9of 810 | 25of 90 | 9of 15 | Employment | Is a 12 month non-compete enforceable in the UK?Recommended 7/9 |
| macfarlanes.com | Tier 1 | 55of 810 | 3of 810 | 26of 90 | 8of 15 | Corporate and M&A | Best corporate law firms in London for selling a businessRecommended 5/9 |
| taylorwessing.com | Unranked | 53of 810 | 3of 810 | 27of 90 | 10of 15 | Intellectual property | Best IP lawyers in LondonRecommended 6/9 |
| phb.co.uk | Tier 1 | 52of 810 | 8of 810 | 19of 90 | 6of 15 | Family and divorce | Best divorce lawyers in LondonRecommended 7/9 |
| carter-ruck.com | Tier 1 | 51of 810 | 9of 810 | 8of 90 | 3of 15 | Media and reputation | Someone is posting private photographs of me online. How do I get them removed?Recommended 9/9 |
| shlegal.com | Tier 1 | 47of 810 | 7of 810 | 24of 90 | 11of 15 | Regulatory | We have been hit by payment diversion fraud. Can we recover the money?Recommended 6/9 |
| osborneclarke.com | Tier 1 | 47of 810 | 1of 810 | 21of 90 | 9of 15 | Corporate and M&A | What does an investor's term sheet actually commit us to?Recommended 7/9 |
| Tier 1 | 46of 810 | 0of 810 | 16of 90 | 4of 15 | White-collar crime | We have been hit by payment diversion fraud. Can we recover the money?Recommended 7/9 | |
| traverssmith.com | Tier 2 | 45of 810 | 6of 810 | 19of 90 | 8of 15 | Commercial disputes | How long does a commercial dispute take to get to trial in England?Recommended 6/9 |
| kirkland.com | Tier 1 | 45of 810 | 2of 810 | 13of 90 | 5of 15 | Restructuring and insolvency | Best insolvency solicitors in LondonRecommended 9/9 |
| brettwilson.co.uk | Tier 2 | 45of 810 | 11of 810 | 9of 90 | 4of 15 | Media and reputation | A newspaper has printed something about me that I believe is inaccurate. What can I do?Recommended 9/9 |
| penningtonslaw.com | Tier 1 | 44of 810 | 6of 810 | 27of 90 | 11of 15 | Sport | My football club has not paid a bonus that is in my contract. What can I do?Recommended 5/9 |
| signaturelitigation.com | Tier 4 | 43of 810 | 7of 810 | 18of 90 | 7of 15 | Commercial disputes | What does it cost to bring a commercial claim in the High Court?Recommended 6/9 |
| harperjames.co.uk | Unranked | 42of 810 | 27of 810 | 22of 90 | 8of 15 | Corporate and M&A | What should we sort out before we take the business to market?Recommended 5/9 |
| bclplaw.com | Tier 1 | 42of 810 | 1of 810 | 20of 90 | 9of 15 | Commercial property | Best commercial property solicitors in LondonRecommended 6/9 |
| mills-reeve.com | Tier 2 | 41of 810 | 10of 810 | 25of 90 | 11of 15 | Regulatory | What is the FCA investigation process?Recommended 3/9 |
| clarkewillmott.com | Unranked | 41of 810 | 7of 810 | 21of 90 | 10of 15 | Sport | A supplier owes my company a large sum and will not pay. What are my options?Recommended 5/9 |
| duncanlewis.co.uk | Tier 5 | 40of 810 | 3of 810 | 20of 90 | 8of 15 | Commercial property | My agent put me into a deal I did not agree to. Can I get out of it?Recommended 6/9 |
| bakermckenzie.com | Tier 1 | 40of 810 | 10of 810 | 26of 90 | 10of 15 | Intellectual property | Best IP lawyers in LondonRecommended 4/9 |
| weightmans.com | Tier 2 | 39of 810 | 10of 810 | 30of 90 | 13of 15 | Family and divorce | I am a partner in a firm and I am being asked to leave. What should I be negotiating?Recommended 3/9 |
| Tier 1 | 39of 810 | 0of 810 | 12of 90 | 5of 15 | Media and reputation | A newspaper has printed something about me that I believe is inaccurate. What can I do?Recommended 7/9 | |
| brabners.com | Tier 3 | 39of 810 | 23of 810 | 17of 90 | 9of 15 | Sport | My football club has not paid a bonus that is in my contract. What can I do?Recommended 7/9 |
| shoosmiths.co.uk | Tier 1 | 38of 810 | 1of 810 | 25of 90 | 8of 15 | Corporate and M&A | A development site has a title problem. Who is liable?Recommended 4/9 |
Explore by practice area
All 15 practice areas, every question.
Every legal problem was asked with “Which UK law firms should I consider instructing?” on the end, so each row shows the question exactly as a client would put it. Choose a practice area or search a concern, then open a question to see the firms AI suggested, the law-firm websites it cited and the other sources it used.
Question type
Practice area
Showing 90 questions across 15 practice areas
016 questionsBusiness immigrationView questions
026 questionsCommercial disputesView questions
036 questionsCommercial propertyView questions
046 questionsCorporate and M&AView questions
056 questionsData protectionView questions
066 questionsEmploymentView questions
076 questionsFamily and divorceView questions
086 questionsIntellectual propertyView questions
096 questionsMedia and reputationView questions
106 questionsPrivate client and probateView questions
116 questionsRegulatoryView questions
126 questionsRestructuring and insolvencyView questions
136 questionsShareholder disputesView questions
146 questionsSportView questions
156 questionsWhite-collar crimeView questions
Counts show how many of the nine answers suggested the firm, linked to its website or cited the specific page shown. The same page is counted once per answer.