Why Law Firms Need To Optimize for Search and AI Answer Engines

Search is changing, and the time to change your approach to law firm SEO is now. That doesn’t mean abandoning search engine optimization strategies, though. Instead, law firms need to optimize for both search and AI answer engines.

What Are AI Answer Engines?

AI answer engines are systems that rely on a variety of advanced systems, like natural language processes and artificial intelligence, to provide answers to users. Some of the most well-known AI answer engines include:

• ChatGPT
• Google Gemini
• Microsoft Copilot
• Perplexity
• Meta AI

AI answer engines provide users with answers to their questions. This means that if you ask an AI chatbot, “How can I find the right medical malpractice lawyer?” you’ll be given an answer to the query instead of being referred to a lawyer’s blog or page answering that question. AI results may mention specific law firms by name, though, or might list a lawyer’s blog on the topic as a source.

These answer engines offer an alternative to traditional search, like Google Search. Traditionally, Google Search provides a list of links to relevant websites on its search engine results page (SERP). Over recent years, Google has been shifting to more of a zero-click answer engine with featured snippets, people also ask boxes, local packs, knowledge panels, and (most recently) AI overviews.

Why Keywords Still Matter in Legal SEO

Showing up on the search engine results page (SERP) is still as important as ever. While website traffic from AI sources has been growing at a steady pace, Google still maintains the vast majority of traffic share. We can see this pretty clearly with Ahrefs’ AI vs Search Traffic Analysis Tool.

Keywords play an important and pivotal role in SEO for lawyers. If you’re not ranking for the keywords that your target clients are searching, you’re missing out on impressions and clicks that can lead to cases.

It’s important to treat keywords as just one part of the equation, though. A healthy and well-rounded approach to SEO will include:

• Target keyword research
• Optimizing Google Business Profile (GBP)
• Earning high-quality backlinks
• Creating a strong internal linking structure
• Optimizing content for EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness)
• Prioritizing fast and responsive website design
• And more

But with AI on the rise, why bother optimizing for traditional search? According to Semrush research, ChatGPT users actually search more on Google than those who don’t. So while AI chatbots and tools are expanding the way we search and ask questions, it’s not replacing traditional search any time soon.

The Rise of AI and LLMs in Search

Google’s AI Overview was initially launched in May 2024 in the United States and eventually expanded to more than 200 other countries. In November 2022, ChatGPT made its AI chatbot available to the public. Its latest iteration, ChatGPT 5, was released on August 7, 2025.

These large language models are trained on extensive amounts of text and are able to produce answers to users using natural language. While these AI programs are highly advanced, it’s important to note that they can still get things wrong, and it’s important to double check and verify important facts and information.

The Risk of Ignoring AI Optimization

Ignoring AI optimization means that your law firm won’t be visible to clients where they’re searching. And that means missing out on cases.

As AI tools like Google’s AI Overview and AI Search, ChatGPT, and other AI tools continue to advance, it will be more important than ever to earn a citation. Getting your law firm’s website in front of as many eyes as possible will be essential for maintaining your relevance and online presence.

4 Ways Law Firms Can Optimize for Traditional Search and AI Answer Engines

The good news is that there is already some overlap between optimizing for traditional search and AI answer engines. Here are four steps that law firms can take now.

1. Focus on Authoritative & Trustworthy Content

You can establish yourself as an authoritative, trustworthy, and expert source that’s worth citing in AI responses by:

• Highlighting results (especially historic or big wins)
• Showcasing positive reviews
• Building strong, interconnected content silos

This means digging deeper with content, targeting much more specific and niche queries with pages housed under practice area pages, and regularly updating content to reflect the most recent and relevant data.

Google Search has already been prioritizing content that is authoritative and trustworthy. And it turns out that AI answer engines are pretty similar. Most AI answer engines and LLMs like to cite websites that provide high quality, valuable content provided by experts.

EEAT continues to be a powerful driving force for content, which is why GAVL is proud to offer comprehensive legal content from our in-house writing team.

2. Optimize for Traditional SEO

While AI answer engines and chatbots are trained on huge amounts of text, that’s not the only place they’re getting their answers. In particular, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, used a service to scrape and extract Google Search results. Search Engine Land reported that not only did OpenAI use this scraping tool in the creation of ChatGPT, but it may still be using it.

That means if you’re not showing up on the SERP, your chances of showing up in AI citations could be even lower.

3. Adapt Content for AI Engines

Adapting content for changes in search is as old as search itself. When new changes come along, so do updates to your best practices.

The good news is that adapting content for AI answer engines helps more than just the AI. It’s good for readers, too! Both human readers and AI models prefer natural language and direct answers. This means using:

• Clear content structures (especially with H2s and H3s)
• Natural language without excessive technical jargon
• Direct answers in each section as early as possible
• Trustworthy data and statistics

4. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords and Conversational Phrases

Targeting both long-tail keywords and conversational phrases in your content will increase your chances of being cited by AI answer engines.

When people search with AI, they tend to use conversational and natural phrases. Creating content around long-tail keywords and conversational phrases is an effective way to improve your chances of being cited in an AI search.

For example, content focused on the long-tail phrase “What questions should I ask a personal injury lawyer during my first consultation” has a greater chance of being cited in an AI answer engine than a piece of content that targets “questions to ask a lawyer.”

The Future of Legal SEO: Traditional Search & AI Answer Engines

Search is expanding, and the future of law firm SEO should focus on both traditional search and AI answer engines. At GAVL, optimizing for both allows us to expand visibility both on the SERP and in AI citations.

Ready to learn more about how to take your law firm’s SEO to the next level? Get in touch today to learn more about how we can level up your firm’s marketing strategy.