AI-Visibility Snapshot — a real one, run on Leeds IT support
Prepared by WrittenRank · 20 July 2026 Engine tested: Claude (Sonnet 5) with live web search, via API — one fresh session per question, questions asked verbatim, no steering · Runs: 20 July 2026 Benchmarked: four real Leeds managed IT support providers (MSPs), selected before any question was run. We've anonymised them here because they aren't clients and didn't ask to be graded in public — "the client" is a long-established Leeds MSP (17+ years trading, ISO 27001 certified), and Competitors A–C are three other established local MSPs. The businesses that won citations are named, because being cited is the prize.
This sample uses one engine. Paid snapshots state exactly which engines were run and what each said. ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity can answer differently — we say that plainly rather than imply coverage we didn't run. Everything below is a real, unedited measurement.
Headline
Across 10 questions a Leeds IT-support buyer would plausibly ask an AI assistant, the client was cited or even named zero times. So were two of its three competitors. The best-performing local firm was cited on just 2 of 10 — and both citations trace to specific pages it published.
Visibility score (2 pts per citation, 1 per mention, out of 100):
| The client | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 0 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| Cited | 0/10 | 1/10 | 2/10 | 0/10 |
| Mentioned | 0/10 | 0/10 | 0/10 | 0/10 |
CITED = named in the answer with its own site used as a source · MENTIONED = named but its site not used · ABSENT = neither. (Conservative rule: one firm's site was opened by the engine during research on Q1 but never named in the answer — that scores ABSENT, because a buyer never sees it.)
The 10 questions, and who the engine trusted
| # | Question asked (verbatim) | Client | A | B | C | Who won the answer instead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best IT support companies in Leeds for small businesses | ABSENT | CITED | CITED | ABSENT | 10 firms shortlisted incl. Ilkley IT, Jupiter IT, AAG, Sharp, CloudCoCo |
| 2 | Which managed IT support provider should a 30-person accountancy firm in Leeds use? | ABSENT | ABSENT | CITED | ABSENT | Competitor B (via its accountants page); also Absolute ICT, Air IT, Sharp |
| 3 | How much does managed IT support cost per user per month in the UK? | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | Published pricing guides: Connection Technologies, MSP Pricing, UK IT Services |
| 4 | How much should a 20-person business budget for IT support in Leeds? | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | AAG (real price quoted from its Leeds page), Connection Technologies |
| 5 | Do I need Cyber Essentials certification to bid for UK public sector contracts? | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | gov.uk, NCSC, law-firm explainers, security consultancies |
| 6 | What's the difference between fully managed and co-managed IT support? | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ~20 MSP blogs — almost all American |
| 7 | How do I switch IT support providers without downtime? | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | US MSP onboarding guides |
| 8 | What questions should I ask before hiring an MSP? | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | US MSP and vendor-evaluation guides |
| 9 | Is it worth paying for 24/7 IT support for a small business? | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | US sources — the answer even priced the service in dollars |
| 10 | Who are the most reputable managed service providers in West Yorkshire? | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | ABSENT | Texaport, The HBP Group, Eitex, AAG, Mansys + 8 more |
Evidence (verbatim, competitor names redacted in brackets)
Q1 — the engine's shortlist opened with: "[Competitor A] — Leeds city-centre based, 5-star rated on Google with a large volume of reviews from small local businesses." Its site was among the answer's sources.
Q2 — the engine fetched [Competitor B]'s "IT support for accountants" page directly and concluded: "explicitly markets IT support for accountancy firms … Probably my first call given the sector-specific positioning" — and later: "the strongest single 'sector fit' match I found for a Leeds accountancy firm specifically." One published page won the recommendation.
Q4 — "AAG (a Leeds-based provider …) advertises pricing 'from £21.50 per user per month', while Connection Technologies quotes tiered pricing of roughly £40/£65/£100/£150 per user per month." Firms that publish real numbers get quoted; firms that don't, don't exist in the answer.
Why this happens
The engine didn't reward the biggest or oldest firm — the client has 17+ years and ISO 27001 and scored zero. It rewarded specific published answers. Competitor B's single sector page ("IT support for accountants") beat every credential the client holds. Connection Technologies' published pricing guides earned citations on three separate questions.
And the advice questions — cost, Cyber Essentials, co-managed vs fully managed, switching, 24/7 — were answered entirely from published guides, largely by American MSPs' blogs, because almost no UK firm has written them. Question 9's answer was priced in dollars. Those are open goals for any Leeds firm willing to publish.
Fix list we'd give this client (in order of expected impact)
- A UK "managed IT support cost per user" guide with real numbers — closes Q3 and Q4, where pricing publishers took the citations. On a £49 trial, the included article delivers this one.
- Sector pages for the client's 2–3 best verticals ("IT support for accountancy firms in Leeds") — Q2 was won by exactly one such page.
- A Cyber Essentials explainer for public-sector bidders — Q5 cited only national/legal sources; a local firm with a current guide would be the only MSP in the answer.
- A switching/onboarding guide — Q7's answers were entirely US-based.
- Review-signal housekeeping — Q10 leaned on Google/Trustpilot evidence; the engine couldn't even open two big directories (403 errors). Reviews plus published content did all the work.
Method, limits, and reproducibility
- 10 questions fixed in advance, asked verbatim, one fresh session each, no steering, 20 July 2026. The four firms were chosen before any run.
- One engine (Claude Sonnet 5 + live web search, via API). Other engines can differ; paid snapshots list exactly what was run.
- AI answers vary between runs — treat a single run as a sample, not a census. Ongoing tiers re-run the same fixed question set so movement is measured against a baseline.
- Raw answer archives available on request.
Want this run on your firm, against competitors you name? That's the £49 snapshot + article trial — or email [email protected].
WrittenRank — measured AI-search visibility for UK firms · [email protected] · writtenrank.com