casestudy #1 · MANIMAMA × 009

road from absolutely invisible to the #2 answer in Europe
in Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini.

June 2026: every engine answers this question with competitors. Manimama - Europe's most-published crypto-law firm - is not in a single answer. Below is the same window, dated run by dated run, with the fixes that moved it on the left. Every state below is a snapshot of one dated run, logged on the day it says. This is a series of snapshots, not a live dashboard. Raw logs on the call.

client: Manimama Law & Crypto MANIMAMA OÜ, registered in Estonia
niche: EU crypto and fintech licensing MiCA and CASP authorisation, VASP-to-CASP, e-money, tokenisation, iGaming
website: manimama.eu
linkedin: linkedin.com/company/manimama
founder: Ganna Voievodina, CEO PhD in international law, practising attorney
programme: 1 jul 2026 → still running baseline audit 22 jun 2026, reviewed every two weeks

vocabularywhat is what on this page

engine: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity or Gemini. Four of them here, each measured separately, because they answer differently.
prompt: The question a buyer actually types. On this page no prompt contains the firm’s name, so being in the answer is not a given.
frozen panel: A fixed set of prompts, worded once and never edited, re-run at every review with the same models and web search on. Frozen wording is the only thing that makes two dates comparable.
run: One dated pass of the whole panel, in which each of the twenty prompts is fired ten separate times on each of the four engines: 800 answers per pass. Every number on this page belongs to a run, and every run has a date.
category recall: Being named in an answer to a question about the category, not about you. The thing a buyer who does not know you yet can actually see.
position: Where the firm sits in the list the engine returns. #1 is the first name in the answer, not a Google ranking.
cited: The engine links its claim to a source. “Cited from its own page” means the answer rests on the firm’s website rather than on a directory.
baseline: The locked measurement taken before any work started, 22 jun 2026. Every delta on this page is against it, never against a better later run.
MiCA · CASP · VASP: The EU crypto licensing regime and the two provider statuses under it. This is the firm’s money niche, which is why the prompts are worded this way.
DataForSEO: The third-party search tool we lock a baseline in, alongside the AI panel. An instrument we do not own, so the panel is not the only witness.

RESULT:

prompts naming the firm+20

0→ 20of 20

22 jun: zero · latest run: twenty, four engines

engines naming the firm+4

0→ 4of 4

22 jun → latest run

best answer position

unranked→ #1in ChatGPT

latest run · second in europe on perplexity

so where do the clients come from now?

From these twenty questions. Every one of them is what a buyer types before they hire anybody, and not one of them contains the firm’s name. This is the moment a firm gets chosen rather than searched for. A tick means the engine names manimama in its answer; the positions it holds sit under each prompt. Four engines, one snapshot, taken on the latest run in aug 2026.

buyer prompt	chatgpt	claude	perplexity	gemini
My crypto startup needs a MiCA / CASP license in the EU. Which law firms specialize in crypto and VASP licensing in Europe?claude 2 · perplexity 2 · frozen panel prompt, tracked since 22 jun	–	✓	✓	–
Top 10 companies that can help us with a MiCA licence in the EU.chatgpt 1 · claude 2 · perplexity 2 · gemini 2	✓	✓	✓	✓
Which law firms handle the VASP-to-CASP transition in the EU?chatgpt 1 · claude 3 · perplexity 2 · gemini 2	✓	✓	✓	✓
Recommend me a law firm for real-world asset tokenization.named by all four, positions 1 to 3	✓	✓	✓	✓
Who can help a crypto startup get a CASP licence in Lithuania?named by all four, positions 1 to 3	✓	✓	✓	✓
Best legal advisors for a US MSB registration for a crypto business.named by all four, positions 1 to 6	✓	✓	✓	✓
Which law firm should I use to register a crypto company in Estonia?chatgpt 3 · claude 4 · perplexity 5 · gemini 3	✓	✓	✓	✓
Recommend a legal partner for launching an e-money or stablecoin product in Europe.positions 3 to 5	✓	–	✓	✓
Top 10 law firms for iGaming in 2026.chatgpt 4 · gemini 5	✓	–	–	✓
Which lawyers should a Curacao online casino hire in 2026?	✓	–	✓	–
Who advises on crypto company formation in Poland or the Seychelles?	✓	–	–	✓
Which law firms are best for an iGaming / online gambling license (Anjouan, Curacao, Malta)?frozen panel prompt, run on Perplexity only	·	·	✓	·
	✓	✓	✓	–
	✓	–	✓	✓
	✓	✓	–	✓
	–	✓	✓	–
	✓	✓	✓	✓
	–	✓	–	✓
	✓	–	✓	–
	✓	✓	–	–

✓ named in the answer – not named · not part of this run ✓ 8 more tracked prompts, not disclosed

20 of 20prompts return the firm in at least one engine. ChatGPT puts it first on two of them. At the June baseline every cell in this table was empty.

THE PROGRAMME · DATE BY DATE

what we did, and what the engines did next.

← measured · what the panel said

shipped → · what we changed

22 jun 2026measured

the baseline: 45/100, and not a single answer

0 / 20 prompts

Not one of the twenty buyer prompts we track today returned the firm, in any engine. 1,004 blog posts, zero of them in Google US top-3. The competitor ahead had 6.8× less content. The engines’ complaint was specific: anonymous articles, no visible lawyers, nothing verifiable.

chatgpt · claude · gemini · perplexity · grok · deepseek

Which law firms should we use for MiCA / CASP licensing in the EU?

Gofaizen & Sherle
LegalBison
COREDO
AdamSmith.lt
SBSB Fintech Lawyers

✕ manimama - not mentioned. in any engine. in any run.

jun–julanalysed

we went after the winners first

SERP owners per money query, page type by page type
traffic-value comparator across the competitor set
backlink and citation profiles: which sources each engine reads about them
their people: every winner publishes named, credentialed lawyers

The strategy that came out of it: out-verify them, not out-publish them.

sprint 1 · jul, wk 1-2shipped

the identity layer ships

22 redirects merge the blog that was cannibalizing the firm’s own product pages
llms.txt + LegalService schema
Person schema for all 8 lawyers with real credentials: PhD, bar licence numbers, ORCID

The firm’s own team deploys every change from our hand-offs.

15 julmeasured

a second instrument comes online

Semrush baseline locked alongside DataForSEO. Two independent lines, never compared with each other, only against their own baselines.

18 jul · day 17measured

the panel flips

0/20 → 4/20 prompts

Four of the twenty buyer prompts now name the firm. Perplexity cites /mica-licensing/ directly; ChatGPT puts it in a shortlist of eight; Claude names it fifth. The programme target was two of them within 90 days.

chatgpt · claude · gemini · perplexity · grok · deepseek

Which law firms should we use for MiCA / CASP licensing in the EU?

Gofaizen & Sherle
LegalBison
manimama - EU/MiCA specialists; 8 named lawyers with verifiable credentials.manimama.eu
COREDO
SBSB Fintech Lawyers

sprint 2-3 · late julshipped

the authors become visible

bylines and “Reviewed by” with the founder’s credentials on money pages
the review surfaces engines actually read: claimed and cleaned
team page rebuilt to all 8 people with titles

1 aug · review 2measured

it holds, and search agrees

Recall holds at 4/20. ChatGPT now ranks the firm #2 of its shortlist, Claude gives it its own block. On the independent line: the first two keywords enter US top-3, and for the first time the firm outranks the category leader in the UK.

15 aug · review 3measured

the engines start citing their own page

4/20 → 20/20 prompts
#2 in Europe

Perplexity places the firm second for EU/MiCA licensing, directly after the market leader, and cites the firm’s own service page as the source. Claude also holds #2 and closes with a recommendation. iGaming returns a use-case pick with a citation.

ChatGPT rolls back on the oldest frozen prompt and goes to BigLaw names. It still returns the firm on sixteen of the twenty. We publish the series, not the best run.

chatgpt · claude · gemini · perplexity · grok · deepseek

Which law firms should we use for MiCA / CASP licensing in the EU?

Gofaizen & Sherle
manimama - crypto-focused firm handling MiCA licensing, VASP-to-CASP transition, high-volume EU filings.manimama.eu
Crypto License Europe GmbH

source cited for #2: manimama.eu - the firm’s own service page. the engine builds its answer on the firm itself.

the history · how it moved, run by run

the frozen panel, four runs deep.

The twenty-prompt panel above is where the firm stands today. This is how it got there: the two prompts frozen on day one, never edited, re-run at every review. Same wording, same models, web search on. That is the only reason these deltas mean anything.

prompt 1 · the money question

My crypto startup needs a MiCA / CASP license in the EU. Which law firms or legal consultancies specialize in crypto and VASP licensing in Europe? List the top providers by name.

prompt 2 · the second vertical

Which law firms are best for an iGaming / online gambling license (Anjouan, Curacao, Malta)?

the two frozen prompts · one snapshot per dateperplexity · chatgpt · claude · gemini

cell	22 jun baseline	18 jul run 1	1 aug run 2	15 aug latest run
MiCA × Perplexity	–	namedcites /mica-licensing/	top three	#2 in Europecites own page
MiCA × Claude	–	#5named	#2own block	#2plus a recommendation
iGaming × Perplexity	–	namedfirst line	first“lead counsel”	use-case pickcites own page
MiCA × ChatGPT	–	namedshortlist of 8	#2of shortlist	–rolled back
MiCA × Gemini	–	–	–	–

these five cells are the two frozen prompts split by engine: the MiCA question on all four, the iGaming question on perplexity, which is the only engine it has been run on. three of them went from never named to named and stayed there, one held for two runs and rolled back on ChatGPT, one never moved on Gemini. we publish all five, including the two that went the wrong way.

The program target was two or more of the tracked prompts within 90 days. It hit four on day 17.

the other half · what engines say when you name the firm

the brand answer changed too.

Category recall is one thing; what an engine says once a buyer types your name is another. This cell was never scored as recall, only as quality. Here is the same question, two months apart.

chatgpt · web search on

snapshot · 22 jun 2026 · baseline

What is Manimama (manimama.eu) law firm? … are they reputable for crypto/MiCA licensing?

“Worth a call, but verify carefully. I would NOT treat them as automatically top-tier.”

chatgpt · web search on

snapshot · 15 aug 2026 · eight weeks later

What is Manimama (manimama.eu) law firm? … are they reputable for crypto/MiCA licensing?

“Manimama is reputable, crypto-focused, and worth shortlisting for MiCA licensing.”

the point of all of it · what the shelf produces

the answer turns into an enquiry.

Being named is not the point. Being named is the point at which a buyer who was going to hire somebody hires you instead. The chain is short, and every link of it is now measurable.

1a buyer asks

“Which law firms specialize in crypto and VASP licensing in Europe?” No brand in the question. They do not know the firm yet.

→

2the engine answers

manimama, second in Europe, with the firm’s own service page cited as the source of that answer.

→

3the buyer arrives

An enquiry for the exact service the answer named. Pre-qualified, because the engine already matched the need to the firm.

inbound enquiriesthe service lines the panel tracks

CASP authorisation for a crypto exchange

“found you through ChatGPT”

MiCA white paper review

“Perplexity recommended you”

E-money licence, EU

“the AI said you specialise in this”

VASP-to-CASP transition

“you came up first when I asked”

illustrative. these are the enquiry types that match the service lines the twenty prompts cover, in the wording buyers use when an engine sent them. 009 does not have access to the firm’s CRM, so we do not report a lead count – we track the doors, the firm tracks who walks in.

book the audit call → all cases

Program: june 2026 → ongoing. Published aug 19, 2026. Every figure here is a snapshot of the dated run named beside it; nothing on this page updates by itself. Every prompt is run live against the engines, never from cache, and fired ten separate times on each engine: 800 answers behind a single pass of the twenty-prompt panel. One answer from a generative engine is noise rather than a measurement. Client approved being named. Answer lists are illustrative renderings of logged panel runs; competitor names withheld. Search-side figures measured with DataForSEO against a locked baseline (aug 15); brand mentions 3.5× the nearest competitor (aug 2026).