The Firmranked Index, October 2026
How AI Sees the Am Law 25
We asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude for a lawyer in each of the 25 highest-grossing US law firms' best-known practice, in its headquarters city. 17 of the 25 were missing from at least one answer. 11 were missing from two or more. One was not named at all.
An independent monthly index. Firmranked has no relationship with the firms listed. The results are what each AI tool answered on the date shown, and nothing more.
The 25
Ranked by revenue. Scored by who the AI tools name.
The 25 highest-grossing US law firms in the 2026 Am Law 100 (The American Lawyer, April 2026), in revenue order. Download the index as a PDF.
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1
Kirkland & Ellis
Named by 4 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by all four. Claude still gave the firm's old North LaSalle address, and three tools named McGuireWoods partners before Kirkland's own.
Named instead: Sidley Austin, Latham & Watkins
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2
Latham & Watkins
Named by 4 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by all four, though three of them put Sullivan & Cromwell's Alison Ressler first for M&A in Los Angeles.
Named instead: Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden
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3
DLA Piper
Named by 0 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Not named by any tool for corporate work in New York. Cravath, Wachtell and Paul, Weiss took the answers; Perplexity named two small firms instead.
Named instead: Cravath, Wachtell
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4
Gibson Dunn
Named by 1 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Only Claude named it for litigation in its home city. Quinn Emanuel and Hueston Hennigan led the other three answers.
Named instead: Quinn Emanuel, Hueston Hennigan
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5
Skadden
Named by 3 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by three. ChatGPT left it out of the New York M&A answer and named Cravath and Crowell & Moring instead.
Named instead: Wachtell, Cravath
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6
Sidley Austin
Named by 1 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Only Claude named it for litigation in Chicago. Winston & Strawn's Dan Webb led two of the other answers.
Named instead: Winston & Strawn, Kirkland & Ellis
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7
Ropes & Gray
Named by 4 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by all four for private equity in Boston, usually beside Goodwin and Kirkland.
Named instead: Goodwin, Kirkland & Ellis
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8
Baker McKenzie
Named by 3 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by three. ChatGPT passed over the world's largest firm for a Chicago trade boutique, Barnes, Richardson & Colburn.
Named instead: Barnes, Richardson & Colburn, Faegre Drinker
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9
White & Case
Named by 3 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by three. ChatGPT named Skadden and Chaffetz Lindsey for arbitration in New York and left White & Case out.
Named instead: Debevoise & Plimpton, Skadden
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10
Simpson Thacher
Named by 4 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by all four, and every one of them named Kirkland first.
Named instead: Kirkland & Ellis, Paul, Weiss
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11
Morgan Lewis
Named by 2 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by two. The tools read "employment lawyer in Philadelphia" as an employee asking, and named plaintiff-side firms first.
Named instead: Console Mattiacci Law, Murphy Law Group
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12
Hogan Lovells
Named by 2 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by two. Covington led every regulatory answer in Washington; ChatGPT and Perplexity did not name Hogan Lovells at all.
Named instead: Covington & Burling, Arnold & Porter
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13
Jones Day
Named by 2 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by two in the city where it was founded. BakerHostetler and Tucker Ellis came up more often.
Named instead: BakerHostetler, Tucker Ellis
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14
Paul, Weiss
Named by 3 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by three. ChatGPT went to Gibson Dunn's Barry Berke and the boutique Brune Law instead.
Named instead: Morvillo Abramowitz, Sullivan & Cromwell
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15
Sullivan & Cromwell
Named by 2 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by two. Wachtell and Cravath took the New York M&A answers; ChatGPT and Perplexity left S&C out.
Named instead: Wachtell, Cravath
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16
Goodwin
Named by 4 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by all four for life sciences in Boston, alongside WilmerHale and Cooley.
Named instead: WilmerHale, Cooley
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17
Greenberg Traurig
Named by 2 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by two in its home market. Bilzin Sumberg led the Miami real estate answers; ChatGPT and Perplexity did not name GT.
Named instead: Bilzin Sumberg, Holland & Knight
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18
Davis Polk
Named by 4 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by all four, though three of them put Latham's Marc Jaffe first for capital markets in New York.
Named instead: Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher
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19
Cooley
Named by 4 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by all four for venture capital in Palo Alto, with Wilson Sonsini beside it every time.
Named instead: Wilson Sonsini, Fenwick & West
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20
Norton Rose Fulbright
Named by 1 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Only Claude named it. Vinson & Elkins and Bracewell owned the Houston energy answers in the other three tools.
Named instead: Vinson & Elkins, Bracewell
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21
Mayer Brown
Named by 3 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by three. ChatGPT named Kirkland and Morgan Lewis for banking in Chicago and left Mayer Brown out.
Named instead: Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin
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22
Quinn Emanuel
Named by 2 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by two in its home city. ChatGPT named John Hueston and O'Melveny's Daniel Petrocelli; Perplexity named three small LA firms.
Named instead: Hueston Hennigan, O'Melveny & Myers
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23
Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Named by 4 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by all four for restructuring in New York, next to Davis Polk and Kirkland.
Named instead: Davis Polk, Kirkland & Ellis
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24
King & Spalding
Named by 3 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by three. ChatGPT named BakerHostetler and Arnall Golden Gregory for healthcare in Atlanta instead.
Named instead: Arnall Golden Gregory, Parker Hudson
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25
Paul Hastings
Named by 2 of 4 ChatGPTGeminiPerplexityClaude
Named by two. As with Morgan Lewis, the tools answered as if an employee were asking and named plaintiff firms first.
Named instead: Shegerian & Associates, Genie Harrison Law Firm
What the answers have in common
Five things the index shows
- Every tool knew every firm. Asked "What do you know about Kirkland & Ellis?", all four answered correctly for all 25. Being known is not the same as being recommended.
- ChatGPT named the fewest: 8 of 25 firms for their own flagship practice in their own city. Claude named 24, Gemini 21, Perplexity 14.
- The tools name people as often as firms. A partner with a clear, current biography gets named ahead of the firm's practice page.
- The question is read the way a consumer would ask it. "Best employment lawyer in Los Angeles" returned plaintiff-side firms, not Paul Hastings or Morgan Lewis.
- Headquarters does not help. Sidley in Chicago, Jones Day in Cleveland and Quinn Emanuel in Los Angeles were each missing from at least two answers in their home city.
How the check was run
For each firm we asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude two questions a client might ask about the firm's best-known practice in its headquarters city ("Who is the best private equity lawyer in Chicago, IL?" and "Recommend a private equity attorney near Chicago, IL"), then asked each tool what it knew about the firm by name. A tool counts as naming the firm when it appears in either recommendation answer. Claude reviewed every answer for the firms named.
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