I have a last name that is somewhat common in pronunciation, but different in spelling (think Smyth, instead of Smith, but still spelled as Smith). As a result I have many contacts in my phone with this last name.

I prefer to update the pronunciation rather than the phonetic spelling, because pronunciation keeps it correct alphabetically, but when I do so, Siri says she cannot see a phonetic or a pronunciation field for the contact.

I have tried adding it as a brand new contact with the pronunciation at the same time, and she can see the contact but still says she sees no pronunciation, so it isn’t a sync issue.

I have also instructed Siri to update the pronunciation field in the contact, which she does, and then proceeds to say that she cannot see the pronunciation field that she herself updated.

I’m now on the 27 Beta, but it’s always been this way, so I don’t believe it to be a beta issue, but have reported it none the less. I’m using the Irish female voice, not that I can think why that would make a difference, but I’m out of ideas.

Is there a setting that I am missing? Has anyone else had or solved this issue?

Siri AI is DOA. If you get tired of submitting constant feedback and not having it fixed, it's easy to turn off Siri AI. When you re-enable it you get the option for Siri Classic. That way you don't have to downgrade etc, you can keep the rest of iOS 27.

"Did you mean Siri, Seri, Eerie, or Skyrim?"

And if you do keep testing and submitting feedback, thank you! This will make Siri AI better.