Law firms
AI search for law firms
When someone asks AI who to call after a crash, the answer names two or three firms. We make sure yours is one of them, keep every source the engines read telling the same story, and show you the cases it produces.
What happens when a client asks AI for a lawyer?
In the days after a crash, people ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews the questions they used to type into Google: who to call, whether it is worth hiring a lawyer, how no-fault works, how much a case is worth. We track 111 of those questions daily for one New York firm. Fifty-one of them ask the engine to find or recommend a lawyer, and most of those carry a city. The engine answers with two or three firms by name. A firm that is not in that answer is not being considered.
The engines do not pick those firms the way Google ranks pages. Each one reads a small set of sources it trusts for the question and names the firms those sources agree on. ChatGPT reads New York’s court and government pages and the legal directories. Gemini reads law firm websites. Google AI Overviews read YouTube, Facebook, Reddit and Instagram. We published the full breakdown from 9,049 answers.
What did SourceNode do for William Mattar Law Offices?
William Mattar Law Offices is a New York motor vehicle accident firm with offices across the state. When we started, the firm was named in 2.4% of relevant AI answers and held 4.6% share of voice against 13 competing firms, fourth in the category. Three months later it was named in 23.3% of answers with 47.2% share of voice, first of fourteen. In the most recent 30 days it holds 48.4% share of voice, and on ChatGPT and Gemini it is named ahead of every other firm in more than half of all firm mentions.
The work was ordinary and specific. Month one: the firm’s own practice pages were rewritten so each answered one customer question with the same set of facts, and the facts that differed between the site, the listings and the reviews were made to agree. Month two: thirty-one pages were published against the questions where no firm was yet named, and the directories and review sites the engines cite were claimed and corrected. Month three: holding the position, as competitors published and the engines re-read. The full method and the limits are on our results page.
Which sources decide whether a firm gets named?
For New York car accident questions, ChatGPT retrieved nycourts.gov in 28% of its answers and ny.gov in 27%, then named firms from Avvo, Justia, Expertise, lawyers.com and Super Lawyers. Gemini went to firm websites first and cited them heavily. Google AI Overviews retrieved YouTube in 23% of answers, more than any other source, followed by competitor firm sites and social profiles. The same firm held 55% share of voice on ChatGPT, 57% on Gemini and 21% on AI Overviews, because the sources it had fixed were the ones two of the three engines read.
That is the shape of the work for any firm: answer the process questions on your own site so the engines retrieve you next to the official sources, make every directory profile state the same facts as the site, and build the video and social layer that AI Overviews depend on. Then measure by engine, because a blended number hides where you are losing.
How does an engagement run for a law firm?
Weeks one to four: we write the questions your clients ask, in their words and for your cities, run them daily on every major engine, and report which firms are named, where you stand, and which pages each engine used. You get a map of what is accurate, wrong and missing about your firm across every source.
From month one: we correct your own pages, structured data and listings so every source agrees, publish the pages that answer the questions where no firm is named yet, and claim or correct the directories, review sites and publications the engines cite. Highest impact first. Every page carries attorney approval before it goes live.
Ongoing: answers are re-checked daily, results are reported weekly by engine and by stage of the client’s journey, and visits from AI answers are matched to intake and to retained matters. SourceNode is a monthly retainer managed by our team. What determines the fee, and what is included, is on our pricing page.
Does this replace our marketing or SEO agency?
No. The work sits on top of what you already run. We change the sources the engines read, not your rankings or your ads, and we hand the page changes to whoever maintains your site. Most of our law firm clients keep their existing agency. Where we overlap is directory hygiene, and we coordinate that rather than duplicate it.
Is this compliant with bar advertising rules?
Everything we publish about a firm is a verifiable fact: practice areas, locations, fee model, consultation terms, case results the firm has already published. We do not write superlatives we cannot source, we do not create testimonials, and every page has attorney approval before publication. We follow the advertising rules of the firm’s state, and we are glad to work with the firm’s ethics counsel on the review workflow.
What do we need from the firm?
One kickoff hour with the partner who owns intake and marketing. Access to the website, Google Business Profile and directory logins, or an introduction to whoever holds them. The results, credentials and facts the firm is willing to publish. A named approver for pages. That is enough to start; the first report arrives within the first month.
Common questions
How fast does it move? First movement usually shows on our tracking within weeks. In our average engagement, share of voice moves from single digits to first place in the category within three months, and we show you the baseline so you can judge it yourself.
Which engines do you cover? ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and Perplexity. For law firms the three that matter most today are ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews.
What does it cost? SourceNode is a monthly retainer scoped to the firm’s markets and practice areas. The pricing page explains what determines the number and what is included.
Can you guarantee that ChatGPT recommends us? No, and anyone who does is selling something else. We guarantee the measurement, the work on the sources, and a published account of what moved.