For IR35 & contractor accountants
A contractor asks AI for the best IR35 accountant. Does your firm come up?
Your clients are limited-company contractors. Most ask ChatGPT or Perplexity "best accountant for IR35" before they ever call, and most contractor firms have no idea whether the AI names them, or a rival. We show you, with dated evidence, in 48 hours. Then the three fixes that close the gap.
// Example query · illustrative layout
"Best accountant for IT contractors in your town"
// Sample layout, not real firms or real results. Your audit shows your real, dated results.
The questions your prospects actually ask
Contractors don't search like everyone else.
These are the high-intent queries a limited-company contractor types into ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI when they're choosing an accountant. Each one is a moment your firm is named, or a rival is.
Why being named matters here
Contractor clients are high-value and switch-prone.
In few specialisms does the AI front door matter more. The end client is digital by default, the relationship recurs for years, and switching is normal, so the firm the AI names has a real head start.
They ask AI first
Contractors are self-directed and online by habit. They research and shortlist an accountant on ChatGPT or Perplexity before they call anyone. If you're absent at that step, you're often not on the list at all.
They switch
Contractors change accountants when their status, contract or umbrella arrangement changes, which is often. That churn is a constant flow of in-market prospects, every one of whom may ask an AI on the way in.
The relationship recurs
An IR35 client isn't a one-off. It's recurring monthly or annual work that compounds over years. Losing one at the AI front door isn't a missed enquiry: it's a multi-year relationship handed to a rival.
What we found when we checked contractor firms
We checked 28 contractor & IR35 firms. The site looks fine to a human. To an AI, most don't say "accountant" at all.
Contractor specialists are more digitally mature than the average firm, so the problem here isn't missing markup: it's the wrong markup. Most carry generic schema that never tells an AI they're accountants. The upside: IR35 advice is naturally Q&A-shaped, so FAQ markup is a fast, proven quick-win.
The hopeful twist: every readable firm already had some JSON-LD (0 of 21 had none), so the foundation is already paid for. And 24% already use FAQ markup: handing AI the exact Q&A it wants to quote is proven and achievable in this niche.
// Renownly research · 28 UK contractor/IR35 accountants · 3 Jun 2026. The contractor cut of our 93-firm study, same audit method. A convenience sample, reported exactly as measured, with every limitation stated. Foundations readiness, not a live ranking.
How it works
Evidence first. Then the fixes.
No long sales calls. You see proof before you spend anything, and a plain-English plan after.
The Snapshot
We run one or two of the contractor questions your clients actually ask, across the major AI assistants, and send you the result, including who gets named instead of you. No cost, no card.
The 48-hour Audit
We test eight high-intent IR35 and contractor queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, each run five times. We also check your foundations: Google Business Profile, ICAEW/ACCA listing, reviews and schema.
Three fixes
You get a six-to-ten-page plain-English report and a 20-minute walkthrough: where you stand, who's winning your queries, and the three highest-impact fixes. Ready to hand to your web person.
The founding offer
Be one of the first 10 contractor-focused firms we benchmark.
We're building the UK's first AI-visibility benchmark for contractor & IR35 accountants, and the first ~10 firms get the deepest version of the work for the lowest price.
The Founding Audit
One-off · paid in advance · no lock-in
Real scarcity, no gimmicks. We genuinely only take ~10 contractor-focused firms for this benchmark because each one is done in depth. There's no countdown clock. When the places are filled, the founding price closes and you move to the standard £149 audit.
- ✓The full AI Visibility Audit across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude
- +Two quick-win fixes implemented for you, not just found (e.g. accounting-business schema, a key page intro, a listing inconsistency)
- +A follow-up re-test 4–6 weeks later showing before vs after, reported honestly either way
- +Founding-member status: preferential pricing held for you, and first sight of The 2026 UK Contractor-Accountant AI-Visibility Report
// Full details, the deal in plain English and how to claim a place are on the Founding Audit page. To claim, start with the free Snapshot and tell us you're a contractor/IR35 firm, and we confirm places in order of enquiry, up to the cap. No payment until your place is confirmed.
What we ask in return
In exchange for the lower price and the done-for-you fixes, founding firms agree to:
- • A short, honest testimonial (2–3 sentences)
- • Permission to publish a before/after case study, where you choose anonymised or named (default: anonymised, e.g. "a Leeds-based IR35-focused practice")
- • A brief feedback form so we sharpen the product
- • Consent to include your anonymised query results in the benchmark
You can withdraw case-study permission any time before we publish. The audit work stands regardless. We can't and don't guarantee any AI engine will mention or recommend you; nobody honestly can.
Not ready for a founding place?
Start free. The standard path is the same engine.
Every firm starts with the free Snapshot. The price is on the page, not behind a quote form, and there's no retainer you can't leave.
- 1–2 high-intent IR35 queries
- Who gets named instead
- No card needed
- 8 IR35 & contractor queries
- Competitor map
- Foundations check
- 3 prioritised fixes
- 20-min walkthrough
- A complete example report
- How findings are evidenced
- What the 3 fixes look like
Want the evidence behind our numbers? Read the 2026 UK Contractor-Accountant AI-Visibility Report.
Questions
The honest answers.
Why do contractors searching AI matter more than other clients?
Contractors and limited-company professionals are digital, self-directed and switch-prone. They tend to research a provider on ChatGPT or Perplexity before they ever call, and an IR35 client is a recurring, multi-year relationship. If the AI names a rival instead of you when they look, you can lose a high-value, sticky client before the first conversation.
Is the £99 Founding Audit a discount gimmick?
No. It's genuinely limited to the first ~10 contractor-focused firms because we're building our first benchmark for this specialism and can only do so many in depth. You get more than the standard £149 audit (we also implement two quick-win fixes and re-test 4–6 weeks later), and in exchange you allow us to publish a before/after case study (anonymised unless you'd rather be named) and a short testimonial. When the 10 places are taken, the offer closes. No countdown timer, just a real cap.
Can you guarantee AI will recommend my firm to contractors?
No, and you should be sceptical of anyone who does. AI assistants are run by third parties on systems that change without notice. We show you where you stand today across the four engines and the fixes most likely to help. We report and advise; we don't promise rankings, leads or revenue.
Isn't this just SEO for contractor accountants?
Related, but not the same. A firm can rank well on Google for "contractor accountant" and still be invisible in ChatGPT or Perplexity, because the overlap is small. We test the AI answers specifically, for the IR35 and limited-company queries your prospects actually ask, plus the structured signals those engines use to decide whose name to put forward.
What do you need from me?
Your website, the locations and contractor niches you serve (IR35, umbrella vs limited, CIS, personal service companies), and a couple of rival firms if you have them in mind. The free Snapshot needs nothing but your firm name and town.
Related reading
Want to act on the foundations yourself?
Plain-English guides on the fixes that move the needle for contractor firms, plus the research behind our numbers.
See what AI tells contractors about your firm.
Free Snapshot in your inbox within two working days. No card, no call, no obligation. Founding places are limited to ~10 firms.