When someone asks AI for an accountant in Northern Ireland, does your firm come up?
More clients now start the search by asking ChatGPT or Gemini, not Google. We tested twelve Northern Irish accountancy firms against the four major assistants. On open questions like “a good accountant in Belfast” or “who can do my company accounts,” a firm was recommended just 14.6% of the time. Here is what decides it, and how to be the name that comes back.
Better than agencies, well behind hospitality.
14.6%
Cold visibility, NI accountancy
Across cold questions where no firm was named, AI recommended one of the twelve NI firms we tested 14.6% of the time. That is better than agencies (7.5%) and well behind hospitality (35.4%). Accountancy sits in the middle, helped by directories, held back by thin reviews. Most firms in the test were simply never mentioned.
Why some firms get named and most don’t.
It isn’t about who’s best. When we traced where the assistants got their answers, the firms that surfaced were the ones with a footprint offtheir own website. They live in directories, professional listings, and the occasional “best accountants in Belfast” round-up. The firms that lived only on their own site were, to the machine, invisible.
For accountancy specifically, these are the sources the assistants leaned on again and again.
- 01Clutch and sector directories like ukaccountingfirms.co.uk
- 02"Belfast accountants" listicles and local round-ups
- 03Belfast Chamber and professional-body listings (Chartered Accountants Ireland / ICAEW)
- 04FreeAgent's "find an accountant" directory
- 05Reddit and Facebook threads where people ask for recommendations
If your firm isn’t in those, you’re relying on the assistant already knowing your name. On cold questions, it mostly doesn’t.
Named high, or not at all.
One thing worth knowing. When a firm did appear, it almost always appeared near the top. There is very little “mentioned but buried.” AI gives a short shortlist. You’re on it or you’re not. There is no consolation prize for being fourth.
It’s not that AI gets you wrong. It skips you.
When firms did appear, the assistants described them accurately about ~99% of the time. The issue isn’t misinformation you need to correct. It’s absence you need to fix. Getting cited, consistently, in the places the assistants already trust.
A focused piece of work, not a retainer treadmill.
- 01
Check
Exactly what the four assistants say about your firm today, across the questions your clients actually ask.
- 02
Map the gap
Which directories, listings and reviews your recommended competitors are in, and you are not.
- 03
Fix the footprint
Get you listed, described consistently, and cited where it counts. Then confirm the assistants pick it up.
See where you stand. Free.
Run your firm the way we ran these twelve. About thirty seconds, no card, no call. Just the answer.
Check your AI visibility. Free.About the author
Phill Hendry runs Level44, a Belfast brand and web studio building for the answer-engine era. This research was produced in-house using Level44’s own AI visibility platform.
The series
Part of Level44’s AI visibility research set.
A connected set of pages on how AI assistants decide which businesses to recommend. Read in any order.
- How AI decides which businesses to recommend
The cornerstone essay. How AI assistants build their shortlists, and why most NI businesses are missing.
- The State of AI Visibility for Northern Irish Business 2026
The full data report. 1,296 answers, four assistants, 36 businesses, broken down by sector, assistant and question type.
- Methodology
How the scan was run, what was measured, and the limits stated plainly. Citable.
- AI visibility for hotels and restaurants in Northern Ireland
The most-visible sector at 35.4%, but a handful of venues take almost every recommendation.
- AI visibility for agencies and studios in Northern Ireland
The lowest-visibility sector at 7.5%. The structural reasons creative agencies score worst.
- How AI search actually works, an FAQ
Plain answers to the common questions, plus a glossary.
Want to see how AI describes your firm?
Run the free check. About thirty seconds, no card, full result in your inbox.
Figures from Level44’s scan of 12 NI accountancy firms across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, 15 June 2026.