AI rarely recommends Belfast design agencies.
A test of twelve Northern Irish creative and web agencies across the four major assistants. Agencies came dead last of the sectors measured. They were recommended just 7.5% of the time on open questions, nearly five times worse than local hospitality. This is the structural reason the sector that builds brands is the worst at being found by AI.
The number for the sector.
7.5%
Across cold questions where no agency was named, “best branding agency in Belfast,” “who can redesign my website,” “recommend a good studio,” AI recommended one of the twelve agencies tested just 7.5% of the time. It is the lowest of any sector measured.
Why the people who build brands are worst at AI visibility.
The reason is structural. Tracing where the assistants got their answers, the agencies that surfaced did so through third-party sources, directories and editorial round-ups. But most agencies point almost entirely at their own beautifully-made websites. And the own website is the single source AI trusts least. The category optimises for the portfolio and forgets the footprint.
Where agencies actually surfaced
- The Manifest, Sortlist and Clutch
- Editorial round-ups like "creative studios in Belfast"
- A long tail of NI design directories and listing sites
Named high, or not at all.
When an agency did appear, it appeared near the top of a short list. There is no “buried but present.” For a category this quiet, that makes the gap between named and unnamed everything.
What changes the number.
Less a checklist, more an order of operations. You cannot fix what you have not measured, and you cannot measure what you have not mapped.
- 01
Check.
Run the four assistants on the questions buyers actually ask, the cold ones where the studio name is not in the prompt.
- 02
Map the gap.
Find the directories and editorial recommended peers are in, and the studio is not.
- 03
Fix the footprint.
Get cited, described consistently, present where the assistants already look. Then confirm they pick it up.
See where your studio stands.
Run the same scan that produced the 7.5% number. Thirty seconds, no card, no call.
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 accountancy firms in Northern Ireland
The sector at 14.6%. Which sources the assistants leaned on and where the firms that surface live online.
- 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.
- How AI search actually works, an FAQ
Plain answers to the common questions, plus a glossary.
Want to see where your studio stands?
Run the free check. About a minute, no card, full PDF in your inbox.
Figures from Level44’s scan of 12 NI agencies across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, 15 June 2026.