Why Your Law Firm Isn't Showing Up in ChatGPT — And What To Do About It
You can't buy your way into AI answers. You have to earn it—with the right content, structure, and messaging.
If you're a lawyer or law firm trying to grow your practice, you've probably noticed something: your usual Google traffic is down. You may have paid for SEO, run ads, or even written blog posts—but leads still feel unpredictable.
That’s because the way people search is changing.
They’re no longer Googling "personal injury lawyer in Chicago." They’re asking:
“Who’s the best personal injury lawyer for Uber accident claims in Chicago?”
And they’re asking it inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google’s AI Overviews.
The numbers tell the story:
•90% of Google searches now include AI overviews
•73% of professionals use AI for research
•1B+ daily ChatGPT queries
But here’s the catch: there’s no ad button to buy your way to the top. You can’t outbid someone to get listed. Right now, AI search is earned, not paid.
So what do you do?
AI Engines Don’t Rank. They Summarize.
Most law firm websites are written for Google, not for AI. They rely on keyword stuffing, vague service blurbs, and generic About pages.
But AI engines like ChatGPT or Perplexity don’t care about that. They don’t "crawl" the web like Google. They digest, reason, summarize, and cite.
If your content doesn’t:
clearly explain who you help
answer real user questions
include structured, factual, short-form content
...then the LLM may skip you entirely.
How to Make Your Firm Show Up
Here’s what AI engines need in order to cite or recommend your law firm:
1. Readable, Digestible Content
Use headers, bullets, and plain language. Talk like you're answering a client, not impressing a judge.
2. GEO-Focused Copy (Generative Engine Optimization)
This means:
Rewrite your homepage and practice areas in a way an AI can summarize
Include city + service in key phrases ("Las Vegas construction defect lawyer")
Add FAQs that answer questions people actually ask
3. Make Multimedia Text-Crawlable
AI still struggles to "see" images or videos directly. So:
Add transcripts or summaries of any video content
Use ALT tags that describe images in detail ("Client signing settlement agreement at Henderson office")
Add a simple
.txtversion of your main pages to your site root to help crawlability
4. Write for the Searcher, Not for the Search Engine
Example: Instead of:
"At Smith Law LLP, we take pride in delivering aggressive representation across multiple practice areas."
Try:
"If you were injured in a Lyft accident in downtown LA, our firm helps clients recover lost wages and medical expenses."
You Can’t Hack Your Way to Visibility (Yet)
There’s no "AdWords" for ChatGPT. No "sponsored section" in Perplexity.
For now, you have to earn it. And most firms haven't adapted.
This creates a massive opportunity for early adopters.
The Big Shift
The legal marketing game is moving from:
Ranking-based visibility → Answer-based visibility
That means:
❌ Less about backlinks → ✅ More about trustworthy, useful, specific content
❌ Less SEO tricks → ✅ More: "Can this answer someone's legal question clearly?"
❌ Less keyword stuffing → ✅ More natural, conversational content
What To Do Next
If you're serious about future-proofing your firm, start here:
Quick Reality Check:
Ask ChatGPT: "Who is a good [your service] lawyer in [your city]?"
If you're not in the answer, it's time for GEO optimization.
We'll test your firm across ChatGPT, Claude & Perplexity using the exact questions your potential clients ask. See instantly where you stand and what's missing.
Ready for the complete analysis?
Our $997 Professional AI Visibility Audit includes:
Comprehensive testing across all major AI platforms
Detailed analysis of what's working vs. what's missing
Specific GEO implementation roadmap
Competitive analysis of who IS showing up in your market
30-minute strategy call to review findings
Complete report delivered in 5-7 business days
What you'll discover:
•Exactly why you're invisible to AI (and how to fix it)
•Which competitors are dominating AI recommendations
•Step-by-step GEO optimization plan
•Content templates that AI engines trust and cite
Bottom Line
You can't buy your way into AI answers. You have to earn it—with the right content, structure, and messaging.
This is the future of legal marketing. And the earlier you adapt, the better your odds of showing up when your next client asks AI for help.
The firms that optimize for AI now will dominate their markets for years to come. The ones that wait will watch their competitors get recommended instead.
About the author: Leah Kabli is a UCLA Law graduate and practicing attorney who founded RottenPages after discovering that traditional SEO was failing law firms in the AI era. She specializes in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for legal professionals.
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