The Client Type Line That Gets Accountants and Solicitors Quoted By AI Search
Most accountant and solicitor websites describe services in broad categories like tax advice or probate. AI search matches the exact client type you name, and firms that never name one are never matched.
Someone types into ChatGPT: I need a solicitor for a contested probate case worth around 150,000 pounds. One firm gets named. Not the firm with the biggest reviews. The one that had actually put those words on its website.
Why 'We Offer Accounting Services' Answers Nobody's Question
Most accountant and solicitor websites describe what they do in broad categories: tax advice, payroll, conveyancing, probate, employment law. AI assistants are not matching against categories. They are matching against the exact client situation someone typed into the chat box, and a category is not a match for a situation.
1. AI Search Matches Client Type, Not Service List
When someone asks an AI assistant to recommend an accountant, they rarely say I need an accountant. They say something specific: I run a limited company turning over under 250,000 pounds and need help with corporation tax, or I am a landlord with four rental properties and need advice on capital gains. The model is looking for a page that names that exact client type. A services page that only says tax advice gives it nothing to match against.
2. Name The Client, Not Just The Service
The fix is not a new page or a rewrite of your entire site. It is a single sentence added next to each service that names who it is for. Tax advice becomes corporation tax planning for limited companies turning over under 500,000 pounds. Probate becomes contested probate cases over 100,000 pounds. Employment law becomes settlement agreements for senior employees leaving a company. Each version gives an AI assistant a phrase it can match word for word against what someone actually typed.
3. Specific Client Types Get Quoted, Broad Practice Areas Get Skipped
| What most firms publish | What an AI assistant can actually match |
|---|---|
| Tax advice | Corporation tax planning for limited companies under 500,000 pounds turnover |
| Probate services | Contested probate cases over 100,000 pounds |
| Employment law | Settlement agreements for senior employees leaving a company |
4. One Sentence Per Client Type Is Enough To Start
You do not need a dedicated page for every client type you serve. A single sentence under each service on your existing services page, or a short answer in an FAQ block, is enough for a model to read and quote. Firms that add five or six of these sentences tend to get matched against a wider range of questions within weeks, because each sentence is a separate chance to be the exact match for someone's exact situation.
An AI assistant cannot recommend a match it was never shown.
What This Means For Accountants and Solicitors
None of this replaces expertise or reputation. It just means the expertise has to be written down in the same words a client would use to describe their own situation, not the words a firm uses to describe its own practice areas. The firms getting named by ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview are rarely the largest. They are the ones whose website already answered the question in the client's own terms before the client finished typing it.