Which engineering and planning consultancies in Farnham do AI assistants actually recommend?

We put the 14 questions a person in Farnham asks before choosing engineering and planning consultancie — cost, specialism, who to use, how to check them — to Claude, 5 times each, 70 answers in all, and recorded every firm the answers named. 20 firms in Farnham were checked against those answers. 5 of them were named at least once. The rest were not recommended in a single answer.

The league table

Firms are ranked by the number of answers that named them, then by how many different questions. The assistants do not give identical answers twice, so a difference of one or two mentions is noise; being named on questions a rival is absent from is not.

The questions we asked

1. Do I need a planning consultant or a structural engineer for a loft conversion in Farnham?
2. How much does a planning application survey typically cost near Farnham?
3. Is it better to hire an independent engineering consultancy or use a national firm for a small extension project?
4. I've got a barn conversion near Aldershot that needs a structural survey before I apply for planning permission - who handles that kind of work locally?
5. What accreditations should I check for before trusting a planning consultant in Surrey?
6. What's the difference between a chartered engineer and a general building surveyor for drainage issues?
7. Should I get a full topographical survey or just a basic site plan for a small plot near Farnham?
8. How can I check reviews or past projects for a local planning consultancy around Bordon?
9. We're buying a house near Haslemere with an unauthorised extension - what kind of consultancy do we need to sort out retrospective planning?
10. What's a reasonable quote for a flood risk assessment for a property close to the River Wey in Farnham?
11. Hire vs ad hoc contract - does it make sense to retain an engineering consultant long-term for a small developer, or just use one-off jobs?
12. Which independent engineering consultancies near Farnham have a solid track record with local councils on planning appeals?
13. Should I choose a firm based in Guildford or look for someone closer to Farnham for ongoing project liaison?
14. I'm planning a self-build off the Alton Road near Farnham and need someone to handle both structural calcs and the planning submission - what's the best route?

How this was measured

• Date: 1 October 2026. This is one day, not a trend; the index is re-measured monthly.
• Sample: 14 questions × 1 assistant × 5 runs = 70 answers. 20 firms checked.
• Assistants used: Claude (Anthropic’s Sonnet model, through its API, with web search). Answers from these programming interfaces can differ from what the consumer apps show.
• Counting: a firm is counted when its name appears in an answer. Names are picked out of the answer text automatically, then matched to the firm list.
• Limits: the assistants vary between runs, so small gaps are noise. Firms that were not named may still be recommended by an assistant or a question we did not ask. National chains are left off the list.