SEO, PPC & AI Search
Visibility for Law Firms
Your firm needs to show up in Google, in AI search results, and on LinkedIn. We manage all three.
SEO, PPC & AI Search
The Way Clients Find Attorneys Has Changed
Five years ago, ranking on Google was enough. If your firm showed up on page one for your practice area and location, the phone rang.
That is no longer the full picture.
Today, a potential client who needs a family lawyer in Dallas or a business attorney in Chicago is just as likely to ask ChatGPT, use Google’s AI-generated answers, or check LinkedIn as they are to scroll through traditional search results. And if your firm only shows up in one of those places, you are invisible everywhere else.
This is not a prediction. It is happening right now. AI-generated answers appear on roughly 1 in 5 Google searches, and that number is growing every quarter. For legal queries, the percentage is even higher.
The firms that are getting found are the ones showing up across all three channels: Google search, AI search, and professional networks. Not with three separate strategies, but with one system that covers them all.
That is what we build for law firms.
One System, Three Channels
We manage your firm’s visibility across the three platforms where your clients and referral sources are actively looking for attorneys. Everything we do feeds all three.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the foundation. We research the keywords your potential clients use, create content that ranks for those terms, optimize your site’s technical performance, and track your rankings over time. This is the work that builds long-term organic traffic to your website.
What makes our approach different: every piece of content we create is structured to perform in both traditional Google results and AI-generated answers. This is not an add-on. It is built into how we write and optimize from the start.
Our SEO work includes keyword research and content strategy, on-page optimization for every new and existing page, monthly technical site audits, competitive analysis against the firms in your market, and ongoing rank tracking with clear monthly reporting.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)
PPC puts your firm directly in front of people who are searching for your services right now. Unlike SEO, which builds over time, PPC delivers immediate visibility. The top three sponsored results on Google capture up to 50% of all clicks on a given search. If your firm is not there, your competitors are.
We manage Google Ads campaigns built around the keywords and practice areas that matter for your firm. Every campaign is monitored, adjusted, and optimized based on what the data shows, not guesswork. You see exactly what you are spending, what it is generating, and where we are making changes.
AI Search Visibility
This is the newest and fastest-growing channel, and it is where we see the biggest opportunity for law firms right now.
When someone asks ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Perplexity to recommend an attorney in a specific practice area and location, the AI pulls from websites, directories, professional profiles, and structured data to decide who to cite. If your firm’s content is not structured in a way that AI platforms can understand, interpret, and trust, you will not appear in those recommendations.
We optimize your firm’s content specifically for AI citation. This includes structuring your website content so AI platforms can extract clear answers, adding structured data (schema markup) that tells AI systems exactly who you are, what you practice, and where you are located, ensuring your firm’s information is consistent across every directory and platform that AI pulls from, and monitoring whether your firm is being cited in AI-generated attorney recommendations.
We track this monthly and show you exactly where your firm is appearing in AI search, where it is not, and what we are doing to close the gap.
SEO vs. PPC vs. AI Search: What Each Channel Does for Your Firm
Each channel works differently, costs differently, and delivers results on a different timeline. Here is an honest look at what each one brings to the table for a law firm.
SEO
How It Works
Optimizes your website content and structure so Google ranks your pages higher in organic search results for your practice areas and location.
When You See Results
3 to 6 months for meaningful ranking improvements. Results compound over time and persist long after the initial work.
Cost Structure
Monthly retainer for ongoing optimization. No per-click cost. Once a page ranks, it drives traffic without additional spend.
Best For
Building long-term organic visibility for your core practice areas. Firms with 3 or more practice area pages see the strongest compounding returns.
The Law Firm Reality
Takes patience but delivers the highest ROI over time. A personal injury page that ranks #2 in your city will bring in cases month after month without additional cost per lead.
If You Stop
Rankings hold for a while but gradually decline without maintenance, especially as competitors continue optimizing and Google updates its algorithm.
PPC
How It Works
Places paid ads at the top of Google search results. You pay each time someone clicks. Ads appear instantly and disappear when you stop paying.
When You See Results
Immediate. Ads can start appearing in search results the same day a campaign launches.
Cost Structure
You pay per click. Competitive legal keywords can run $50 to $200+ per click depending on practice area and market. Costs stop when budget stops.
Best For
Immediate lead generation, especially for high-intent searches like “divorce lawyer near me” or “DUI attorney [city].” Also effective for new practice areas or new markets where SEO has not yet built traction.
The Law Firm Reality
Essential for competitive practice areas where organic rankings take time to build. Family law and criminal defense firms in mid-size markets often see 5 to 15 qualified leads per month from well-managed PPC.
If You Stop
Your ads disappear from search results immediately. Traffic and leads from PPC stop the day your budget stops.
AI Search
How It Works
Structures your content so AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity can understand, trust, and cite your firm as the answer to legal questions.
When You See Results
60 to 90 days for initial improvements. AI platforms refresh their understanding of your firm as your content and structured data improve.
Cost Structure
Included in your monthly visibility retainer. No per-click or per-impression cost. Visibility builds as content and structured data improve
Best For
Getting your firm recommended by AI tools when potential clients ask for attorney suggestions. Critical for firms in competitive markets where AI recommendations are increasingly replacing traditional search.
The Law Firm Reality
New and growing fast. Firms that optimize for AI search now have a significant first-mover advantage in their market. Within 12 months, this will be standard practice. Right now, very few firms are doing it.
If You Stop
Your structured data and content remain in place, so existing AI visibility persists longer than PPC. But without ongoing optimization, competitors will overtake you as they optimize their own content.
Why Your Firm Needs All Three
SEO, PPC, and AI search visibility are not competing strategies. They reinforce each other.
The content we create for SEO also feeds AI search platforms. The authority signals your firm builds on LinkedIn and in directories make AI systems more confident in recommending you. PPC fills in the gaps while your organic and AI visibility build over time.
Firms that invest in only one channel leave the other two open for competitors. A strong Google ranking does not help you when a prospect asks ChatGPT for a recommendation. A great LinkedIn presence does not help when someone searches Google for “employment lawyer near me.”
The firms winning new business consistently are visible everywhere their clients look. Not because they are doing more, but because their visibility system is connected.
Why Choose Us
At Conroy Creative Counsel our specialization in working with law firms sets us apart. With a deep understanding of the legal industry, we know how to navigate its unique challenges and opportunities in the digital space. We are adept at crafting SEO and PPC campaigns that speak directly to your prospective clients, capturing their attention and trust in a way generalist agencies can’t do. We pride ourselves on offering a unique approach to SEO & PPC:
1.
We Only Work With Law Firms
We are not a generalist agency that happens to have a few law firm clients. We work exclusively with law firms. Every strategy, every piece of content, every recommendation is built on years of understanding how legal clients make decisions and what makes a firm stand out in a crowded market.
2.
We Build Systems, Not Campaigns
A campaign has a start and end date. A system runs continuously and compounds over time. We build visibility systems that make your firm more findable every month, not one-off projects that lose momentum the moment they end.
3.
We Measure What Matters
Every month you receive a clear report showing your Google rankings, your AI search visibility (including whether your firm appeared in ChatGPT and Gemini recommendations), and how your visibility compares to competitors in your market. You will always know where you stand and what we are doing about it.
4.
We Stay Ahead of the Shift
AI search is changing fast. What worked six months ago is already outdated. We invest significant time staying current on how AI platforms discover, evaluate, and recommend law firms, and we adjust our strategies accordingly. You do not need to keep up with the changes. That is our job.
FAQ
In this section, we answer some common questions clients have about our SEO and PPC services:
AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and Perplexity pull from your website content, directory listings, structured data, and professional profiles to decide which firms to recommend. To appear in AI search results, your content needs to be structured so AI systems can clearly understand who you are, what you practice, and where you are located. This includes adding schema markup to your website, creating answer-formatted content for common legal questions, and ensuring your firm’s information is consistent across every online directory. We handle all of this as part of our AI search visibility service.
SEO focuses on ranking your website higher in traditional Google search results. AI search optimization (sometimes called AEO or Answer Engine Optimization) focuses on getting your firm cited as the direct answer when someone asks an AI platform for an attorney recommendation. They are related but require different approaches. We optimize for both simultaneously so your firm is visible regardless of how someone searches.
Yes. We use specialized tools to monitor whether your firm is being cited in AI-generated responses across ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. This data is included in your monthly report alongside your traditional SEO rankings and competitive analysis.
The foundational work, including schema markup, content restructuring, and directory optimization, can be implemented within the first 30 to 60 days. Improvements in AI search visibility typically begin appearing within 60 to 90 days, though this varies depending on your firm’s current online presence and competitive landscape. We track progress monthly so you can see the trajectory clearly.
LinkedIn is not required for SEO or PPC, but it plays an increasingly important role in AI search visibility. AI platforms use professional authority signals, including LinkedIn profiles and activity, when evaluating who to recommend. We include LinkedIn authority building as part of our visibility system because it strengthens all three channels.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, involves optimizing a website so it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). For law firms, a strong SEO strategy can significantly increase online visibility, attracting more potential clients who are actively seeking your services.
PPC, or Pay-Per-Click, is a type of online advertising where you pay a fee each time one of your ads is clicked. For law firms, PPC can provide immediate visibility on search engine results, making you more noticeable to potential clients right when they are searching for your services.
SEO is a long-term strategy, and it typically takes several months to begin seeing the results. However, once achieved, these results can have a lasting impact on your law firm’s online visibility and client acquisition.
We measure PPC success using several metrics, including click-through rates, cost per click, conversion rates, and return on ad spend. These metrics help us understand how well your ads are performing and how they are contributing to your firm’s goals.
Both SEO and PPC generate keyword data. With SEO, you can use Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster to identify what keywords users searched for to discover your website. With PPC, you can use Google Ads or Bing Ads to identify what keywords triggered ad impressions and ad clicks. Google Ads also gives you the option of promoting your business outside of Google Search by showing ads on relevant websites in the Google Display Network (GDN). The GDN is made up of thousands of sites across the web, where you can connect with even more potential customers.
While SEO and PPC have unique benefits, they can complement each other well when used together. However, depending on your firm’s specific needs and goals, it may make sense to focus more on one. We can help you determine the best strategy during our initial consultation.
Neither SEO nor PPC is fundamentally better than the other. Each tactic has its own advantages and disadvantages and more often than not SEO and PPC work better together.
Although SEO might cost time and money —to pay agencies, and for SEO tools — it is still cheaper than PPC in the long run. When you create content that ranks and drives organic traffic to your website, you no longer have to keep spending money to make your target customers see it, unlike PPC platforms.
Our pricing varies depending on the specific needs and goals of your law firm. We offer customized solutions and will provide a detailed proposal after understanding more about your firm during our initial consultation.