The three numbers that decide it
1. Engines answer hiring questions with names. In our field study — 180 hiring-intent queries across six AI surfaces — questions like “best family lawyer near me” got answered with two to four specific firms, not generic advice. Someone is getting those referrals in your market right now. Most firms never appear: the answer layer is a short list, and the default position is off it.
2. An unmanaged #1 lasts roughly one to two days. Our durability study tracked 383 transitions in who the engines name first. A firm holding the top recommendation kept it for an expected one to two days before a re-roll replaced it. That cuts both ways: it’s why a screenshot of “we’re #1” means little, and why a firm that’s absent today isn’t locked out — the draw re-opens constantly. AI visibility is a maintenance practice, not a one-time project.
3. Blogging alone doesn’t buy it. The honest caveat, and it’s the one that saves you the most money: in our measurement, educational content earns citations — engines quote it — but almost never gets its owner named when the question is who to hire. Coverage pages named their owner in well under 1% of appearances; concrete money-page facts did so about 80× more often. If an agency’s plan is “publish more articles,” the measured answer is: that wins citations, not clients.
The math you can do in your head
Nameworthy’s pricing is public: a $495 first month, then a flat $2,000/month, month to month. A full first year is about $22,500.
Now put your own number next to it: what is one retained client worth in your practice area — a family law matter, a single PI settlement fee, one estate plan that becomes a decade of referrals? For most firms we measure, one to three retained clients cover the year. The comparison channel isn’t free either: in competitive legal niches, a single click costs $100 to $1,000+, and the meter never stops.
We won’t fill in your case value for you, because that’s the number the decision actually turns on — and it’s yours.
Who shouldn’t buy this
Honesty about the “no” cases is cheaper for everyone:
- Markets too small to measure. If your clients’ hiring questions barely exist, there’s no answer to win. Measure first; if the lanes are empty, keep your money.
- Firms that won’t publish facts. The engines recommend firms whose concrete facts — fees, credentials, focus, results the bar allows you to state — are published and verifiable. If nothing can go on the site, nothing can be cited.
- Anyone shopping for a guarantee of cases. Positions churn (see number 2). We guarantee measured presence and show the log; nobody honest guarantees outcomes.
One more structural note: we take one firm per category, per city. If your competitor got here first, we’ll tell you that too.
The short version
Worth it if two things are true: buyers in your practice area ask hiring questions, and your market’s answers are churning — both measurable, both free to find out. Start with the measurement. If it shows you’re already the answer, defend it yourself. If it shows the gap, the math above is the whole decision: one retained client against a year of the work that puts your name in the answers.