Which residential architects in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire do AI assistants actually recommend?

We put the 10 questions a person in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire asks before choosing residential architect — cost, specialism, who to use, how to check them — to Claude, 3 times each, 30 answers in all, and recorded every firm the answers named. 18 firms in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire were checked against those answers. 4 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. How much does an architect charge for a house extension in Winchester?
2. Which architects in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire design rear and side extensions and get planning permission for homeowners?
3. We want to extend and remodel a 1960s house near Newbury. Which architects in the area do whole-house design and planning?
4. Which architects in Farnham can get planning permission for a new house on a small plot?
5. Which architects in Newbury design homes and extensions that suit a family budget and see the build through?
6. Which local architects in Farnham design loft conversions and building regulations drawings?
7. Which architects in Farnham prepare planning applications and building regulations drawings for house extensions?
8. We want to knock through and add a two-storey side extension in Winchester. How do we find an architect and what happens first?
9. Which architects near Winchester take on a whole-house renovation including layout changes and a loft conversion?
10. Which independent architectural practices in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire are recommended by homeowners?

How this was measured

• Date: 5 October 2026. This is one day, not a trend; the index is re-measured monthly.
• Sample: 10 questions × 1 assistant × 3 runs = 30 answers. 18 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.