How AI is Changing Where Clients Find Lawyers

Imagine someone with a legal question, perhaps a young woman who has finally made the decision to file for divorce. On a quiet evening while her spouse is out of the house, she opens her laptop and begins her search for a lawyer.

Until recently, that search would have started with a query typed into a search engine. Now people are increasingly beginning their search with an AI tool like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity.

Even if our searcher did decide to Google, one of the first things she’d see would be an AI Overview. Like the other AI tools, this overview might provide a curated recommendation leading the searcher to contact the website directly, without even sending her to the attorney’s website. 

AI is the new referral engine. It hasn’t changed the fact that people need lawyers, but it is affecting how they find them. Gartner, Inc. predicted in 2024 that traditional search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026. 2026 is here, and that prediction is largely on track.  

Understanding what has changed, why, and how to adapt, is the key to enhancing your law firm’s visibility to AI and by extension, your target clients.

Searching for an Attorney: The Old Way vs. The New Way

Walking through the “old” way of searching for a lawyer online and comparing it to the “new” helps to illustrate just how much things have changed. 

The traditional online path to hiring a lawyer starts with an inquiry to Google or another search engine: something like “divorce lawyer near me.” Within a second, the search engine results page (SERP) appears, yielding a list of SEO-driven links. At this point in the search, position on the SERP takes precedence over substance, and the user is scanning results rather than making a decision.

The next step is to check out a few law firm websites, usually those ranked high in search engine results. Our searcher is making comparisons at this point, not contact. They may leave the law firm websites to gather validation from a third party like Martindale-Hubbell, Avvo, or Google reviews. Finally, the searcher may return to one or more law firm websites, fill out a contact form, or call the office directly. 

With this path, exploration is user-driven, with lots of comparison. Factors like SEO, website design, and reviews all play a role. 

Now contrast the journey to a law firm that starts with AI. The query itself is different, more natural and specific, like “Who is the best divorce attorney near me for high-conflict cases?” It’s more than just a search; intent and context are factored in. 

The AI tool generates a short answer with a shortlist of recommendations, including the rationale behind them, such as an attorney’s experience or specialization. Unlike the search engine, the AI isn’t just providing options; it’s screening and recommending them. The user doesn’t have to explore multiple law firm websites and third-party sites for information and validation. They can “borrow trust” from the AI’s framing, contacting fewer firms and making a decision faster.

In a nutshell: With traditional search, your law firm’s credibility gets checked after a user discovers your website. With AI, if the tool doesn’t find you credible, you may not get discovered at all.

Why Does AI Recommend Differently From Google?

There are many reasons AI and search engines make different recommendations. Here are some of the most important for lawyers to understand.

They have different incentives and goals.

Search engines are optimized to return the best group of links for a user to evaluate. Google is incentivized by clicks and time spent on search, and success means the user clicked on something (or multiple things). 

By contrast, AI is optimized to return the best answer. Instead of assuming the user will weigh the options, AI assumes responsibility for reducing the effort required to make a decision. Success doesn’t mean more clicks; it means the user got what they needed and doesn’t have to keep searching.

They rank different things.

Google ranks individual law firm web pages, with a focus on things like keywords, backlinks, and site structure. It also pays attention to how “fresh” a site’s content is. But as Best Lawyers CEO Phil Greer points out, peer recognition and structured data determine who AI surfaces in legal search.

AI isn’t just looking at the page and how well it’s optimized for search engines. Instead, it’s evaluating the firm itself across many sources. Some of those, like the law firm website and its content, are entirely within the lawyer’s control. 

But AI also looks at professional directories like Avvo and Martindale-Hubbell to confirm the firm’s credibility and review platforms like Google and Yelp for consistent signals about the firm’s reputation. And it doesn’t stop there; AI looks at legal and editorial content, media mentions, and other sources to see if there’s a broad general consensus about what the firm is and does, and whether what the firm says about itself aligns with what others say about it. AI tends to favor firms with a consistent online presence and strong, repeated signals about what they do and how they excel.

They define “help” differently.

Google and other search engines help users by providing them with many options and a somewhat agnostic approach. Think of Google as a hotel desk clerk. When a guest asks what there is to do in town, Google waves them in the direction of the rack holding dozens of brochures for nearby attractions.

AI offers fewer, but more heavily filtered, options. Think of AI as a hotel concierge. When a guest asks for things to do, the concierge asks questions about the guest’s interests, needs, limitations. Then the concierge makes a recommendation based on that input and the information they have gleaned from experience, previous guests’ feedback, and other sources. 

That approach prevents overwhelm and increases confidence, along with the likelihood that the inquirer will actually follow through on one of the recommendations.

The New Referral Agents in (Virtual) Town

There are a number of AI tools that can act in that “concierge” capacity, but like real human concierges, they have their differences. ChatGPT (OpenAI), arguably the most familiar to most people, has a conversational style that helps people clarify their situations on the way to finding a lawyer. 

Claude (Anthropic) has a similar style, but tends to be even more deliberate and structured. Gemini is Google’s answer to AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT, with the added benefit of being able to pull from Google’s ecosystem of resources including maps, reviews, and local data. Perplexity not only provides answers, but cites sources. 

There are also legal-specific AI tools like CoCounsel and Harvey, designed to help legal professionals work more efficiently. While they aren’t used to help people find an attorney, AI tools designed for legal work are further evidence that AI is a growing presence in the legal space, not a passing fad. 

Attorneys who want to capitalize on how AI is changing the profession are learning to adapt. Everlaw recently reported that 64% of in-house legal teams expect to rely less on outside counsel due to efficiency enabled by AI. And Jones Walker’s AI forecast for 2026 included the prediction that 40% of enterprise apps will feature task-specific AI agents.

What Makes Attorneys Visible to AI?

If your prospective clients are using AI to look for an attorney, you need to make sure AI can direct them to you. That might seem daunting for lawyers who have spent years focusing on SEO, but it’s actually good news. 

Remember that AI values credibility, legitimacy, and consistency, not technical tricks to game ever-evolving search engine algorithms. Highlighting your strengths is within your control, so let’s talk about some of the things that drive AI recommendations. (You’re probably already doing some of them!)

Professional, Updated Website Design and Content

Your law firm website is still important to AI search, but its role has shifted. AI scrapes websites to understand law firms’ practice areas, location and service area, and depth of experience. Structured attorney profiles, case highlights, and clear practice descriptions help AI decide that a firm is not only legitimate, but highly qualified. 

Content that is regularly refreshed, such as blog posts and FAQs, signal to AI that the site is active and relevant, which boosts the site’s credibility.

Independently Verified Peer Recognition

Recognition in Super Lawyers or Best Lawyers and AV- or AV Preeminent ratings from Martindale-Hubbell register with AI as third-party endorsements, which carry more weight than self-promotion. These listings are seen by AI as signals that others in the profession are validating and vouching for the attorney’s skill and ethics. 

Complete, Consistent Profiles Across Online Directories

State bar listings, legal directories like Avvo and Justia, and other online directories contain information about your firm, including name, address, and phone number (NAP) as well as information about your practice areas. When that information is inconsistent (perhaps due to a move or phone number change that wasn’t updated across all directories), AI interprets the inconsistency as a lack of credibility. Consistent, accurate information increases AI’s confidence that yours is a legitimate, established firm. 

Published Thought Leadership

Authority matters to AI, and demonstrating thought leadership through published articles, speaking engagements, white papers, and relevant quotes in the press signal of authority. This is another reason maintaining a blog with current posts on legal topics and new developments in the law has value; it helps AI better understand your practice areas, and perceive you as someone who knows them well. 

Client Reviews on Platforms Indexed by AI

Like independently verified peer recognition, client reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp signal to AI that third parties find your law firm trustworthy and reliable. In particular, AI looks for patterns: multiple satisfied clients describing an attorney as “responsive” or “professional” strengthen the signal of legitimacy, as does a high volume of consistently positive reviews.

Because AI culls information from a wide range of sources, there’s a cumulative effect to these legitimacy signals; the more layers of verification, the more likely AI is to surface your firm as a good option for users.

Remember: credibility is something that can be not just measured, but built. With AI, substance matters more than fluff; smaller firms can compete with larger ones, so long as they maintain a consistent, credible presence. And because AI visibility is linked to trust, leads who come to your firm through AI may be more likely to convert.

The Risks of AI Invisibility

While the good news is that smaller law firms can capitalize on their strengths to build AI visibility, the flip side is that firms that ignore the shift in how people search may become “invisible” to AI. That can translate into a loss of business without any obvious reason, leaving firms scrambling to identify and fix the sudden shortfall. 

Google provides tools, like Google Analytics and Search Console, to help attorneys track a drop in business. You can see if your organic rankings dropped, say from #2 to #10. That usually leads to a drop in impressions (people seeing you) and clicks (people visiting your site), and ultimately to fewer conversions.

With AI invisibility, users may never know you exist; your law firm is simply not presented as an option. You can’t check your rankings or track lost impressions or clicks; you just see fewer inquiries. In other words, with Google, your firm’s presence may decline; with AI, it may disappear. With fewer signals and less feedback, it’s hard to course-correct. And by the time you notice the drop in traffic, it may be even harder to gain visibility. 

What Law Firms Should Do Now 

With the shift in how people find lawyers online, it’s more important than ever for smaller law firms to be proactive in managing their visibility. Fortunately, there are concrete steps you can take to increase your AI visibility.

Claim and Fully Complete All Major Legal Directory Profiles

AI looks at major legal directories like Avvo, Martindale-Hubbell, and Justia for clues to your firm’s credibility. These sites in particular are easy for AI to read because they are standardized and structured. To avoid conflicting signals that tank AI’s confidence in your firm, ensure that all profiles tell a complete, consistent story about who you are and what you do. 

Pursue Peer Recognition Rankings

AI can’t truly know who the best lawyers are, so it relies on credibility signals from those in a better position to know: other lawyers. Peer recognition validation from organizations like Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers tell AI that multiple reliable sources consider you among the best, and that AI can confidently recommend you. Those badges on law firm websites aren’t just for decoration!

Publish Substantive Content That Positions You as a Thought Leader

Consistent publication of articles on specific legal issues, speaking engagements, and media quotes position you as a thought leader in your areas of practice. AI looks for publications that align with your stated practice areas and that have real depth (not just a generic retread of information that’s already out there).

Audit Public-Facing Bios for Completeness and Clarity

Attorney profiles are among the pages human readers most often visit on law firm websites. They are also one of the most important (and overlooked) AI inputs. To strengthen yours, clearly state your practice areas and include specific experience and credentials. “California Certified Family Law Specialist with 25 years of experience in high-conflict divorce” is much stronger than “experienced, dedicated, family law attorney.”

Remember that consistency is also important to AI, so audit information about you online and ensure that information in other biographical profiles matches what you have on your law firm website. The goal is to create a clean, unified digital identity that AI can confidently recognize and recommend.

A Note About Ethics and Privacy

As important as increasing AI visibility is for your law firm’s marketing, it’s critical to adhere to ethics rules about marketing and client privacy while doing so. Unintentional violations can happen in one of the following ways: 

• Describing case outcomes too specifically, so that details make a client identifiable
• Exaggerating claims or credentials in a way that could mislead the public
• Feeding sensitive data or real client scenarios into an AI tool
• Failing to be transparent with clients about whether and how AI is used in their case or how their data is handled

Minimize the risk of ethics violations by aggressively anonymizing case information online, or avoid real case scenarios altogether. When using AI, never input confidential or sensitive information into a system that trains on your data. And consider centralizing oversight of your marketing content and attorney profiles so unapproved updates don’t fly under the radar.

Legal Search is Evolving. Your Firm Can Evolve with It.

The legal profession is by nature conservative, but lawyers have successfully navigated change in the past. They can do the same with the shifts in legal search that AI has brought about. As with past changes, the attorneys and firms who understand the nature of the change and adapt their behavior accordingly will not just survive, but continue to thrive.

To learn more about how AI is changing legal marketing, or to get the help you need to increase and maintain your firm’s visibility, contact The Modern Firm to connect with our marketing professionals.