Accounting is the one industry in our US study where firms' own websites led the answers. Claude with live web search named at least one firm in 47 of our 50 questions (94%), 5.5 per answer, and 49.2% of its sources were business websites, the highest share of 10 industries. Spam pages were rare here: 6.3% of sources, the lowest.
Two firms made the most of it. Uncle Kam and KDA Inc. publish local pages down to ZIP code level, and their sites were cited 85 times between them. Uncle Kam was named in 9 answers; for a real estate CPA in Phoenix and in Los Angeles, KDA was the only firm named. That makes accounting the least open industry we measured: 79.4% of the 189 firms named appeared once, against 92.5% across the study. In Spanish, both questions asking for a Spanish-speaking accountant named no one.
What we asked
50 questions written the way US business owners and taxpayers ask them. The 40 English questions were set in eight cities, 5 each: Phoenix, Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Orlando, Dallas, Philadelphia and Nashville. By intent: 20 specific, 12 compare, 4 price and 4 trust. The 10 Spanish questions were set in Austin and Tampa, 5 each, tagged "mixed". Six of them, word for word:
| Question | Language | Intent |
|---|---|---|
| Which accounting firm in Boston is the best for startups? | English | compare |
| How much does a tax preparer cost in Orlando, and who is good? | English | price |
| Best CPA in Phoenix for real estate investors? | English | specific |
| Who can help me with IRS back taxes in Nashville? | English | specific |
| Mejor contador en Austin que hable español para mi negocio (best Spanish-speaking accountant in Austin for my business) | Spanish | mixed |
| ¿Dónde preparan impuestos baratos en Tampa? (where can I get cheap tax preparation in Tampa?) | Spanish | mixed |
How often AI named an accountant
Claude named at least one firm in 94% of answers, a little over the study average of 93.8%, and hedged on 3 (6%). Few names were individuals (7.0%), so counting firms only changes little: 94% named a firm, 5.1 per answer.
| Question type | Questions | Named anyone | Firms per answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compare (best for startups, payroll, small business CPA) | 12 | 100% | 8.5 |
| Trust (tax preparer with the best reviews) | 4 | 100% | 7.3 |
| Specific (LLC, self-employed, IRS back taxes, real estate) | 20 | 95% | 5.0 |
| Price (tax preparer cost) | 4 | 100% | 1.3 |
| Spanish (all types) | 10 | 80% | 3.3 |
The spread is wide. "Best for startups" questions named up to 13 firms, from vendor guides and lists that included the Big Four. Price questions named one or two: in Phoenix the answer named KDA Inc. only, in Orlando Uncle Kam only, and in Los Angeles one firm, in an answer built mostly on Thumbtack pages. The three hedges were a real estate CPA in Orlando, where all 10 sources were investor forum threads with no names, and the two Spanish-speaking accountant questions.
Where the answers came from
Claude cited 461 sources, 9.2 per answer, from 131 websites, sorted into the main study's nine types.
| Type of source | Accountants (461) | All 10 industries (4,587) |
|---|---|---|
| Firms' own websites and other sites | 49.2% | 29.0% |
| Directories, marketplaces and "best of" list sites | 33.4% | 37.3% |
| Off-topic hosts (spam-style pages on unrelated sites) | 6.3% | 15.9% |
| Social media and forums | 3.9% | 1.6% |
| News and media | 2.6% | 11.0% |
| Review platforms | 2.2% | 3.2% |
| Press releases | 1.3% | 1.2% |
| Government sites and Wikipedia | 1.1% | 1.0% |
Directories still appeared in 38 of the 50 answers, and the mix was unusual: general local directories next to the B2B review sites agencies use. Forums mattered more than anywhere else (3.9%), all of it BiggerPockets threads for real estate investors. These were the sites cited most:
| Site | Citations | Answers | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| unclekam.com | 44 | 11 | A tax firm's site, with IRS relief and tax pages by city and ZIP code, in 7 cities |
| kdainc.com | 41 | 6 | A tax firm's site, with service pages by county and ZIP code (Phoenix and Los Angeles) |
| lantern.llc | 26 | 10 | Local business directory |
| expertise.com | 21 | 11 | "Best of" lists by city |
| biggerpockets.com | 19 | 2 | Real estate investor forum (Nashville and Orlando) |
| thumbtack.com | 18 | 9 | Local services marketplace with price pages |
| aviaanaccounting.com | 18 | 14 | An accounting firm's "top ranked firms" guides for Boston, Atlanta, Dallas and Philadelphia |
| goodfirms.co and clutch.co | 17 and 12 | 9 and 10 | B2B firm review directories |
One pattern is worth noticing. An accounting firm that writes "top ranked accounting firms in Boston" style guides was cited in 14 answers, more than any other site, yet it was named in only 2 of them (under two spellings). Writing the list gets you cited; it does not make you the answer.
The spam layer was thin: 29 sources from 23 unrelated websites, in 19 answers, and never most of an answer's sources. Described without naming the sites: a Brazilian partner portal with "Best Bookkeeping Service in Boston, Massachusetts" pages and a school server in Colombia with "The 10 Best Bookkeepers in Atlanta".
8 answers mentioned Yelp and 14 mentioned Google reviews or Maps, but none cited a Yelp page and 1 cited a Google business page. In at least 32 answers Claude warned its sources were marketing, sponsored or low quality.
The accountants named most often
The 50 answers named 189 different firms in 255 mentions. These were named most often in our answers:
| Firm, as named | Answers (of 50) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Uncle Kam | 9 | All 4 English IRS back tax questions, plus price, trust and a Spanish IRS debt question, in 7 cities |
| Deloitte | 5 | Boston, Atlanta, Dallas and Philadelphia, mostly from general lists |
| KDA Inc. | 5 | Phoenix (3) and Los Angeles (2) only |
| 1-800Accountant | 5 | Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Tampa in Spanish |
| George Dimov, CPA | 4 | Boston (3) and Philadelphia (1) |
The top five took 11.0% of mentions. Uncle Kam and KDA Inc. were named because their own pages filled the sources: in the Orlando tax preparer answer, 8 of 10 sources were Uncle Kam location pages, and in the Phoenix and Los Angeles real estate CPA answers, every source was a KDA page. The answers did not take these pages on trust. The Phoenix answer said "Every result came from one firm, KDA Inc., and its marketing pages, so treat its claims as self-promotion", and the Orlando answer said it could not verify a certification Uncle Kam's pages relied on. Deloitte and the other Big Four came from generic lists, which one answer said do not show they specialize in startups.
Not a ranking. Counts from one assistant on one day, 21 October 2026, not our ranking or an endorsement. A firm missing here may be excellent, and the lists change from day to day.
City by city
Each city had 5 questions, so these are notes, not rankings.
| City | Questions | Named anyone | Per answer | Directory sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 5 | 100% | 9.0 | 32.6% |
| Boston | 5 | 100% | 8.2 | 46.7% |
| Philadelphia | 5 | 100% | 7.6 | 51.1% |
| Dallas | 5 | 100% | 7.4 | 45.7% |
| Orlando | 5 | 80% | 4.8 | 33.3% |
| Nashville | 5 | 100% | 4.4 | 41.3% |
| Los Angeles | 5 | 100% | 3.4 | 32.6% |
| Phoenix | 5 | 100% | 2.2 | 19.1% |
- Phoenix and Los Angeles: the shortest lists. In 7 of their 10 answers, one tax firm's own site was most of the sources (KDA Inc. in 5, Uncle Kam in 2).
- Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas: long lists built from directories and "top firms" guides. Philadelphia had no off-topic sources at all.
- Orlando and Nashville: the real estate CPA answers came from investor forum threads, and Orlando's named no one.
What the Spanish questions showed
| English (40) | Spanish (10) | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers naming at least one firm | 97.5% | 80% |
| Firms per answer, when any | 5.9 | 3.3 |
| Hedged | 2.5% | 20% |
| Sources with a "best" or "top" style title | 18.4% | 1.1% |
Spanish was the weak side. Only 8 of the 92 sources behind Spanish answers (8.7%) were Spanish pages, the second lowest of 10 industries after real estate, and 5 of the 10 answers cited none. The two hedges were the two questions that asked for a Spanish-speaking accountant, in Austin and in Tampa. The Austin answer found bilingual job ads and other professionals; the Tampa answer found a bilingual bookkeeper's profile not tied to Tampa, free Spanish workshops and a 2012 article. Cheap tax preparation in Austin was answered mostly from a charity's free tax help pages. None of the Spanish accounting answers drifted to another country in our hand check.
Three real answers
Best CPA in Phoenix for real estate investors?
The search turned up no independent rankings of Phoenix CPAs. Every result came from one firm, KDA Inc., and its marketing pages, so treat its claims as self-promotion.
Best CPA in Orlando for real estate investors?
The search turned up only BiggerPockets forum threads, with no authoritative ranking of Orlando CPAs. Most replies point to individuals rather than named firms, and none of the results name a specific CPA with verified credentials.
Mejor contador en Austin que hable español para mi negocio
La búsqueda no encontró ningún contador ni firma contable en Austin que hable español. Los resultados fueron principalmente ofertas de empleo bilingües y perfiles de otros profesionales.
What an accounting firm should do
- Publish one page per service and city. IRS back taxes, self-employed returns, real estate investors, LLC setup, payroll, each with the city and state. The two firms whose sites were cited most did exactly this, and they took whole answers.
- Make every claim checkable. The answers flagged unverifiable certifications and savings figures as marketing, and told readers to check CPA licenses, enrolled agent numbers and PTINs. Put those on the page, with each preparer's name.
- Put a fee range on the page. Price answers named one or two firms, often the one whose page gave a number. A "from" price for a self-employed return or a typical IRS resolution fee is the fact the answer looks for.
- Get onto the directories that showed up: Lantern, Expertise.com, Thumbtack, Bark and SelfEmployed.com for local work, and GoodFirms, Clutch and ClearlyRated for business clients. Keep services and prices the same on all of them.
- Show up where investors ask. Real estate CPA questions were answered from BiggerPockets threads. Real, useful replies there under your name, with your firm and city on your profile, sit in a source the answer already reads.
- If you serve Spanish speakers, say so on a Spanish page. "Contador en Austin, Texas que habla español", with services and prices. Both questions that asked for one found no firm at all.
- Measure the same questions monthly on ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, with dated screenshots, and keep Google and Yelp reviews healthy: the answers sent readers there next.
What we'd do for you, and what we don't promise
We do this work for US firms, remotely from Dubai, with traditional SEO included and ChatGPT and Gemini (Google AI) tracked on every plan. It starts with a free AI check: 10 real client questions and the firms AI names instead of you. The AI Visibility Audit (30 questions, 4 AI tools, 3 competitors, screenshots and a 90-day plan) is USD 549. Monthly plans are USD 1,249 (Foundation), USD 2,349 (Growth) and USD 4,399 (Authority), month to month, with no lock-in and no setup fee. Details at adjoltz.com/us.
In the first 30 days of any plan, if AI does not name you for at least 3 commercial questions on the list you approved, or you are unhappy for any other reason, we refund 100% of what you paid, in cash, within 7 working days (guarantee rules). We don't promise a top spot on any assistant, rankings, paid places on "best of" lists, clients, or a US office. We do not have one.
Method and limits. 50 accounting and tax questions from our 500-question US AI visibility study 2026, each sent once, word for word, to Claude with Anthropic's live web search tool on 21 October 2026, between 21:31 and 23:12 UTC. Source types were coded by us with hand-checked lists, so the off-topic share is a floor, and simple name matching may make the "named once" share slightly high. One assistant, one day, one run: Pew Research Center found 44% of US adults use ChatGPT and 6% use Claude. We did not check that every named firm is licensed or in good standing. Every question and its numbers: study data (CSV).