By now, you are likely aware of the profound ways in which generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools have already affected virtually every industry. Tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini allow users to describe specific tasks and receive impressive results in a matter of seconds. Now, formerly time-consuming tasks like reading and writing summaries can be completed in a fraction of the time (and without delegating the task to a salaried or hourly employee). So, how have these generative AI tools affected the legal industry so far? Many attorneys have found that these tools can be useful in summarizing briefs or generating outlines for business contracts, saving smaller firms valuable time and resources. Other firms have voiced their excitement about how generative AI tools could assist with increased customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
However, as with any relatively new technology, it’s essential to consider the limitations and potential risks associated with handing over every task to generative AI technologies. According to a report released by Stanford University, these tools “hallucinate” in one out of every six queries—leading to inaccurate or even false responses that can create significant issues and complications for law firms that do not review the results for accuracy. As generative AI tools become even more integrated into the digital landscape, it’s worth exploring some of the potential benefits and limitations of using these tools in your law firm digital marketing strategy.
How AI Search Differs From Traditional Web Searches
You may have noticed that the top of the search results page now displays an “AI Overview” before presenting links to websites that the search engine algorithm has deemed the most trustworthy and relevant to suit your search query. Rather than presenting a series of links to websites, the AI Overview composes a brief response answering your search terms or questions. To the right, the links that the generative AI tool used to compile a response are displayed for users to look further into these topics. With the AI Overview appearing so prominently on the search results pages, it’s worth exploring how AI search works differently from traditional Google searches.
Google’s algorithm crawls websites and ranks the relevance and trustworthiness of pages before presenting them to the searcher. AI models work differently—they take a user’s search terms and generate a response based on the seemingly infinite amount of text data and content that the technology was trained on. In other words, relying on traditional SEO best practices for law firms may not be enough to boost your law firm’s visibility. Here are some tips for merging your law firm’s content marketing and AI strategies to increase your online presence and connect with more potential clients in your area.
Create a Clear and Consistent Brand For Your Law Firm
AI search algorithms favor well-structured, consistent content to deliver relevant and accurate information to users. By creating and maintaining a clear and consistent brand identity for your law firm, you can improve your chances of having AI models recognize your firm as a distinctive entity that is cross-referenced across multiple platforms (i.e., website, social media accounts, Google My Business, etc.). It’s also worth exploring the benefits of creating a Google Knowledge Panel that can signal to AI search models that your law firm is a reliable and trustworthy source of information.
Find out where you stand with a local keyword report.
Optimize Your Online Content for AI Queries
With more people using voice search capabilities, search algorithms are favoring more conversational, informal queries. As you review your website, find ways of integrating common client questions that are phrased in a relatively casual way, such as, “Is there a top-rated personal injury law firm near me?” The more you can integrate these conversational queries into your existing content, the more likely it is that AI models will use your content to generate responses and even cite your law firm’s website as a source.
Keep an Eye on How Your Law Firm Appears in AI Search Results
The best way to determine whether your law firm is performing well in AI searches is to check on it often. Make it a habit to ask AI searches questions about your practice areas (and be sure to include your location). As you evaluate the results, you can tweak your existing content to align more consistently with common user queries and the friendly, informal language that AI models favor.
Recognizing AI and Content Marketing For Law Firms Best Practices
As with any relatively new technological advancement, it’s best to proceed with caution before you entrust your entire digital marketing strategy for law firms to generative AI tools. The last thing you want as an attorney in solo practice or running a smaller law firm is to face professional or even legal repercussions for letting generative AI write an inaccurate brief of legal summary. If you play around with tools like ChatGPT, it’s essential that you review the content extremely carefully to identify any inaccuracies, falsehoods, or potential issues. For now, the law firms that are having the most success with integrating generative AI tools are those that use these capabilities to assist with repetitive, low-level administrative tasks. For instance, having ChatGPT create a template for a legal contract can save you a considerable amount of time, as long as you review it and adjust the content to accommodate the specific factors of the case.
Another area where generative AI tools can be helpful is in connecting with former clients to request online reviews and other valuable feedback. These tasks can be automated and specified to be warm, responsive, and grateful to those who take the time to leave a review for an attorney or law firm. If you are interested in learning more about the latest trends in digital marketing for lawyers, reach out to LegalRev today to get started.
For over a decade, LegalRev has helped small and medium law firms grow their practices and engage with more of the clients they were hoping to serve. Our results-driven approach to digital marketing allows us to boost your firm’s visibility and achieve your goals.
Give us a call today at (800) 893-2590 to get started with an experienced digital marketing strategist who can help you take your content marketing efforts to the next level.
