How to Prepare Your Law Firm Marketing Plan for AI Search

Google is now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to answer legal questions directly on the search results page. While AI-powered search offers many exciting possibilities, it also presents some unique challenges for law firms that rely on traditional SEO methods. Integrating an AI search strategy for your law firm is becoming increasing imperative.

While the SEO best practices we’ve been using for years still apply, there are some additional variables to consider in this AI-driven environment. Here is how the search landscape has evolved to incorporate AI and how your search marketing strategy must adapt to continue capturing the eyes and interest of your target audience. Here are some thoughts on how to prepare your law firm marketing plan for AI search.

Legal Consumers Are Using AI Search Tools

Whether they realize it or not, today’s internet users are leveraging AI search tools more than ever. The explosive popularity of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools has drastically changed how we search for and consume information online.

AI tools offer a more streamlined and arguably faster way to find and consume relevant knowledge. It’s no surprise that these tools are outperforming the search engines that we’ve become comfortable using for years.

Even when legal consumers don’t turn to ChatGPT, their trusted search engine is now driven by generative AI. Google has stated that its new AI Mode is the beginning of a new era, with Search being driven by its Gemini 2.5 model.

Google’s AI Mode employs a query fan-out technique, which involves breaking down searches into subtopics, searching on each, and then compiling an AI-generated answer. For example, Google’s AI engine might access dozens of websites to compile its results. Currently, this type of search is only available in the U.S.. Still, it may eventually replace traditional Search, meaning businesses must understand how it works and figure out how to adapt.

How AI Is Disrupting Search Marketing for Law Firms

For several decades, search engine marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) have primarily focused on getting your website to the top of Page 1 on Google for relevant searches, such as “Atlanta divorce lawyer” or “Gulf Coast car accident lawyer.” But the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence is changing how and where people search, how search engines display results, and how businesses must adapt.

If you’ve been investing in legal marketing and SEO, you’re probably wondering how AI will impact your legal business. As consumers increasingly rely on AI-based tools and AI-powered search engines, this will have a profound impact on search marketing.

One of the primary goals of achieving high rankings for particular search terms is to have searchers “click through” to your law firm’s website so they can learn more about your brand. As they do so, they will potentially contact you for a consultation and become a client.

AI search engines are generating summaries, also known as “zero-click” results. These results enable searchers to find answers to their questions directly on the search engine results page (SERP). Consequently, the searcher doesn’t have to click on any links for more information.

An AI overview is a summary that appears at the very top of the Google SERP, where the search engine uses its AI engine to combine information from multiple sources to create a short, informative explanation. AI engines can also create custom graphs, pull bulleted lists, video content, images, and much more.

Google’s Gemini leverages its large language model (LLM) capabilities to create detailed answers and summaries from multiple sources. It may also list citations in the search results, which searchers can access by clicking on a link next to the information.

According to Bain & Company, about 80% of consumers now rely on these results in at least 40% of their searches. This is resulting in a reduction in organic website traffic by an estimated 15% to 25%.

Ways Your Law Firm Can Adapt to Leverage AI Search for Success

People have been proclaiming that “SEO is dead” for years. Even though AI has dramatically altered the search landscape, it’s not time to abandon traditional SEO efforts. At the same time, your law firm will need to make some adjustments to how it structures and presents content so it has the desired impact.

You can’t prevent Google from displaying “zero-click results.” But you can elevate your SEO strategy to capitalize on the opportunities available to showcase your brand, build trust, and get some traffic to your law firm’s website. Here are some ways your firm can adapt to begin taking advantage of AI search:

1. Adjust Your Keyword Strategy

While you want to offer a wide range of content that builds trust and credibility, the keywords you focus on in this new AI-focused world matter. For example, some keywords focus more on research and others on the decision stage. Your new keyword focus should be on high-intent queries or ones that are more likely to lead to phone calls.

2. Restructure Your Content

You need as much quality written content as you did before AI came on the scene, which is to say you need quite a bit. Your written content should be in a simple-to-consume format. Things that work include numbered and bulleted lists and structured FAQs. Because Google owns YouTube, there is a strong tendency for its AI engine to post video content, which continues to be an essential tool for boosting visitor engagement.

3. Focus on E-E-A-T to Gain Citations

Google is more likely to choose your content and cite it as a resource if the search engine believes it exhibits Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, or E-E-A-T. For example, you can post case studies that showcase your knowledge and results. Include quantifiable figures whenever possible, such as the number of favorable case rulings or high settlement figures.

4. Implement Schema Markup

Technical SEO is critical for making your website AI-friendly. For example, your robots.txt file shouldn’t inadvertently block web crawlers. You also want to use schema markup on your website, which is a type of structured data that helps search engines of every type understand your content.

5. Optimize for Natural Language

When users interact with AI-powered search engines, they do so more conversationally. For example, they will ask questions using common phrases and natural language. Your content should be optimized for natural language to provide clear, concise, and relatable answers. For example, instead of writing “Our firm specializes in no-fault divorce,” you could write, “Our caring no-fault divorce lawyer can help you.”

6. Spend Time on Local SEO

Law firms generally want to appeal to a local audience. By improving your local SEO, you have a better chance of appearing in knowledge panels, map packs, and featured snippets for local searches. Some of the items you should focus on include optimizing your Google Business Profile, building local links, increasing your Name, Address, Phone number (NAP) citations, and obtaining as many online client reviews as possible.

7. Measure Your Performance

There’s little doubt that Google’s AI strategy is in its infancy and will continue to evolve. As you adjust your SEO strategy to adapt to these new changes, track your results carefully and be ready to pivot. Monitor how you are showing up in zero-click results, even if your law firm isn’t named. Consider how you can adjust your content and SEO strategy to improve your results going forward.

Looking Beyond Google for Law Firm Search Marketing

While Google still dominates the search market, its share of searches has dropped for the first time in years due to the emergence of new AI-powered alternatives. Google now faces pressure from challengers like ChatGPT, OpenAI, Perplexity, Reddit, Medium, GitHub, and TikTok. In fact, Gartner predicts that search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026.

While Google and Bing are integrating AI into their search engines, the availability of open-source AI models has lowered the barriers to entry for other platforms to develop advanced search tools. The result is likely to be more competition for Google, as well as more opportunities for law firms to reach potential clients on other platforms like social sites, ChatGPT, and via AI-powered chatbots.

In November 2024, ChatGPT experienced a 44% increase in traffic. Perplexity AI now has 22 million monthly active users and processed over 780 million search queries in May 2025 alone. While these figures are still a fraction of what the major search engines experience, the AI search revolution is only beginning.

Let Us Help You Develop An AI Search Strategy For Your Law Firm

AI-driven search and AI chatbots are revolutionizing how people seek out and obtain information. This is also reshaping the way people connect with law firms and interact with legal websites. Instead of resisting this shift, your law firm can embrace a new opportunity to refine its digital marketing strategy to focus on building trust and credibility through thought leadership.

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we stay on the cutting edge of Google’s updates so we can pivot our strategies to take advantage of each change to the search algorithm. Our team specializes in creating and optimizing law firm websites that produce results for our clients. Contact us today to schedule a complimentary initial consultation and website evaluation, and discover how we can help you leverage AI search to your advantage.