GEO for UK law firms: how firms get named by ChatGPT

What GEO means for a law firm

GEO (generative engine optimisation) is the work of getting AI assistants such as ChatGPT to name your firm when someone asks for a recommendation. Our plain English guide to SEO, AEO and GEO explains how it fits with search. This guide covers marketing only and gives no legal or compliance advice.

What we saw when we asked ChatGPT

On 3 November 2026 we asked ChatGPT, "What's the best employment law firm in the UK for a small business?" We asked five times, logged out, in a fresh chat each time. (Run page)

• Named 3 of 5 times: Harper James, Mulberry's Employment Law Solicitors and Bhayani HR & Employment Law.
• Named 2 of 5 times: B P Collins, Lewis Silkin, Just Employment Law, Stephensons and Herefords Employment Solicitors.
• Named once: Bowcock Cuerden, KLG Law, Ansons Law, Sills & Betteridge, Apex Employment Solicitors and Springhouse Employment Law Solicitors.
• Well-known names never named: Peninsula, Croner, Citation and Irwin Mitchell.

Then we checked where the named firms show up on the web.

The round-ups didn't match. We found no round-up of the best employment law firms for UK small businesses that matched ChatGPT's picks. The lists we could open were mostly for London, or were review rankings.

Most links went to the firms' own service pages. Several of those pages publish a monthly price for small employers. Just Employment Law advertises £195 + VAT per month, Bowcock Cuerden £175 a month for businesses with fewer than 10 employees, and Bhayani's fixed-fee HR plan starts from £99 a month. ChatGPT repeated the first two prices in its answers. Harper James, one of the three most named, has a page titled "Lawyers for start-ups and small businesses".

Two legal directories appeared as sources: Doyle's Guide and Chambers and Partners. More on those below.

How much more law firm answers moved

Compare a run where the answer held steady. When we asked for the best accounting software for a small business in India on 23 October 2026, ChatGPT gave the same four names in all five asks: Zoho Books, TallyPrime, Vyapar and BUSY. It named six brands in total.

For UK employment law, it named 14 firms, and the most any firm managed was three of five. Six firms came up in only one answer.

Say plainly who you act for, where, and how you charge

Clear pages like these help clients first, whatever AI assistants do.

• One page per main service, written for the client who buys it. "Employment law for small businesses" tells a reader more than a list of practice areas.
• Say which side and which matters. Employers, employees or both? Tribunal claims, contracts, redundancy, HR support?
• Say where. Name your offices and the areas you cover.
• Say how pricing works. A fixed fee, a monthly plan, hourly rates or a typical range. If it depends on the matter, say what it depends on.

What the SRA's Transparency Rules ask for

The SRA says it regulates "all solicitors and most law firms in England and Wales". Its Transparency Rules (version in effect from 11 April 2025) say a firm it authorises that "publishes as part of its usual business the availability of" certain listed services "must, in relation to those services, publish on its website cost information".

Two listed services are employment work: advice and representation for employees bringing Employment Tribunal claims "against an employer for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal", and for employers defending those claims. The others are residential conveyancing, uncontested estate administration, immigration work other than asylum, summary-only road traffic offences dealt with at a single hearing, debt recovery up to £100,000 and licensing applications for business premises. Publicly funded work is excluded.

The cost information must include "the total cost of the service or, where not practicable, the average cost or range of costs", plus the basis for charges, disbursements, VAT and what the price includes, among other things. Rule 1.6 says it "must be clear and accessible and in a prominent place on your website."

The SRA adds that its guidance "may also be helpful to all firms who want to be transparent about their price and service information." Check the full rules, or ask your compliance officer, for what applies to your firm. If another body regulates you, check its rules.

Keep every claim accurate

The SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors asks you to ensure "that any publicity in relation to your practice is accurate and not misleading, including that relating to your charges".

So skip the shortcuts: claiming rankings or awards you don't hold, quoting prices you won't honour, or publishing a "best firms" list that puts you first without saying who wrote it.

Directories and legal guides

The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners are well-known legal directories. The Legal 500 ranks employment firms region by region, in tiers.

Our run found that Doyle's Guide 2026 for London employer-side employment law puts Lewis Silkin in its first tier, with B P Collins and Irwin Mitchell under Recommended. Chambers puts Harper James in Band 1 of its UK-wide table of SME-focused firms, which ranks firms for small and medium businesses in general. Irwin Mitchell was in a guide ChatGPT showed as a source and was still never named.

Check that your entries are accurate and match the services and locations on your website.

Reviews

The SRA's guidance says "Using an online review service can showcase the quality of your work." In our run, though, ReviewSolicitors' top 20 for employment left out several of ChatGPT's picks, including Harper James and Bhayani, so we can't say reviews shaped those answers. Ask real clients when a matter closes, keep replies short and say nothing about the matter itself. Never write, buy or invent reviews.

Check the answers several times

With answers moving this much, one check is a snapshot. Ask the question your clients ask, by matter and place, five times, logged out, in fresh chats. Note who is named and which sources appear, then repeat each month. Our 5-minute check shows how.

FAQ

Does ChatGPT use Chambers and Partners or The Legal 500? In our UK employment law run, it showed two legal directories as sources: Chambers and Partners and Doyle's Guide. From one run, we can't say how often it uses any directory.

Which firms must publish prices under the SRA Transparency Rules? Rule 1 covers firms the SRA authorises, and some freelance solicitors, that advertise one of the listed services as part of their usual business, such as some Employment Tribunal dismissal claims. Check the full rules for your firm.

How often should a law firm check ChatGPT? Ask each key question five times per check, and repeat monthly. In our run, no firm was named in all five answers.

Can anyone guarantee that ChatGPT will name our firm? No. Nobody controls what AI assistants say, and answers change between chats. Be wary of anyone who promises a place.

See what ChatGPT says about your firm

Run our free AI visibility checker. It asks ChatGPT and Perplexity the question your clients ask and shows who they name. If you'd like help getting named more often, see our AI Search service.