Kirkland & Ellis was the firm or lawyer that ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity named most often. Kirkland & Ellis appeared in 178 of 288 answers (61.8%) measured October 26 and 28, 2026. Weil Gotshal came next at 162 of 288 (56.3%). The two confidence intervals overlap, so the data cannot confirm that Kirkland & Ellis is ahead. Kirkland & Ellis was named first more often than any other firm or lawyer, in 123 of 288 answers. Google AI Overviews appeared on 31 of 66 searches (47%).
RESEARCH · Published June 19, 2026 · Updated October 31, 2026
Bankruptcy Lawyers Index 2.0: Kirkland, Weil Lead AI Answers
Published June 19, 2026 · Updated October 31, 2026
288
AI answers analyzed across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity
61.8%
of answers named Kirkland & Ellis, the most-named (178 of 288)
14
tracked firms and lawyers named at least once (of 14)
47%
of Google searches showed an AI Overview (31 of 66)
Version 2. This version replaces the first version of this study, first published June 19, 2026. It uses measured counts, so the two versions are not comparable. Version 2 asks 24 questions three times each on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity (288 answers) and adds Google AI Overviews. Every rate comes with its count and a 95% interval.
What the data shows
01
178/288 (61.8%)
Kirkland & Ellis appeared in 178 of 288 four-engine answers (CI 56.1–67.2%). Weil Gotshal appeared in 162 of 288 (56.3%, CI 50.5–61.9%). The intervals overlap, so the two cannot be separated.
02
123/288 (42.7%)
Kirkland & Ellis was the first firm or lawyer named in 123 of 288 answers, more than any other tracked firm or lawyer. Average first position: 1.5.
03
32/72 (44.4%)
ChatGPT named Skadden in 32 of 72 answers. The other engines did so in 13 to 19 of 72.
04
39/72 (54.2%)
Gemini named Paul Weiss in 39 of 72 answers. The other engines did so in 12 to 27 of 72.
05
81/288 (28.1%)
Kirkland & Ellis's own domains were cited in 81 of 288 grounded answers, the most of any tracked firm. James Sprayregen also shows 81, because a lawyer's own domain is the firm's site (kirkland.com). Every tracked firm and lawyer had at least one.
06
31/66 (47%)
Google AI Overviews appeared on 31 of 66 searches (CI 35.4–58.8%). On the other 35, no overview was shown.
07
20/31 (64.5%)
Davis Polk was the firm or lawyer named most often in AI Overviews, at 20 of 31, followed by Kirkland & Ellis at 16 of 31 (51.6%). In the four-engine set, Davis Polk was named in 97 of 288 answers (33.7%).
08
110/288 (38.2%)
chambers.com was cited in 110 of 288 grounded four-engine answers, with 217 of 2,650 citations (8.2%). kirkland.com came second with 96 citations in 81 answers (28.1%).
Appearance rate across 288 four-engine answers. The bar is the 95% confidence interval; overlapping bars cannot be told apart at this sample size.
Which firms and lawyers AI engines name
Kirkland & Ellis
61.8%
Weil Gotshal
56.3%
Paul Weiss
35.1%
Davis Polk
33.7%
Akin Gump
32.6%
Skadden
28.5%
Cleary Gottlieb
28.1%
White & Case
25.7%
Sullivan & Cromwell
18.1%
Brown Rudnick
12.8%
Marshall Huebner
3.1%
Paul Basta
2.4%
Proskauer
2.1%
James Sprayregen
0.7%
| # | Name | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirkland & Ellis | 178/288 | 61.8% | 56.1–67.2% |
| 2 | Weil Gotshal | 162/288 | 56.3% | 50.5–61.9% |
| 3 | Paul Weiss | 101/288 | 35.1% | 29.8–40.7% |
| 4 | Davis Polk | 97/288 | 33.7% | 28.5–39.3% |
| 5 | Akin Gump | 94/288 | 32.6% | 27.5–38.3% |
| 6 | Skadden | 82/288 | 28.5% | 23.6–33.9% |
| 7 | Cleary Gottlieb | 81/288 | 28.1% | 23.2–33.6% |
| 8 | White & Case | 74/288 | 25.7% | 21.0–31.0% |
| 9 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 52/288 | 18.1% | 14.0–22.9% |
| 10 | Brown Rudnick | 37/288 | 12.8% | 9.5–17.2% |
| 11 | Marshall Huebner | 9/288 | 3.1% | 1.7–5.8% |
| 12 | Paul Basta | 7/288 | 2.4% | 1.2–4.9% |
| 13 | Proskauer | 6/288 | 2.1% | 1.0–4.5% |
| 14 | James Sprayregen | 2/288 | 0.7% | 0.2–2.5% |
The full list
Own-domain citation is the share of 288 grounded answers that cited the entity's own domains (subdomains included). Citation share is of all 2,650 citations.
| # | Firm or lawyer | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirkland & Ellis | 178/288 | 61.8% | 56.1–67.2% | 1.5 | 28.1% (81/288) | 3.6% |
| 2 | Weil Gotshal | 162/288 | 56.3% | 50.5–61.9% | 2.4 | 23.3% (67/288) | 2.6% |
| 3 | Paul Weiss | 101/288 | 35.1% | 29.8–40.7% | 3.5 | 10.1% (29/288) | 1.1% |
| 4 | Davis Polk | 97/288 | 33.7% | 28.5–39.3% | 3.2 | 11.5% (33/288) | 1.3% |
| 5 | Akin Gump | 94/288 | 32.6% | 27.5–38.3% | 3.7 | 9% (26/288) | 1% |
| 6 | Skadden | 82/288 | 28.5% | 23.6–33.9% | 2.9 | 18.1% (52/288) | 2.2% |
| 7 | Cleary Gottlieb | 81/288 | 28.1% | 23.2–33.6% | 3.4 | 16.3% (47/288) | 2% |
| 8 | White & Case | 74/288 | 25.7% | 21–31% | 3.4 | 10.1% (29/288) | 1.4% |
| 9 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 52/288 | 18.1% | 14–22.9% | 3.4 | 6.3% (18/288) | 0.7% |
| 10 | Brown Rudnick | 37/288 | 12.8% | 9.5–17.2% | 3.3 | 4.9% (14/288) | 0.5% |
| 11 | Marshall Huebner | 9/288 | 3.1% | 1.7–5.8% | 2.2 | 11.5% (33/288) | 1.3% |
| 12 | Paul Basta | 7/288 | 2.4% | 1.2–4.9% | 5.1 | 10.1% (29/288) | 1.1% |
| 13 | Proskauer | 6/288 | 2.1% | 1–4.5% | 5 | 1.4% (4/288) | 0.2% |
| 14 | James Sprayregen | 2/288 | 0.7% | 0.2–2.5% | 4.5 | 28.1% (81/288) | 3.6% |
The top eight, side by side
| # | Name | Appearance rate | Answers and interval | Other measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirkland & Ellis | 61.8% | 178/288 answers · 95% CI 56.1–67.2% | first-mention position: 1.5; owned-domain citation (81/288): 28.1%; citation share: 3.6% |
| 2 | Weil Gotshal | 56.3% | 162/288 answers · 95% CI 50.5–61.9% | first-mention position: 2.4; owned-domain citation (67/288): 23.3%; citation share: 2.6% |
| 3 | Paul Weiss | 35.1% | 101/288 answers · 95% CI 29.8–40.7% | first-mention position: 3.5; owned-domain citation (29/288): 10.1%; citation share: 1.1% |
| 4 | Davis Polk | 33.7% | 97/288 answers · 95% CI 28.5–39.3% | first-mention position: 3.2; owned-domain citation (33/288): 11.5%; citation share: 1.3% |
| 5 | Akin Gump | 32.6% | 94/288 answers · 95% CI 27.5–38.3% | first-mention position: 3.7; owned-domain citation (26/288): 9%; citation share: 1% |
| 6 | Skadden | 28.5% | 82/288 answers · 95% CI 23.6–33.9% | first-mention position: 2.9; owned-domain citation (52/288): 18.1%; citation share: 2.2% |
| 7 | Cleary Gottlieb | 28.1% | 81/288 answers · 95% CI 23.2–33.6% | first-mention position: 3.4; owned-domain citation (47/288): 16.3%; citation share: 2% |
| 8 | White & Case | 25.7% | 74/288 answers · 95% CI 21–31% | first-mention position: 3.4; owned-domain citation (29/288): 10.1%; citation share: 1.4% |
ChatGPT named Skadden in 32 of 72 answers. The other engines did so in 13 to 19 of 72. Gemini named Paul Weiss in 39 of 72 answers. The other engines did so in 12 to 27 of 72.
ChatGPT
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Same questions, different answers
Kirkland & Ellis
69.4%
Weil Gotshal
63.9%
Skadden
44.4%
Akin Gump
38.9%
Paul Weiss
31.9%
Cleary Gottlieb
30.6%
Claude
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Kirkland & Ellis
58.3%
Davis Polk
50.0%
Weil Gotshal
43.1%
Paul Weiss
37.5%
Cleary Gottlieb
34.7%
White & Case
33.3%
Gemini
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Kirkland & Ellis
77.8%
Weil Gotshal
77.8%
Paul Weiss
54.2%
Akin Gump
51.4%
Davis Polk
38.9%
Skadden
26.4%
Perplexity
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Kirkland & Ellis
41.7%
Weil Gotshal
40.3%
Cleary Gottlieb
26.4%
Skadden
25.0%
Davis Polk
22.2%
White & Case
18.1%
Google AI Overviews were captured through 66 U.S. desktop searches and scored only where an overview appeared, so five-engine figures use 288 + 31 = 319 answers.
The fifth engine
47%
Trigger rate: 31 of 66 searches
Google AI Overviews appeared on 31 of 66 searches (47%, CI 35.4–58.8%). The other 35 searches showed no overview. Within the 31 overviews, Davis Polk was named in 20 (64.5%), Kirkland & Ellis was named in 16 (51.6%), Paul Weiss was named in 14 (45.2%), Akin Gump was named in 13 (41.9%). chambers.com was the most-cited source, with 5 citations and an appearance in 5 of 31 overviews.
| Five-engine rank | Name | Five-engine rate | Four-engine rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirkland & Ellis | 60.8% | 1 |
| 2 | Weil Gotshal | 54.5% | 2 |
| 3 | Davis Polk | 36.7% | 4 |
| 4 | Paul Weiss | 36.1% | 3 |
| 5 | Akin Gump | 33.5% | 5 |
| 6 | Skadden | 27.0% | 6 |
| 7 | Cleary Gottlieb | 27.0% | 7 |
| 8 | White & Case | 26.0% | 8 |
| 9 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 17.2% | 9 |
| 10 | Brown Rudnick | 11.6% | 10 |
Who each question surfaces first
Six questions from the set. Each tile uses that question's own four-engine answers as the denominator.
| Question | Leader | Next | AI Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q01 · 12 answers | Kirkland & Ellis 100.0% | Weil Gotshal 83.3%; Paul Weiss 75.0% | AI Overview shown on 0 of 3 searches |
| Q02 · 12 answers | Kirkland & Ellis 100.0% | Davis Polk 83.3%; Paul Weiss 83.3% | AI Overview shown on 0 of 3 searches |
| Q03 · 12 answers | Akin Gump 75.0% | Brown Rudnick 50.0%; Paul Weiss 25.0% | AI Overview shown on 0 of 3 searches |
| Q04 · 12 answers | Kirkland & Ellis 83.3% | Skadden 83.3%; Weil Gotshal 75.0% | AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches |
| Q05 · 12 answers | Kirkland & Ellis 100.0% | Paul Weiss 100.0%; Davis Polk 83.3% | AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches |
| Q06 · 12 answers | Kirkland & Ellis 83.3% | Weil Gotshal 58.3%; Paul Weiss 41.7% | AI Overview shown on 0 of 3 searches |
The four engines produced 2,650 citations in total. chambers.com was cited most often, with 217 citations (8.2%) across 110 answers. Next came kirkland.com (96), legal500.com (71), weil.com (68), skadden.com (58), en.wikipedia.org (53).
Four AI engines · share of 288 grounded answers
Most-cited domains
chambers.com
38.2%
kirkland.com
28.1%
weil.com
22.6%
legal500.com
22.2%
skadden.com
18.1%
lw.com
16.3%
clearygottlieb.com
15.3%
en.wikipedia.org
14.2%
hklaw.com
12.5%
sidley.com
12.2%
Google AI Overviews · share of 31 overviews
chambers.com
16.1%
davispolk.com
16.1%
whitecase.com
12.9%
hklaw.com
9.7%
pillsburylaw.com
9.7%
paulhastings.com
6.5%
akingump.com
6.5%
aoshearman.com
6.5%
blankrome.com
6.5%
businessinsider.com
6.5%
Citation share by source type
Share of all citations by the type of site cited. Source types were reclassified on October 29, 2026. 'Company / brand sites' now covers only the official sites of companies, brands and schools; publishers, directories, trade bodies and other sites have their own types, and sites that could not be placed are 'Other / unclassified'.
| Source type | Four AI engines (of 2,650 citations) | Google AI Overviews (of 95 citations) |
|---|---|---|
| Company / brand sites | 1,830 (69.1%) | 76 (80%) |
| Directories / rankings | 456 (17.2%) | 6 (6.3%) |
| Trade / specialist press | 157 (5.9%) | 8 (8.4%) |
| Reference | 69 (2.6%) | 0 (0%) |
| General news / business press | 36 (1.4%) | 2 (2.1%) |
| Official / government | 30 (1.1%) | 0 (0%) |
| Community / social | 28 (1.1%) | 3 (3.2%) |
| Institutions / trade bodies | 25 (0.9%) | 0 (0%) |
| Research / data providers | 16 (0.6%) | 0 (0%) |
| Review / comparison publishers | 2 (0.1%) | 0 (0%) |
| Other / unclassified | 1 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
How can firms and lawyers improve their AI visibility?
These steps follow from the measured results above. They describe what the engines cited in this study and are not a guarantee of results.
| Step | What this study measured |
|---|---|
| Put your facts on your own domain. | Kirkland & Ellis's own domains were cited in 28.1% of grounded answers, James Sprayregen's in 28.1% and Weil Gotshal's in 23.3%. James Sprayregen was named in only 0.7% of answers, yet its own domains were cited in 28.1%. |
| Keep your facts accurate on the sites engines cite. | The most-cited sites other than the tracked names' own were chambers.com (in 38.2% of grounded answers), legal500.com (22.2%), lw.com (16.3%), en.wikipedia.org (14.2%) and hklaw.com (12.5%). Directories and rankings supplied 17.2% of citations and trade and specialist press 5.9%. |
| Check each engine separately. | Gemini named Akin Gump in 51.4% of answers against 12.5% on Perplexity. Gemini named Weil Gotshal in 77.8% of answers against 40.3% on Perplexity. |
| Do not ignore video and community sites. | Community and social sites supplied 3.2% of Google AI Overview citations against 1.1% in the four chat engines. reddit.com was cited in 6.5% of overviews. |
| Watch names outside the tracked list. | Latham & Watkins LLP (89), Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (64), Milbank LLP (52), Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (42), Sidley Austin LLP (36) were named often but were not tracked. |
| Re-run the same questions every month. | Compare counts and intervals, not ranks. The 24 questions are in the appendix. |
Frequently asked questions
Which firm or lawyer do AI engines name most often?
Kirkland & Ellis, named in 178 of 288 four-engine answers (61.8%, CI 56.1–67.2%). Weil Gotshal was second at 162 of 288 (56.3%). The intervals overlap, so the two cannot be separated statistically.
Which firm or lawyer is named first most often?
Kirkland & Ellis was the first firm or lawyer named in 123 of 288 answers, with an average first position of 1.5.
How often do Google AI Overviews appear for these questions?
An overview appeared on 31 of 66 searches (47%, CI 35.4–58.8%). Within those 31 overviews, Davis Polk was named most often, in 20 (64.5%).
Which sources do the engines cite?
Across 2,650 four-engine citations, chambers.com was cited most (217 citations, in 110 of 288 grounded answers), followed by kirkland.com (96 citations).
Do the four engines agree?
Only in part. ChatGPT named Skadden in 32 of 72 answers, against 13 to 19 of 72 on the other engines. Gemini named Paul Weiss in 39 of 72 answers, against 12 to 27 of 72 on the other engines.
How this study was measured
24 questions × 3 runs each × 4 AI engines = 288 answers + 66 Google searches · 31 AI Overviews
24 questions, each asked 3 times on each engine, measured October 26 and 28, 2026. Market: United States, English. The destination site was not mentioned to any engine. Gemini answers were produced by gemini-3.6-flash; every Gemini answer in this report used that one model. All 72 Gemini answers had search sources. Entities count as named when they appear in the answer text; products and name variants roll up to the tracked name, and people are matched with middle names or initials, nicknames, possessives and suffixes. First-name variants (for example Jeffrey for Jeff, William for Bill) are matched, but only together with the tracked last name.
| Engine | Model IDs called | Asked | Returned | Grounded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | gpt-5-mini | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Claude | claude-sonnet-5-5 | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Gemini | gemini-3.6-flash | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Perplexity | sonar-pro | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Google AI Overviews | DataForSEO Google SERP (live, advanced) | 66 | 31 shown | 31 |
Own-domain citations count a domain plus all its subdomains, with the same rule in every table.
Definitions
- Appearance rate: answers naming the entity ÷ answers returned, with Wilson 95% intervals.
- First mention: average order in which the entity first appears (1 = first).
- Own-domain citation: grounded answers citing the entity's domains ÷ grounded answers.
- Citation share: citations to the entity's domains ÷ all citations.
Limits
- Measured on two days, October 26 and 28, 2026. Each engine answered 24 questions 3 times. Answers came from each engine's API (model IDs above); the consumer apps can answer differently.
- Only 14 tracked firms and lawyers were scored. Untracked names that appeared often were not scored, including Latham & Watkins LLP (89), Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (64), Milbank LLP (52), Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP (42), Sidley Austin LLP (36).
- AI Overview figures are based on only 31 overviews, so estimates for individual firms and lawyers are less precise than the four-engine figures.
- 6 Google searches could not be fetched by DataForSEO after three tries. They are excluded from the AI Overview figures, so the trigger rate uses 66 searches.
- Reports describe what the engines said, attributed to the engines. They make no judgement about the people or organizations named and are not legal or financial advice.
- Intervals treat each answer as independent, so they understate uncertainty for the 24 repeated questions.
Appendix: The 24 questions
Questions marked "Core question" are the original study questions, asked word for word. The others are added neutral questions.
| # | Question | Group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Law firms that handle Chapter 11 restructurings for portfolio companies. | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Core question |
| 02 | Which law firms are best for Chapter 11 bankruptcy? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Core question |
| 03 | Which law firms represent creditors committees in large bankruptcies? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Core question |
| 04 | Which law firms advise on out-of-court debt restructuring? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Core question |
| 05 | Who are the top restructuring lawyers in the US? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Core question |
| 06 | Which law firms handle retail bankruptcies? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Core question |
| 07 | Which law firms advise on sovereign debt restructuring? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Core question |
| 08 | Which law firms represent lenders in DIP financing? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Core question |
| 09 | Which law firms represent debtors in Delaware bankruptcy cases? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 10 | Which law firms represent debtors in Texas bankruptcy cases? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 11 | Which law firms handle Chapter 15 cross-border cases? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 12 | Which law firms handle healthcare bankruptcies? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 13 | Which law firms handle energy company restructurings? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 14 | Which law firms handle real estate restructurings? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 15 | Which law firms handled crypto company bankruptcies? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 16 | Which law firms advise on liability management transactions? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 17 | Which law firms represent bondholder groups? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 18 | Which law firms advise on prepackaged Chapter 11 cases? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 19 | Which law firms handle mass tort bankruptcies? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 20 | Which law firms advise on airline restructurings? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 21 | Which law firms have the largest restructuring practices? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 22 | Which restructuring lawyers are most often quoted in the press? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 23 | Which law firms act as conflicts counsel in large bankruptcies? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
| 24 | Which law firms handle Chapter 7 liquidations for companies? | Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers | Added question |
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