What we actually do
Practice-area pages
A dedicated, optimized page for each case type you want (not one generic "services" page), because Google ranks specific pages for specific searches.
Google Business Profile
Profile optimization and a review-generation system, since the map pack sits above the organic results on legal searches.
Local content
Pages for the cities and courts you serve, so you show up for the geographies your clients actually search in.
Technical SEO
Fast, crawlable, well-structured pages so Google can index and trust the site, the foundation everything else sits on.
Google Ads pairing
Paid search runs alongside SEO so you get cases now while the organic channel compounds, then taper ads as rankings climb.
Do it yourself, buy leads, or build SEO
DIY / cheap SEO
- Usually automated link spam
- Can trigger a Google penalty
- No practice-area strategy
- You do the writing
Lead resellers
- Same lead sold to several firms
- Price rises every year
- You never own the channel
- Stops the day you stop paying
SEO with Fivenson
- An asset you own, not rent
- Practice-area + local strategy
- Honest timeline, real reporting
- Brings in more cases over time
How people find a law firm now (search has changed)
Because getting discovered today is about more than rankings. It's about becoming the business that people and AI systems understand, trust, and recommend.
Search is not ten blue links anymore. A fast-growing share of your future customers never type "law firm near me" into Google at all. They open ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, Gemini, or Perplexity and ask a real question the way they would ask a friend: "who is a good law firm near me, and what are their reviews like?" The AI reads the web, picks a short list of law firms, and hands back an answer. If your business is not on that short list, you are invisible to that customer.
Under the hood, these assistants use something called query fan-out. When someone asks for "a car-accident lawyer near me who actually wins cases", the model quietly runs dozens of smaller searches for you, best law firm, reviews, pricing, licensing, hours, service area, emergency availability, and then assembles one answer from the sources it trusts most. Ranking for a single keyword is no longer enough. You have to be the consistent, well-structured answer across all of those sub-questions, or you get summarized out of the conversation.
That is exactly what we build for. We do not just chase one keyword; we make your business the source the AI wants to quote and the one Google's map pack wants to show, because they lean on the same signals.
What we do to get you cited by AI and ranked in local search:
- Answer-first content. We write the pages that directly answer the real questions people (and AI models) ask about law firms, so you are the clean, quotable source, not a brochure the model has to guess about.
- Structured data the machines read. FAQ, Service, and LocalBusiness schema, so ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Grok, and Google can extract your services, area, hours, and pricing without ambiguity.
- A strong, consistent entity. Matching name, phone, and address everywhere, real citations across the directories the LLMs cross-check, and the connections that tell every model "this is a real, trusted law firm."
- Reviews, on purpose. Review volume and recency are the single biggest factor in both the Google map pack and whether an AI names you, so we build a system that keeps real reviews coming in.
- Presence where the models look. Being mentioned and linked on the pages LLMs already trust, so you show up in the answer even when the conversation never touches your website.
- We stay current. Not just "what rank are we," but "are we in the AI answer, the map pack, and the classic results," across the questions that actually bring you customers.
This is not a someday problem. The shift already happened, and it is accelerating. The law firms that adapt now own the answer their customers get; the ones that wait keep paying for clicks while an AI recommends someone else.
Why law firm SEO is different
Legal searches are high-intent and local. Someone typing "car accident lawyer" or "estate planning attorney" is close to hiring, and Google leans heavily on your Google Business Profile, reviews, and practice-area pages to decide who to show. Ethics rules also limit what a firm can claim, so the content has to be careful as well as competitive. And the opposite of chasing new cases matters too: a strong site also defends the searches for your own firm name, where competitors sometimes advertise.
How long it takes
We have seen individual terms move within a few weeks, but durable results for competitive legal keywords take 3 to 6 months, sometimes longer for the biggest case types. Anyone promising page one "in days" for a competitive practice area is not being straight with you.
What to look for in a law firm SEO company
The agencies that rank for this search all promise leads. Here are some ways to tell a real SEO company from a lead reseller in disguise:
Green flags:
- They build an asset you own (your site, your profile), not a lead feed they resell.
- They build a page for each practice area and understand attorney-advertising ethics, not one generic services page.
- They give you monthly reporting you can actually read, and are honest that competitive terms take three to six months to see results.
- Real reviews and a real local presence, not a stock template.
Red flags:
- Guaranteed #1 rankings, Google sells no such thing.
- Prices under about $500/month, that is almost always automated link spam that can get you penalized.
- Selling the same lead to several of your competitors.
- No clear plan for your specific service area or service list.
How to get started
Tell us your practice areas and cities
We map the case types you want more of against what people actually search for in your area.
We show you the opportunity
You get a clear picture of what ranking is realistically worth per month and what it would take, with no obligation.
We build and report
Practice-area pages, profile and review work, and monthly reporting so you can see progress, not just pay for it.
Common questions
Will this help me show up in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and AI search, not just Google?
Yes, that is a core part of what we do. We structure your site and profile with answer-first content, FAQ and Service schema, a consistent business entity, and real reviews, the same signals AI assistants and Google’s AI Overviews use to decide who to name. We optimize for being cited in AI answers and ranked in classic local search at the same time, because the two now feed each other.
How much does SEO for a law firm cost?
For most firms it runs $1,500 to $10,000+ per month depending on your market and how many practice areas and cities you target. A full AI-era program that also does answer-engine and generative-engine optimization (AEO and GEO) runs higher, commonly around $8,500 a month in a competitive legal market, since it adds the schema, entity, and citation work that gets you cited by AI search. Below about $500/month you are usually buying automated link spam that can get the site penalized.
Can you guarantee first-page rankings?
No, and anyone who does is either misinformed or dishonest. Google does not sell or guarantee positions. We show you steady, measurable progress and stay honest about the timeline.
Do you work with firms outside Michigan?
Yes. Legal SEO is national work; we are based in Ann Arbor, Michigan and work with firms across the country.