For years, I’ve encouraged lawyers to Google themselves regularly because you need to know what someone finds when they hear your name from a client, receive a referral, see you speak at a conference or come across one of your LinkedIn posts. Today, I’d add another step to that exercise: ask ChatGPT and other AI tools about yourself and see how they describe you.
Start with your name and ask what you’re known for, what areas you practice in and what you’ve written or spoken about. Then try broader questions that don’t include your name, such as who the lawyers are in your city who handle the type of matters you want more of or who has experience in a particular industry. Look at whether you appear, how you’re described and whether the information accurately reflects your practice. You’ll also want to see whether your strongest areas of experience come through clearly and whether the information being used is current.
This matters because people have more ways to research lawyers than they did even a few years ago. A potential client or referral source might hear your name and Google you, visit your firm bio, look at your LinkedIn profile and ask an AI tool about you before ever contacting you. They may also start without a name and use Google or AI to identify lawyers who appear to have the experience they need. That gives lawyers and law firms another reason to pay close attention to the full collection of information connected to them online.
Your Website Is Only One Part of Your Digital Presence
A strong law firm website and lawyer bio still matter, and LinkedIn has become an increasingly important part of the research process as well. Information about a lawyer can also appear across articles, rankings, professional organizations, conference websites, podcasts, media coverage, directories, awards and law school affiliations. Together, these sources contribute to the digital picture someone sees when researching that lawyer.
Consider a commercial litigator in Atlanta who wants to become better known for shareholder disputes and complex business litigation. His firm bio describes that experience, his LinkedIn profile reinforces it and he regularly writes about issues involving business disputes. He also speaks on those subjects, contributes articles to outside publications and has conference bios, rankings profiles and other credible third-party sources that associate his name with commercial litigation.
Taken together, those sources create a much clearer picture of who that lawyer is and what he does. They give potential clients and referral sources more information to evaluate him and create a broader digital footprint that search engines and AI systems can use when trying to understand his professional experience. This is why lawyers should look beyond whether their firm bio is current and consider whether the larger body of information available about them reflects the reputation they’re trying to build.
Third-Party Recognition Has Another Purpose Now
Law firms have traditionally pursued rankings and awards because they provide credibility and give firms useful credentials to include on websites, in pitches and in other marketing materials. Those rankings can also contribute to the broader body of independent information available about a lawyer online.
A Best Lawyers profile, Super Lawyers recognition or another credible industry ranking creates a third-party reference connecting a lawyer with particular areas of practice, industries and locations. Speaking at an industry conference, appearing on a podcast, being quoted in the media, contributing an article to an outside publication or holding a leadership position with a professional organization can create additional credible references.
This can be particularly valuable for lawyers at newer and smaller firms. An experienced lawyer may have spent years at a large firm or in a senior in-house role before launching a boutique, but the new firm won’t immediately have the same volume of online information as a firm that has been publishing content and generating media coverage for decades. Rankings, speaking engagements, articles, podcasts and other third-party sources can help build a digital presence that better reflects the lawyer’s actual experience and reputation.
Make It Easy to Understand What You Do
Take some time to compare how your practice is described across the different places where you appear online. Your law firm bio may describe you as a commercial litigator, while your LinkedIn profile emphasizes complex business disputes. A conference bio may focus on employment litigation, and an old professional organization profile may highlight work you haven’t handled in several years.
The language doesn’t need to be identical everywhere. There should, however, be a recognizable connection among these different descriptions so that someone researching you can understand the areas where you have experience and the work you want to be known for.
If you’re trying to build your reputation in a particular area, make sure that comes through clearly on your website, LinkedIn profile, speaker bios, rankings profiles, professional organization pages and other places where information about you appears. This is also worth considering when law firm marketing teams prepare award submissions, conference biographies and directory profiles because many of those materials eventually become part of a lawyer’s searchable digital presence.
Your Content Helps Establish What You Know
Content gives lawyers another way to create a stronger association between their names and the subjects they know well. If you want to become known for private equity transactions, cybersecurity litigation, executive compensation, healthcare M&A or commercial disputes, there should be substantive content associated with your name on those subjects.
LinkedIn can be an important part of that, along with articles, newsletters, webinars, podcasts, presentations and media commentary. The topics don’t need to come from a complicated content strategy. Some of the best ideas are already sitting in the work you do every day: questions clients regularly ask, developments affecting their businesses, issues that repeatedly arise in matters and subjects you find yourself explaining in conversations.
Over time, publishing useful content around those areas helps create a body of work that shows what you know and how you think. It also gives potential clients and referral sources more ways to encounter your ideas before they ever have a conversation with you.
There’s also value in having some of that knowledge appear on platforms beyond your own website and LinkedIn account. An article published by an industry organization, a conference presentation, a podcast appearance or a media interview creates another credible source associated with your name and expertise.
You can also build on work you’ve already created. A presentation can become an article and several LinkedIn posts. A webinar can produce shorter pieces of content. A client question can inspire a LinkedIn post that later becomes a longer article. Using your ideas across different formats allows you to build a deeper body of work around your priority subjects without constantly having to come up with something completely new.
Research Yourself the Way a Potential Client Might
One of the most useful things you can do is periodically research yourself through the same channels a potential client or referral source might use. Start with Google and review what appears when you search your name. Look at your LinkedIn profile from the perspective of someone who doesn’t already know you, and then use ChatGPT and other AI tools to ask questions about your background, practice and experience.
You can learn even more by testing broader searches that reflect the kinds of questions potential clients might ask. Depending on your practice, those could include:
- Who are commercial litigators in Atlanta who handle shareholder disputes?
- Which lawyers have experience representing private equity firms in healthcare transactions?
- Who are lawyers who advise companies on executive compensation issues?
- Which lawyers regularly write about a particular regulatory issue?
- Who should a company consider for a particular type of legal matter?
These broader searches can be particularly useful because they show what happens when the person researching a legal issue doesn’t already have a lawyer in mind. Look at which lawyers appear, how they’re described and which sources seem to be associated with them.
Keep a record of what you find and repeat the exercise periodically. You may discover outdated information, an important area of your practice that has very little online presence or content that’s creating a stronger association with one subject than you realized. You may also see competitors appearing consistently in searches where you’d like to have greater visibility. Those findings can help you decide where to focus your marketing and business development efforts.
Think Strategically About the Activities You’re Already Doing
Many of the activities lawyers already pursue for business development can contribute to their digital presence as well. A speaking engagement can introduce you to potential clients and create a conference page and speaker bio connected to your expertise. An article can demonstrate your knowledge while creating another credible source associated with your name. A ranking can provide independent recognition, while a podcast or professional leadership role can introduce you to new audiences and create additional information about your background and experience.
Pay attention to what happens with these activities online. If you speak at a conference, make sure your speaker bio is current. If you receive a meaningful ranking, update the appropriate places on your website and LinkedIn profile. If you publish an article, share it and develop additional content from it. If you take on a leadership role with an industry organization, make sure the profile they publish accurately reflects your current practice.
Thinking this way can help lawyers make better use of activities they’re already doing. A single speaking engagement, for example, can create new relationships, generate content, strengthen professional credentials and add another third-party source associated with a lawyer’s expertise.
What Law Firm Marketing and Business Development Teams Can Do
There’s a real opportunity for law firm marketing and business development teams to incorporate search and AI visibility into the work they’re already doing with lawyers and practices. Start with the lawyers and practices the firm most wants to grow and review how those lawyers appear across the firm website, LinkedIn and Google, along with how AI tools describe them.
Look at the third-party sources associated with their names, including rankings, articles, media mentions, speaking engagements, podcasts and professional organizations. Compare what you find with the work those lawyers actually do and the areas where they’re trying to build their practices.
You may find a lawyer with significant experience in an area that barely appears online. Another lawyer may have strong content but very little third-party visibility. Someone else may have old profiles and biographies that continue to emphasize work that’s no longer a priority. These are all useful findings because they can inform content plans, rankings strategies, speaking opportunities, media outreach, bio updates and other business development activities.
This kind of review can also make personal branding conversations with lawyers much more specific. Instead of talking generally about visibility, marketing teams can show lawyers what currently appears when someone researches them, what AI tools associate with their names and where there are opportunities to build a stronger and more accurate digital presence.
Repeating the exercise every six months can help you see what’s changing. You can look at whether new sources are appearing, whether priority areas of expertise are becoming more visible and whether the overall picture is becoming more closely aligned with the lawyer’s business development goals.
Pay Attention to the Story Your Digital Footprint Tells
People have always researched lawyers before hiring or referring them, but they now have more ways to do that research and more information available to them. Google, LinkedIn, law firm websites and AI tools can all play a role in how someone learns about a lawyer and decides whether that person’s experience is relevant to what they need.
That makes it worth periodically looking at your digital presence as a whole. Review your website, LinkedIn profile, content, rankings, speaking engagements, media coverage, podcasts and professional affiliations and consider what someone would understand about you from all of those sources together.
If the picture doesn’t fully reflect the reputation you’re trying to build, the review can help you decide what to work on next. You may need to update older information, create more content around a priority area, pursue relevant rankings and speaking opportunities or build more credible third-party references around your experience.
As AI becomes a bigger part of how people research lawyers and other professionals, having a clear and consistent body of information associated with your name will become increasingly valuable. Potential clients and referral sources should be able to understand what you do, what you know and where you have meaningful experience whether they begin their research on your firm website, LinkedIn, Google or an AI tool.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Search, SEO and Lawyer Visibility
How can lawyers improve their visibility in AI search results?
Lawyers can strengthen their AI search visibility by building a clear and consistent digital presence around the areas where they have meaningful experience. That includes a strong law firm bio and LinkedIn profile, along with useful articles, speaking engagements, media mentions, podcasts, rankings and professional organization profiles. Clear descriptions of your practice and a body of substantive content can give search engines and AI tools more information about who you are, what you know and the types of matters you handle.
Does LinkedIn help lawyers appear in AI search results?
LinkedIn can be an important part of a lawyer’s overall digital presence because it provides detailed information about professional experience and gives lawyers a place to regularly publish content connected to their areas of knowledge. A complete profile and a consistent body of useful posts can reinforce the subjects you want associated with your name. LinkedIn works best as part of a broader online presence that also includes your firm website and credible third-party sources.
Do Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers and other legal rankings help with AI visibility?
Legal rankings can contribute to a lawyer’s digital footprint because they create independent sources connecting the lawyer’s name with particular practice areas, locations and professional accomplishments. They can complement information appearing on a law firm website, LinkedIn profile and other sources. Rankings also provide third-party credibility that potential clients and referral sources may encounter when researching a lawyer online.
Why do third-party sources matter for a lawyer’s online visibility?
Third-party sources can provide additional information about a lawyer’s experience beyond what appears on the lawyer’s own website and social media profiles. Conference websites, professional organizations, legal directories, industry publications, podcasts and media outlets can all create credible references connecting a lawyer with particular subjects and areas of experience. Building this broader digital footprint can be especially useful for lawyers at newer or smaller firms that are still developing their online presence.
How does content help lawyers with Google and AI search visibility?
Useful, substantive content helps establish the subjects associated with a lawyer’s name. Articles, LinkedIn posts, newsletters, webinars, presentations, podcasts and media commentary can all contribute to that body of work. Lawyers should focus on topics connected to the work they actually do, including questions clients ask, developments affecting their industries and issues that regularly arise in their practices. Over time, this creates more information demonstrating the lawyer’s knowledge and experience in those areas.
Should lawyers use the same keywords everywhere online?
Lawyers should use clear and consistent language to describe their practices without making every profile or piece of content sound identical. If you handle commercial litigation, private equity transactions, healthcare M&A or another specific area, those terms should appear naturally in the places where you describe your experience. Consistent terminology can make it easier for potential clients, search engines and AI tools to understand the connection between your name and your areas of practice.
How can lawyers find out what AI tools know about them?
Start by asking ChatGPT and other AI tools questions about your name, firm, practice areas and professional background. Then try broader questions that a potential client might ask, such as “Who are commercial litigators in Atlanta?” or “Which lawyers have experience representing private equity firms in healthcare transactions?” Compare the answers with your Google results, LinkedIn profile and firm bio and look at the sources associated with the information you find.
How often should lawyers review their Google and AI search results?
A review every few months can help lawyers keep track of changes in their digital presence. Law firms can also build a more formal review into their personal branding and business development programs, particularly for lawyers and practices the firm wants to grow. Keeping a record of searches over time makes it easier to see whether priority areas of experience are becoming more visible, whether outdated information is still appearing and whether new third-party sources are being associated with the lawyer’s name.
Can AI search visibility help lawyers generate business?
AI search is becoming another way potential clients and referral sources can research lawyers and identify people with relevant experience. A strong digital presence can help a lawyer be understood and evaluated when someone researches that lawyer by name or searches more broadly for a particular type of experience. The same work that supports AI visibility can also strengthen traditional business development because it improves lawyer bios, content, rankings, speaking visibility, professional profiles and the information potential clients find during their research.
What should law firms do to improve lawyers’ visibility in Google and AI search?
Law firm marketing and business development teams can start by reviewing how priority lawyers appear across the firm website, LinkedIn, Google and AI tools. They can then compare those results with the lawyers’ actual experience and business development goals. That review can help identify opportunities for stronger bios, more focused content, relevant rankings, speaking engagements, media outreach, podcast appearances and professional organization involvement. Repeating the process periodically can show how the lawyer’s digital presence is developing and where additional work would be useful.
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