Which architects in Guildford do AI assistants actually recommend?

We put the 14 questions a person in Guildford asks before choosing an architect — cost, specialism, who to use, how to check them — to Claude and ChatGPT, 5 times each, 140 answers in all, and recorded every firm the answers named. 30 firms in Guildford were checked against those answers. 8 of them were named at least once. The rest were not recommended in a single answer. Below are the 6 firms named most often; the others are told their result privately.

The top of the table

Firms are ranked by the number of answers that named them, then by how many different questions. The top 10 of the 30 firms checked are listed (the top ten, or the top third, whichever is smaller), plus any firm level with the last one in; a rank number that is skipped belongs to a firm that is not named here: it asked not to be, or the name the assistants used is a trade body, a national chain or a description rather than a local firm. 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.

A further 24 firms were checked and are not listed here: 2 named in at least one answer but below the cut, 22 not named at all. Each has a private report, sent to the firm on request and to nobody else.

Is this your firm? If anything here is wrong, or you would rather your firm were not listed, email hello@aether-agency.co.uk or use the contact form. We acknowledge within two working days, correct a factual error as soon as it is confirmed, and take a firm off the public page on request; the measurement itself is not changed, because it records what the assistants said on the day.

The questions we asked

1. Do I need a full architect or would an architectural technologist be enough for a house extension?
2. How much do architects in Guildford typically charge for a two-storey extension design?
3. Is it cheaper to hire an architect for the whole project or just get planning drawings done and manage the build myself?
4. What's the difference between using a small independent architecture practice near Guildford versus a national design-and-build chain?
5. Should I compare quotes from architects in Godalming and Guildford before choosing one, or is that overkill for a loft conversion?
6. I've just bought a period cottage near Shalford and want to extend it sympathetically - who handles listed building consent locally?
7. We're planning a self-build on a plot off the A281 near Cranleigh - do I need a local architect familiar with Waverley planning rules?
8. How do I check if a local architect near Guildford is actually RIBA registered and not just calling themselves an architect?
9. Are there reliable reviews or case studies for independent architects working around Surrey, or is it all word of mouth?
10. What accreditations should I look for to make sure an architect near Guildford is reliable for a residential project?
11. My planning application for a rear extension in Merrow got rejected once already - which local firm has experience appealing decisions?
12. What's the process for getting planning permission and building regs drawings done for a garden studio?
13. Which architect near Guildford has the best reputation for barn conversions rather than just standard house extensions?
14. Which is better value near Farnham - a sole-trader architect or a small multi-person practice for a full renovation?

How this was measured

• Date: 22 September 2026, the day the answers were collected. This is one day, not a trend; the index is re-measured monthly and each month’s date is shown.
• Sample: 14 questions × 2 assistants × 5 runs = 140 answers. 30 firms checked.
• Assistants used: Claude (Anthropic’s Sonnet model, through its API, with web search); ChatGPT (OpenAI’s gpt-4o-mini model, through its API, with web search — not the model inside the ChatGPT app). 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.
• What is public: the 6 firms named most often, by name. Every other firm’s result is private to that firm. A firm can have itself taken off this page on request (see above).
• 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. This measures what the assistants said; it is not a judgement of the quality of any firm’s work.