SEO and AI search for law firms
SEO for law firms and solicitors, measured in enquiries
People who need a solicitor ask around, then search Google, read reviews and, more often now, ask ChatGPT. We work on the pages, profiles and reviews that decide which firms they find, within the SRA rules, and we count the enquiries each practice area gets.
Our study · 9 November 2026
Firm websites cited in 8 of 10 AI answers
We asked ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI 30 questions people ask when they choose a solicitor. Law firms' own pages were cited in 82% of the 409 answers.
Half the answers also cited a solicitor review or comparison site. See the study below.
What can SEO do for a law firm?
SEO for a law firm is work on your website, your Google Business Profile and the other sites that mention you, so people who need a solicitor for the matters you handle find your firm and get in touch. It sits next to referrals, because someone given your name may still look you up before they call.
What it can win
- Enquiries for the practice areas you want more of
- A place in the map pack for each of your offices
- Price pages people find when they search for fees
- A better chance of being named in AI answers
What it won't do
- Promise a position, a mention or a number of matters
- Outrank national claims brands for every injury search
- Replace referrals or the people who answer the phone
- Make up for a slow reply to a new enquiry
How people look for a solicitor, by practice area
The searches, the urgency and the page that should answer them change with each kind of matter. So we plan the work one practice area at a time.
| Practice area | What people type | How they tend to decide | The page that should answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conveyancing | conveyancing solicitors [town], conveyancing fees | They compare quotes, often on price and speed | Your conveyancing price page |
| Family | divorce solicitor [town], child arrangements solicitor | They read for days or weeks before they call | A page per service, with who does the work |
| Wills and probate | probate solicitor [town], how much does probate cost | Often after a death, sometimes months later | A probate price page and a plain guide |
| Employment | unfair dismissal solicitor, settlement agreement solicitor | Deadlines are short, so they call quickly | Employee and employer pages kept apart |
| Personal injury | no win no fee solicitor, [injury] claim | National brands bid hard on these searches | Pages for the claims you take, near your offices |
| Immigration | spouse visa solicitor [city], ILR application cost | They compare fixed fees and timescales | An immigration price page per route |
Monthly UK searches, from Google Ads data on 9 November 2026: "solicitors near me" 33,100, "conveyancing fees" 2,400.
Our study · 9 November 2026
What AI answers cite when people ask for a solicitor
On 9 November 2026 we asked 30 questions people ask when they choose a solicitor, such as "which solicitor in Leeds would you recommend for a divorce" and "average conveyancing fees in Bristol". ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity answered each one three times, and Google's AI Overview and AI Mode once. That gave 409 answers, and we sorted every site they linked to by type.
Share of answers that cited each type of site
- Law firm websites82%
- Solicitor review and comparison sites50%
- Regulators, government and professional bodies21%
- Legal 500, Chambers and similar guides17%
- Consumer advice, charities and media13%
- Forums and social media6%
What stood out
- For cost questions, firm websites were cited in 98% of answers.
- For "which firm" questions, two in three answers cited a review or comparison site. ReviewSolicitors came up in 20 of the 30 questions.
- ChatGPT cited Legal 500 or Chambers in 38% of its answers. Claude cited neither.
- On how to choose or check a solicitor, 55% of answers cited the SRA, the Law Society or gov.uk, against 39% for firm websites.
- Google's AI Mode showed Business Profile cards in 40% of its answers.
One snapshot, and answers change from run to run. 30 questions across 18 towns in England and Wales and 12 kinds of matter. We counted the sites linked, not the firms named, and we name no firm here.
Price pages under the SRA Transparency Rules
If you offer certain services to the public or to businesses, the SRA Transparency Rules say your website must publish price and service information for them. Those pages also answer the cost questions people type, and in our study cost answers cited firm websites almost every time.
The services the rules cover
- Residential conveyancing: sales, purchases and remortgages
- Uncontested probate, where the assets are in the UK
- Immigration applications and appeals, not asylum
- Summary-only road traffic offences at one hearing
- Unfair or wrongful dismissal claims, on either side
- Debt recovery up to £100,000, and premises licences
What each page has to show
- The total cost, or an average or a range
- How you charge: a fixed fee or hourly rates
- Who does the work, and their experience
- Likely disbursements, and the VAT on each
- What's included, what isn't, and the key stages
- When a client may pay under a no win, no fee deal
Rule 1.6 says the information must be clear, accessible and in a prominent place. A PDF linked from the footer is hard for people and search engines to find. We build each one as a proper page, linked from its practice-area page, with the price near the top and the questions people ask on the phone answered underneath.
Each office on Google Maps
For "solicitors near me" and "[town] solicitors", the map pack sits above the normal results. Each office needs its own place there, and its own page.
A Business Profile per office
The right category, hours and services, real photos, and the office page as its link. One profile for each staffed office.
Office pages that pass a test
Swap the town name for another one. If the page still reads as true, it isn't local yet. Name the team, the hours and the matters handled there.
Listings that match
Name, address and phone the same on the SRA register, Find a Solicitor, Bing Places, Apple Maps and the review sites.
Reviews: where to ask, and what the rules allow
Where clients leave reviews
Google reviews feed the map pack. The SRA's own guide for the public lists Trustpilot, ReviewSolicitors, REVIEWS.io, The Law Superstore, Legal Utopia, reallymoving and Solicitor.info. In our study, ReviewSolicitors was cited in 79 of the 409 AI answers. We set up a simple way to ask once a matter closes, on the one or two sites your clients are most likely to use.
What the rules allow
- Replies keep client affairs confidential (SRA Code 6.3). Thank the person, and don't confirm anything about their matter.
- No fake reviews and no hidden incentives. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans both, with the rules introduced in April 2025, as the CMA's guidance explains.
- In the CMA's guidance, asking your own staff to post a review counts as commissioning one.
- Where a review was incentivised, your marketing must say so (CAP Code 3.45), and negative reviews can't be hidden (3.46).
Solicitor profiles and structured data
Legal pages feed into big decisions, so it helps when a reader, Google or an AI tool can see who wrote or checked them.
A solicitor profile has
- Name, role, practice areas and the office they work in
- Their SRA ID, linked to their SRA register entry
- Accreditations, such as Law Society schemes or Resolution
- The guides they wrote or checked, with the dates
The markup we add
- LegalService markup for the firm and each office
- Person markup on each profile, linked to the register
- FAQ and breadcrumb markup where a page has them
- Prices in the markup that match the price page
Markup helps machines read the page: who you are, where you are and what you do. Google decides whether to show any rich result, so we don't promise one.
Legal 500, Chambers and the directories
Legal 500 and Chambers are research guides. Firms send in a submission, the researchers speak to referees and clients, and the guide decides the rankings. Chambers says that sending a submission does not guarantee a ranking. We can't get a firm into either guide, and we won't promise a listing. We can make sure your website backs up what a submission says about your team and your work.
Two listings are worth checking every month: your entry on the SRA register and on the Law Society's Find a Solicitor. In our study, all 14 answers to "how can I check if a solicitor is regulated in England" cited one or both of them.
The rules our drafts follow
Every page we draft is checked against these before it reaches you. This is not legal advice. Check marketing changes with your COLP.
| Rule | What it says | What it means for your website | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SRA Code 8.7 | Clients get the best possible information about how their matter will be priced | Fee pages explain how the price is worked out | SRA Code of Conduct, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| SRA Code 8.8 | Publicity must be accurate and not misleading, including about charges | No "from" prices nobody pays, and no claims you can't back up | SRA Code of Conduct, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| SRA Code 8.9 | No unsolicited approaches to members of the public, except current or former clients | Being found in search is fine, and the SRA's guidance allows online adverts. Targeted cold approaches aren't | SRA Code of Conduct and SRA guidance on unsolicited approaches, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| SRA Code 6.3 | Keep clients' affairs confidential unless they consent or the law allows | Case studies, testimonials and review replies need consent | SRA Code of Conduct, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| Transparency Rule 1 | Publish price and service information for the listed services | One clear page per service, in a prominent place | SRA Transparency Rules, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| Transparency Rule 2 | Publish your complaints procedure, with the Legal Ombudsman and SRA routes | A complaints page that's easy to find from every page | SRA Transparency Rules, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| Transparency Rule 4 | Show your SRA number and the SRA digital badge in a prominent place | The badge and number on every page, usually in the footer | SRA Transparency Rules, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| CAP Code 3.7 | Objective claims need documentary evidence | "Leading" or "best" only with evidence on file | CAP Code section 3, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| CAP Code 3.45 | Make clear where consumer reviews were incentivised | No gifts for reviews, or a clear note if there were any | CAP Code section 3, read 9 Nov 2026 |
| SRA "Misuse of AI" notice, 17 Aug 2026 | Warns about false information from AI tools and about client confidentiality | A solicitor checks every legal statement, and no client details go into AI tools | SRA warning notice, read 9 Nov 2026 |
How we count enquiries and instructions
A partner wants to know how many new matters the work brought in. So we track each step from search to instruction, by practice area.
01
Every enquiry, by source
Forms and calls tagged as search, maps, AI tools, ads or referral, for each practice area.
02
Calls counted too
Many clients phone first. Call tracking on the main pages shows which calls came from search.
03
Matters, as well as enquiries
Where your case system allows, we match enquiries to matters opened. Probate and family can take months.
Your first 90 days
Month 1
Audit, an SRA check of the site, tracking by source and practice area, and the first AI check as a baseline.
Month 2
Price pages and the main practice-area pages rebuilt, Business Profiles put right, and review requests running.
Month 3
Office pages and solicitor profiles, structured data, a second AI check, and a review of what moved.
Results from client work
We have not worked with a law firm yet. The results below come from other sectors. Each one is from the client's own Search Console or Analytics, with the dates, and client names are withheld.
UK executive search firm
- Clicks from Google more than doubled, 282 to 593 a week, June to October 2026
- ChatGPT was its top source of website enquiries in October 2026
UK property firm
- Valuation page cited in Google's AI Overview within a month of the rebuild
- Still cited for its main valuation searches when we checked on 9 November 2026
UK commercial refrigeration company
- Google clicks went from zero to 50 to 60 a month, March to October 2026
- After a site rebuild and new guides, again with no paid links
Price and contract
Monthly plans start at £740. Growth, at £1,470, covers up to two offices or main practice areas, and Multi-location, at £2,450, covers up to five. An audit is £480, credited against your first month. You pay month to month and can stop with 30 days' notice.
See the plansWhat we won't do
- Promise a position, an AI mention or a number of matters
- Buy links, reviews or places on paid lists
- Publish legal content no solicitor has checked
- Keep your accounts or pages if you leave
How much does SEO for a law firm cost?
Our plans start at £740 a month. Growth is £1,470 and Multi-location is £2,450, for firms with more offices or practice areas. The audit is £480 and comes off your first month. No VAT is charged, and you can stop with 30 days' notice.
How long does SEO take for a law firm?
Business Profile and page fixes can show within weeks. Positions usually take a few months to settle. Probate and family enquiries can turn into matters months later, so we look at those over a longer window.
Do we have to publish our prices?
For the services the SRA Transparency Rules cover, yes, whatever you decide about SEO. For other work, such as family or wills, a fee guide is your choice. In our study, firm websites were cited in 98% of AI answers to cost questions.
How many practice-area pages do we need?
One for each type of matter you want more of, with a page for each main service under it. A single "our services" page is hard to match to any one search.
Should each office have its own page?
Yes, where the office is staffed and has its own Business Profile. The page names the people there and the matters they handle. Pages for towns where you have no office risk being treated as doorway pages by Google.
Can we use client results and testimonials?
Only with the client's consent, under SRA Code 6.3, and worded so they don't mislead anyone about their own matter (Code 8.8). We draft them, and you approve them.
Will ChatGPT recommend our firm?
Nobody can promise that. We can give it clear facts to read, on your site and on the sites it cites, and check every month how often it names you.
Can you get us into Legal 500 or Chambers?
No. They're research guides that decide their own rankings from submissions and interviews with referees. We can make sure your website supports what your submission says.
Who checks the legal content you write?
A solicitor at your firm. We draft, they check every legal statement before anything goes live, and the page shows who checked it and when. In line with the SRA's notice on AI, no client details go into AI tools.
Our website was built by a legal web supplier. Can you still work on it?
Usually, yes. The audit shows what we can change ourselves and what needs your supplier, and we write those requests for you.
We're moving to a new website. Can you help?
Yes. When an executive search firm we work with relaunched its site, we mapped and redirected about 650 old addresses first. We'd do the same for you before the switch, so old links and searches still reach the right page.
See which firms AI names in your town
The free check shows what ChatGPT and Google's AI say for a search in your area. Or talk it through with Robin.