Artificial Intelligence & Robotics
Move Over, SEO: How law firms can use GEO to stand out in artificial intelligence searches
With the advent of generative artificial intelligence, law firms are focusing less on traditional SEO, or search engine optimization, and more on another catchy new acronym—GEO, which stands for “generative engine optimization.”
GEO is the practice of creating digital content that appears in responses from generative AI engines. How firms can better understand and take advantage of GEO has quickly become a hot topic across the industry, says Kevin Iredell, the immediate past president of the Legal Marketing Association, a nonprofit organization focusing on the legal marketing industry.
“A year ago, nobody was really talking about this,” says Iredell, who is also the chief marketing and business development officer at Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York City. “It’s really picked up in the last six months and follows the increasing use of large language models, like Copilot, Gemini, ChatGPT and even the Google AI search, which is now where a lot of people are getting their information.”
Kevin Iredell is the immediate past president of the Legal Marketing Association, a nonprofit organization focusing on the legal marketing industry.
Content is king
Four out of five consumers now rely on AI-generated summaries for at least 40% of their searches, according to research published by Bain & Company in February. The management consulting company also reported that as a result of consumers now relying on generative AI, organic web traffic is down “by 15% to 25%.” Bain & Company found further that once consumers get an answer from generative AI, 60% of searches end there, without consumers clicking through to another website.
Iredell describes GEO as a natural evolution of SEO, which involves certain strategies to move a website higher in results from Google and other search engines. In general, he says firms that prioritized SEO have a leg up when it comes to appearing in generative AI responses.
“If you’re focused on content and keeping your content fresh and providing information that your clients are looking for, overall, you’re going to do well in both SEO and GEO,” Iredell says. “Because it’s still all about content.”
But there are key differences that firms should keep in mind if they want to use GEO to get ahead in the AI age, Iredell and other legal marketing experts say.
While firms improve SEO by largely relying on technical strategies, such as using relevant keywords to attract a specific audience, they can boost their AI visibility by structuring content “in a way that makes sense to actual humans,” says Danny Decker, the co-founder of Spotlight Marketing & Branding, an Internet marketing service in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Danny Decker is the co-founder of Spotlight Marketing & Branding, an Internet marketing service in Charlotte, North Carolina..
“So what that looks like is instead of ChatGPT caring about how many times you use a certain keyword in your article, it’s looking for do you answer the question? And do you answer it clearly and succinctly?” says Decker, who works mostly with small firms.
He notes that nearly a dozen of them secured leads and clients through generative AI searches in the past month.
Decker recommends that firms add content to their website that answers the top questions that their potential clients are asking generative AI engines. They can start by making a list of questions that their current clients ask and writing articles or blog posts that answer each of them, he says.
When posting that content, Decker suggests that firms make their headlines questions, rather than statements.
“I think the reason this works is because that’s how people approach ChatGPT, right? They ask questions,” says Decker, who also advises firms to follow an article’s headline with an executive summary that immediately answers the question.
“Again, that’s very similar to how ChatGPT likes to answer a question,” Decker adds. “You give a short answer, and then you jump into the rest of your blog entry, which ideally is not dense or hard to read.”
In addition to regularly posting blog content, firms should feature Q&As, FAQs and solution guides on their websites, says Amy Juers, the CEO of Edge Marketing, a Minneapolis-based public relations and marketing company. They also should include transcripts and summaries for their videos and podcasts.
Amy Juers is the CEO of Edge Marketing, a Minneapolis-based public relations and marketing company.
Research shows that clear, well-structured content is more easily discovered through AI searches, explains Juers, whose agency recently launched a GEO initiative for its clients in the legal, accounting and professional services industries.
“Think of this as a new marketing tool, where you are putting your best foot forward to ensure you are being found and sought after as an authoritative source when people are using these engines to search and find solutions to their problems,” Juers says.
Along those lines, firms should continue writing articles for or being interviewed by media outlets, appearing as guests on podcasts, and sharing relevant content on LinkedIn and YouTube—all of which help endorse them as reliable sources of information, Juers adds.
Decker offers one other tip to help firms stand out in generative AI searches—sharing pricing information on their websites. While he admits that they may be resistant to the idea, he says as an example, just offering a range for what a divorce typically costs could move them ahead of competitors in AI responses.
“One of the No. 1 questions a potential client asks when they jump onto ChatGPT is how much is this going to cost?” Decker says. “And if your website answers that question, you’ve got a much better chance of getting cited.”
No need to reinvent the wheel
Does the shift toward GEO mean that firms have to redesign their websites? No, says Juers, who reaffirms that they should concentrate on making future content more attractive to generative AI engines. They also could reassess technical aspects of their webpages, such as ensuring that videos and images load quickly, to improve SEO and GEO, she adds.
“This isn’t a reason to scrap your website,” Juers says. “This is a reason to really amp up what’s already in existence and look critically at the content that’s on your pages.”
GEO isn’t the only new acronym on the scene. Firms researching how to show up in AI-generated summaries could come across AEO, which stands for “answer engine optimization,” and AIO, which stands for “artificial intelligence optimization.” AIEO, or “artificial intelligence engine optimization,” is yet another one.
These concepts all focus on virtually the same thing—improving AI visibility, legal marketing experts say.
“I’m seeing GEO used more, but this is such a new field that we haven’t even all agreed on what it’s called yet,” Decker says.
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