Research note 006
What should count as a law-firm appearance?
Appearance sounds simple. In practice, a firm can show up in an AI answer in many ways, and not all of them mean the same thing.
Cases that need a decision
- Substantive mention — The firm is named in the body of the answer. Counts as an appearance.
- Source-only — The firm's website appears in sources but the firm is not surfaced in the answer. Recorded separately.
- Lawyer name only — An individual lawyer is named without the firm. Linked to the firm only where the relationship is clear.
- Directory listing — A directory page is cited that lists the firm. The directory is a source; the firm has not been surfaced.
- Citation only — The firm appears only in a citation title or URL. Treated as source-level, not answer-level.
- Comparison table — The firm appears as a row in a table. An appearance; treatment depends on what the table says.
- Negative mention — The firm is named in an adverse context. An appearance with cautionary treatment.
Why the definition matters
Different definitions of appearance produce different visibility figures from the same data. FirmRanker defines appearance as entering the substantive response, and records source-only and cautionary cases separately so they can be included or excluded explicitly in analysis.