Short answer: More potential clients now ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google’s AI who to hire for a legal problem. To be the firm they name, you need clear practice-area pages, detailed attorney bios, a complete Google Business Profile, strong reviews, consistent directory profiles and credible mentions elsewhere, all written within attorney advertising rules and checked regularly for accuracy.
“Who’s the best personal injury lawyer in Phoenix?” “Do I need a lawyer for a DUI in Texas?” “What does a divorce attorney cost in Chicago?” These questions used to start on Google. More and more of them now start in an AI assistant, which answers with an explanation and, often, two or three firm names.
For law firms, that changes the competition. There is no ten-result page to scroll. Either your firm is in the answer, or a competitor is.
How potential clients use AI to find lawyers
The shift is moving fast. In iLawyerMarketing’s 2026 survey of 1,110 US adults:
- 41.9% said they would use ChatGPT to research which lawyer to hire, up from 28.1% in 2025.
- Google fell from 86.7% to 71.9%. It is still the top source, but less dominant.
- 50.1% said they would use at least one AI answer engine, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity or Grok.
These are stated intentions from a single survey, not measured behavior, but the direction matches what we see in AI visibility tracking: legal questions are exactly the kind people bring to AI assistants, because they want an explanation first and a recommendation second.
How AI chooses which law firms to name
When someone asks for a lawyer, an AI assistant usually runs several searches combining the practice area, the location and the specific problem, then writes an answer from what it finds. The sources that shape those answers typically include:
- Firm websites: practice-area pages, location pages, attorney bios and FAQs.
- Google Business Profiles for each office.
- Reviews on Google and legal platforms.
- Legal directories such as Avvo, Justia, Martindale-Hubbell, FindLaw and Super Lawyers.
- State bar and court records that confirm admission and standing.
- News coverage, legal publications and community discussions, including Reddit threads where people share experiences.
Two patterns stand out for law firms:
- Specificity wins. “Car accident lawyer in Mesa” and “wrongful termination attorney for tech employees in San Jose” are answered by firms whose pages address that exact situation and place, not by generic “we handle all types of cases” pages.
- Consistency builds confidence. If your website, Google profile, Avvo profile and state bar listing all agree on who your attorneys are, where you practice and what you handle, an AI can state it with confidence.
Ethics first: advertising rules still apply
Content you publish to influence AI answers is still a communication about your legal services. The ABA’s Model Rule 7.1 says a lawyer “shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services”, and its comments note that even a truthful statement can be misleading if it leads people to unjustified conclusions.
In practice, for GEO content:
- Avoid superlatives you can’t substantiate, such as “the best” or “#1”, unless your state allows them with support.
- Be careful with specialist language and certifications. Many states have specific rules on claiming to “specialize” or be “certified”.
- Add appropriate context to case results and testimonials, following your state’s disclaimer requirements.
- Keep legal information accurate and current, and note the jurisdiction it applies to.
State rules vary, so have someone familiar with your state’s rules review your marketing content. Accurate, verifiable content is also what AI engines are most likely to trust and repeat.
A GEO playbook for law firms
1. Build a page for each practice area, and each location you serve
Each main practice area deserves its own page that answers the questions clients actually ask: what the process looks like, typical timelines, what it costs or how fees work, what to do first, and the relevant law in your jurisdiction. Add location pages only for places you genuinely serve, with local details such as courts, local procedures and office information.
Lead each page with a direct, two or three sentence answer, then go deeper. That is the passage an AI is most likely to quote.
2. Make attorney bios detailed and verifiable
AI assistants recommend people as well as firms. Each attorney page should include:
- Bar admissions and years admitted.
- Practice focus, in plain language.
- Education, notable experience and matters you can discuss publicly.
- Publications, speaking and professional associations.
- A photo and the offices where they work.
Mark the bios up with structured data, and keep them consistent with the attorney’s state bar listing and directory profiles.
3. Answer real client questions
Turn your intake calls into content. The questions people ask before hiring a lawyer (“Will this go to court?”, “How long will it take?”, “What does it cost?”) are the same questions they ask AI. Answer them on your site, clearly and accurately, with an attorney review date. We explain why this works in how to get cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity.
4. Complete a Google Business Profile for every office
Choose the most specific category (for example “Personal injury attorney” rather than “Lawyer”), list your practice areas as services, and keep hours, phone numbers and photos current. Our Google Business Profile checklist for AI search covers each field.
5. Earn reviews, within the rules
Reviews are where AI finds language about what it is like to work with you. Ask every client, not just the happy ones, without offering anything in return, as required by Google’s review policy, and check your state’s rules on testimonials. Respond to reviews professionally, without disclosing anything confidential.
6. Claim and complete directory profiles
Avvo, Justia, Martindale-Hubbell, FindLaw, Super Lawyers and your state bar’s lawyer directory are frequently read by AI assistants. Make sure each profile is complete, accurate and identical to your website in names, practice areas, offices and contact details.
7. Earn credible mentions
Expert commentary in local news, articles in bar journals, speaking at CLE events, community involvement and genuine participation in public discussions all create the third-party mentions that AI assistants use to judge prominence.
8. Check what AI says about your firm
Ask the questions your clients ask, for each practice area and city, in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode, several times each. Record:
- Whether your firm and attorneys are named.
- Who is named instead.
- Whether the details are correct: practice areas, offices, attorneys, fees.
Inaccurate AI descriptions are worth fixing at the source: your website, your profiles and the directories that feed the answer. Our guide on how to measure GEO explains how to track this properly.
Mistakes we see law firms make
- Generic practice pages that list every service in one paragraph.
- Location pages with only the city name changed.
- Outdated attorney bios listing people who have left the firm.
- Inconsistent directory profiles with old addresses and phone numbers.
- Unsupported claims such as “best lawyer in the state”.
- Never checking AI answers, and missing that an assistant describes the firm inaccurately.
The bottom line
AI assistants are becoming one of the first places people go when they need a lawyer. The firms they recommend are the ones that are specific, consistent, well reviewed and credible across the web, the same qualities that build trust with clients directly. Done within the rules, GEO for law firms is mostly the work of making your firm easy to understand and easy to verify.
If you would like to know how ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity describe your firm today, and which competitors they name instead, our generative engine optimization services start with exactly that audit. For single-office and local practices, see Local GEO.