What divorce clients ask ChatGPT and Google's AI, and which firms get named
When someone in the middle of a divorce asks ChatGPT or Google's AI who to call, does the answer name a family-law firm, and which one? We put twelve family-law questions to both, one city at a time, and recorded every firm they named and every page they cited.
What we found · What Google's AI did · What ChatGPT did · Page one of the plain search · London and Manchester · What it means for a family-law firm · The questions we asked
What we found
- ChatGPT named family-law firms for 8 of 12 questions, usually two to four in an answer, beside the bar's referral service.
- Google's AI named firms in 5 of the 11 searches that showed an AI Overview, and it usually cited the firm's own page on the exact situation: a move-away, hidden assets, a narcissistic spouse.
- The two assistants named entirely different firms in Chicago, Atlanta, and London.
- Where the court process is public, neither named a firm. For children not returned after a visit, a protective order, and contact with the children, the answers sent people to the courts, self-help, and legal aid.
What Google's AI did
Google showed an AI Overview for 11 of the 12 questions. Kansas City's protective-order search showed none, and the county court's own page led the results. Of the 11, Google's AI named firms in 5. London's answer named one more firm, as an example of a firm ranked by the UK's legal directories.
| Market | Firms named | What the answer drew on |
|---|---|---|
| New York | None | The state courts and the city bar; two firms' pages among the sources |
| Los Angeles | 1 | That firm's page on move-away cases |
| Chicago | 2 | One firm's page on forensic accounting and hidden assets |
| Atlanta | 3 | The firms' pages on divorcing a narcissist, and a firm's video |
| Phoenix | None | Several firms' pages on what a divorce costs |
| Denver | None | Firms' pages on enforcing parenting time, and the state courts' forms |
| Seattle | None | Firms' pages on hidden assets in a divorce |
| Charlotte | 3 | A thread on the city's Reddit forum |
| Kansas City | No AI Overview | The county court and state self-help pages led page one |
| Boise | 6, as business cards | One firm's pages supplied the whole answer, and that firm was listed first |
| London | 1, as an example | That firm's own page |
| Manchester | None | A YouTube channel run by a non-lawyer court helper, charities, and the government's own pages |
When Google's AI named a firm, it usually cited that firm's own page about the exact situation. The Los Angeles firm was cited from its move-away page and described as focused on "move-away cases." The Atlanta answer listed firms that "explicitly handle high-conflict or narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) divorce cases," cited from their own pages on divorcing a narcissist. In Boise, the firm whose pages supplied the answer's whole "what to look for" section was the first of six firms on the list. Seattle's answer named no firm and told the reader what to look for: "a Seattle-area family law firm that specifically advertises handling business evaluations and hidden asset discovery."
Where the court process is public, the public sources led. New York's answer to the person ready to file cited the courts and the city bar. Denver's sent the parent to the state's forms.
The answers also told people what to look for in a lawyer: experience with cases like theirs, trial experience, familiarity with the local judges and evaluators, a bar referral service, and in Charlotte, meeting "2 to 3 attorneys" before choosing one.
What ChatGPT did
ChatGPT named law firms in 8 of the 12 answers.
| Market | What ChatGPT named |
|---|---|
| New York | 2 firms, after the city bar's referral service |
| Los Angeles | 2 firms and a legal aid office |
| Chicago | 3 lawyers at two firms, and the bar's referral service |
| Atlanta | 3 firms, the bar's referral service, and the state bar's directory |
| Phoenix | 3 mediation businesses, instead of law firms |
| Denver | No firm: the court's self-help center and a legal services office |
| Seattle | 4 firms, each linked to its own site |
| Charlotte | 4 firms, the state bar's specialist search, and its referral service |
| Kansas City | No firm: legal aid and a domestic-violence hotline |
| Boise | 4 firms and the state bar's referral service |
| London | 3 firms, after two professional directories |
| Manchester | No solicitor: a citizens' advice service and a mediation service |
ChatGPT rarely showed where a name came from. Its reason for each name was the kind of case the firm lists, such as "Handles custody disputes and move-away cases." Only Seattle's answer linked its firms to their own sites, one of them to the firm's page on dividing a business in a divorce. Everywhere else, the sources it showed were courts, bars, and legal aid.
What ChatGPT told people to look for was specific: experience with cases like theirs, who will actually handle the case, and a realistic total fee. Twice it played reviews down. In Boise: "A prestigious firm or a large number of online reviews is less important than the attorney's actual experience with cases like yours." In London, it told the reader to start with professional directories "rather than choosing solely on Google reviews."
Page one of the plain search
We also ran the short search people type into Google, divorce lawyer and the city, in each US market. Two national lawyer directories held both of the top two places in the regular results in 7 of the 10 US cities, and one or the other was first in all 10. Reddit threads asking for a divorce-lawyer recommendation were on page one in Chicago, Denver, and Seattle, and on the Manchester search. And Google's AI built its Charlotte list of firms from a Reddit thread.
London and Manchester
In London, Google's AI named one firm as an example of a firm ranked by the legal directories, and ChatGPT named three firms after pointing to Resolution's accredited specialists and the Law Society's directory. In Manchester, neither named a solicitor. Google's answer drew most on a YouTube channel run by a non-lawyer court helper, and ChatGPT pointed to a citizens' advice service and a mediation service.
What it means for a family-law firm
A page for each situation you want more of. When Google's AI named a family firm, it usually cited that firm's page on the exact situation: a move-away, hidden assets, a narcissistic spouse, contested custody. Write each one in plain words, for the person living it, with your city and your state's law in it.
Put on your lawyers' pages what the answers tell people to look for. Trial experience, the local courts you know, the credentials you hold, and who will actually handle the case. A parent who's just been told to look for those things should find them stated plainly on your site.
Be where the answers read recommendations. Directories, the bar's referral lists, local forum threads, and star ratings all appeared in these answers. Your firm should tell the same specific story in each of those places.
Give the person who isn't ready yet something to take with them. For Brenda Clark Family Law, we built free guides for people facing a divorce and followed every lead to the signed client. Her new clients came in at about $200 each, with leads at about $21.
Mid-page assessment
I ran the first family-law ad on ChatGPT, before the platform allowed legal-services ads. Before your assessment, I'll look at whether ChatGPT and Google's AI name your firm for the situations you want more of in your city. On the call, we map which pages to build first.
The questions we asked
Twelve markets of different sizes, one question each, written the way a person in that situation might type it, with the city in the question.
| Market | Situation | The question, word for word |
|---|---|---|
| New York | Ready to file | I think my marriage is over and I want to file for divorce in New York City. What should I do first, and how do I find a good divorce lawyer? |
| Los Angeles | A move-away threat | My ex is threatening to take the kids and move to another state. I live in Los Angeles, California. Do I need a custody lawyer, and who should I call? |
| Chicago | Hidden money | I think my husband is hiding money before our divorce. How do I find out, and what kind of lawyer do I need in Chicago? |
| Atlanta | A high-conflict custody fight | My husband is a narcissist and our divorce is turning into a war over the kids. I live in Atlanta, Georgia. What kind of lawyer do I need? |
| Phoenix | Cost and mediation | How much does a divorce cost in Arizona, and is mediation cheaper than hiring a lawyer? I live in Phoenix. |
| Denver | Children not returned | My ex won't return our kids after his weekend visit. I live in Denver, Colorado. What should I do, and do I need a lawyer? |
| Seattle | A spouse's business income | My wife owns a business and I think she is hiding income before our divorce. I live in Seattle, Washington. What kind of lawyer do I need? |
| Charlotte | Ready to file | I think my marriage is over and I want to file for divorce in Charlotte, North Carolina. What should I do first, and how do I find a good divorce lawyer? |
| Kansas City | A protective order | How do I get a protective order in Kansas City, Missouri, and do I need a lawyer for it? |
| Boise | Contested custody | My divorce is contested and we are fighting over custody. I live in Boise, Idaho. How do I find the best lawyer for a contested custody case? |
| London | A dispute over money | My husband and I are separating and he won't agree on finances. I live in London. Do I need a family solicitor, and how do I find a good one? |
| Manchester | Contact with the children | My ex won't let me see my children. I live in Manchester. What can I do, and do I need a solicitor? |
Asked on October 28, 2026. We read each Google AI Overview in full and asked ChatGPT the same twelve questions, word for word, one per conversation. A firm counts as named when the answer gives it by name.
Joshua David Little is a Fractional CMO for law-firm owners and the founder of Aquila Law Firm Marketing. He has run his own consulting firm since 2004, and has done hands-on work helping attorneys prepare complex litigation for trial in family law, medical malpractice, personal injury, and unjust enrichment cases. He ran the first family-law ad on ChatGPT, before the platform allowed legal-services ads.