For most of the last 20 years, people found a lawyer in one of two ways: a friend's recommendation or a Google search. There is now a third, and it sits somewhere between the two.
People are asking AI assistants who to call. A 2026 study of 1,110 US consumers by legal marketing firm iLawyer Marketing found the share using ChatGPT to research lawyers rose from 28.1% to 41.9% in a single year, while Google use fell from 86.7% to 71.9%. In the UK, research by JUSTICE found around one in six people with a legal problem had used an AI chatbot for help, rising to 26% of 18 to 24 year olds. In Australia, half of people now use AI regularly, according to the University of Melbourne and KPMG.
An AI answer works like a referral. It names a handful of firms, explains why, and the person often calls the first one. If your firm is not in that answer, you are not on the list.
The encouraging part for small and mid-sized practices is that AI tools do not simply favour the biggest marketing budget. They favour the clearest, most specific and most consistently verified answer. A boutique firm that explains exactly how something works in its state can beat a national firm with a generic practice page.
SEO, AEO and GEO in one minute
SEO helps your website rank in Google. AEO (answer engine optimisation) structures your pages so AI tools can quote a clear answer from them. GEO (generative engine optimisation) builds the outside proof, such as directory listings, reviews and media mentions, that gives AI the confidence to recommend you by name. Law firms need all three, and most of the work can be done in-house.
1. Write for the question, not the practice area
A page titled "Family Law" tells an AI very little. A page that answers "How is property divided after separation in Queensland?" in its first two sentences gives it something to quote. Build a page for each question clients ask in their first consultation. Always name the state or territory. Law differs across jurisdictions, and AI tools are far more likely to cite an answer that is clearly about the right one.
2. Make your lawyers visible and verifiable
Legal content is what Google calls a "your money or your life" topic, so it is held to a higher standard of trust. Give every lawyer a proper profile: admission year, jurisdictions, areas of practice, publications and memberships. Put a named author on every article. Use the same details everywhere, from your website to LinkedIn to your law society listing. Only describe someone as an accredited specialist if they hold that accreditation, because the conduct rules restrict that wording.
3. Fix the listings AI checks first
AI assistants lean on third-party sources to confirm a firm exists and does what it says. Check your entry in your state law society's find-a-lawyer directory and any legal rankings you qualify for. Complete your Google Business Profile with precise categories, every service and your service areas. BrightLocal's research shows 45% of consumers now use AI tools to find local business recommendations, and many of those answers draw on this data.
4. Handle reviews with care
Reviews matter to AI recommendations, but law firms carry extra obligations. Ask every satisfied client in the same consistent way, never offer incentives for positive reviews, and never post or suppress reviews selectively, which can breach the Australian Consumer Law. When you reply, protect confidentiality: thank the reviewer without confirming the matter or any detail of it.
5. Earn mentions when the law changes
Every legislative change is an opening. When a reform lands, publish a plain-English explainer that week and offer comment to local media and industry podcasts. AI tools give real weight to independent sources. Seer Interactive found brands cited in Google's AI Overviews earned 35% more organic clicks than brands that were not.
6. Let the machines in
Ask your web developer to add structured data (schema) that labels your firm as a legal service, along with your lawyers and FAQs. Check that your robots.txt file does not block AI crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot, which ChatGPT uses for search. Set up Bing Webmaster Tools alongside Google Search Console, because Bing powers Microsoft Copilot and feeds other AI search tools.
7. Ask the AI what it thinks of you
Once a month, ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity the questions your clients ask, including your suburb or city. Note who gets named, which sources are cited and whether your firm appears. It takes 20 minutes and tells you exactly where to focus next.
Stay inside the rules
Visibility is never worth a conduct complaint. Rule 36 of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules prohibits advertising that is false, misleading or offensive, and the Australian Consumer Law applies to legal marketing too. Some areas, such as personal injury, carry extra state-based restrictions on what firms can publish, so check your jurisdiction's rules before writing about them. Keep content educational, avoid guarantees about outcomes, and make clear that general information is not legal advice.
The firms that get this right will find compliance helps. Accurate, accountable and specific content is exactly what AI tools are designed to trust.
Referrals are changing, not disappearing
People still want a lawyer they can trust. What has changed is who makes the first introduction. Increasingly it is an AI assistant summarising what the internet says about you. Make sure it has something clear, current and credible to say.