Is My Law Firm Cited by ChatGPT? How to Check It Yourself

Short answer: You find out by asking ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews the same questions your clients ask, in fresh sessions, more than once, and recording whether your firm is named, linked as a source, or missing. One question asked once tells you almost nothing. A fixed list of 20 or more questions, run on several engines and repeated, gives you a baseline you can track month to month.

If you want the fast version, run the free FirmCited check. For a fixed measurement, see the FirmCited audit and FirmCited Monitor, covered near the end. The rest of this guide shows how to do the check by hand and how to read the results.

Why this question matters now

Many people now ask an AI assistant a question before they search a list of links. "Who is a good estate planning lawyer in Denver?" gets a written answer with a handful of names, and often a few source links. A firm that is not in that answer does not get a second chance on page two, because there is no page two.

That does not mean classic search is gone. Google organic results and the map pack still send many legal calls. AI answers are a new layer on top, and they pull from sources you can influence: your website, your directory profiles, your reviews, and pages that other sites publish about you.

For how those engines pick a name, see how AI engines choose which lawyers to recommend.

The three outcomes for every question

Every question you test lands in one of three buckets:

1. Named. The answer text recommends your firm by name. This is the strongest result.
2. Cited. Your website or one of your profiles appears as a linked source, even if the answer text does not name you. You are feeding the answer.
3. Missing. Neither named nor cited. Another firm, a directory, or a "top lawyers" list won the slot.

Write down the outcome, plus who appeared instead. The list of firms and domains that showed up in your place is usually the most useful part of the whole exercise, because it shows you who currently owns the answer.

Step by step: a manual check

1. Write your question list first

Pick 20 to 30 questions a real client would type. Mix three kinds:

• Recommendation questions: "top [practice area] lawyer in [city]", "who should I call after a [situation] in [city]".
• Problem questions: "how much does a [matter] cost in [state]", "what happens if I [situation] in [state]".
• Brand questions: "[your firm name] reviews", "is [your firm name] good for [matter]".

Write the list before you start. If you change the questions after seeing answers, you are no longer measuring.

2. Use clean sessions

AI answers shift with account history and location. Use a logged-out or private window where you can, and note which city the engine thinks you are in. If your clients are local, test from your market, not from your office network in another state.

3. Test more than one engine

ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews pull from different indexes and often disagree. A firm can be named on Perplexity and missing on ChatGPT for the same question. Test all four.

4. Repeat each question

Ask each question at least twice, ideally a few days apart. Answers are generated, not fetched, so they vary. Average your results.

5. Record it in a simple sheet

Columns that work: question, engine, date, outcome (named, cited, missing), firms named, source domains linked, and anything the answer got wrong about you. Wrong facts, such as an old address or a practice area you dropped, are worth fixing first.

6. Calculate a citation rate

Count the answers where you were named or cited, then divide by total answers. Thirty questions on four engines is 120 answers. If you were named or cited in 18, your rate is 15%. Track that number by engine and by question group.

How to read your results

• Missing on brand questions: The engines may not have a clear picture of who you are. Check that your firm name, address and phone match across your site, Google Business Profile and the main legal directories.
• Named on brand questions but missing on recommendation questions: The engines know you exist but do not see you as a top answer. Look at which sources they cite for the winners. It is often a directory, a review site or a local news page.
• Cited but not named: Your content is useful but not tied to your brand strongly enough. Clear author and firm attribution and structured data can help.
• Wrong facts: Fix them at the source. Update your website, then the directories that repeat the error.

What usually moves the needle

There is no sure method, and anyone who promises a placement is overselling. Signals that firms commonly work on:

• Consistent name, address and phone across your site and major profiles.
• Clear answer-first pages for the questions clients ask, with the answer near the top.
• Structured data (for example LegalService, LocalBusiness and FAQPage) that matches what is on the page.
• Recent reviews on the profiles engines tend to cite.
• Making sure AI crawlers are not blocked from your site.

Doing this by hand versus using software

The manual method is free and teaches you a lot. Its cost is time: 30 questions, four engines, two runs is 240 answers to read and log, every month. That is why firms that care about the trend tend to automate it.

FirmCited runs a fixed question set across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews and records each answer verbatim, counts every firm the engines cite, and shows which competitors own which questions. The FirmCited audit is USD 490 one time: 25 prompts, up to 4 engines, a 10-page fix list, under 48 hours. FirmCited Monitor is USD 299 per month, cancel anytime.

Related reading

• How AI engines choose which lawyers to recommend
• The recurring compliance deadlines small law firms miss
• One-time vs ongoing OFAC screening

Related tools

• FirmCited audit. The FirmCited audit is USD 490 one time: 25 prompts, up to 4 engines, a 10-page fix list, under 48 hours.
• FirmCited Monitor. FirmCited Monitor is USD 299 per month, cancel anytime.

FAQ

Is my law firm cited by ChatGPT?

The only reliable way to know is to test. Ask ChatGPT the questions your clients ask, in a fresh session, at least twice, and record whether your firm is named or linked. Repeat on Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.

How many questions should I test?

Twenty to thirty is a workable range for one practice area and one market. Fewer than ten gives a noisy result. The FirmCited audit uses 25 prompts.

Why do I get different answers each time?

AI engines generate answers rather than return a fixed list. Results change with session, location, model version and the sources available that day. That is why repeated runs and averages matter.

What is a citation rate?

The share of tested answers in which your firm is named or one of your pages is linked as a source. It is a measurement convention, not an official metric.

Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?

We are not aware of any way to buy placement in organic AI answers today. Be careful with anyone who promises a spot.

How often should I check?

Monthly is a common cadence. It is frequent enough to see a trend and to catch new errors about your firm.

What does the FirmCited audit include?

The FirmCited audit is USD 490 one time: 25 prompts, up to 4 engines, a 10-page fix list, under 48 hours. The engines are ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. You get the answers recorded verbatim, competitor share of voice, and a fix list ordered P0 to P2. A report is delivered when at least 2 engines answer.

What does FirmCited Monitor include?

FirmCited Monitor repeats the measurement every month so you can see the trend. FirmCited Monitor is USD 299 per month, cancel anytime.

Disclaimer

General information and software only - not legal advice, no attorney-client relationship. Consult a licensed attorney.

Reports are generated with AI-assisted software and may contain errors. Review before relying on them.