From Ranking to Relevance: 5 Steps To Improve Visibility in AI-Driven Search

A version of this article was originally published in Legal intelligencer here on April 17th, 2026

---

When clients use AI to search for answers to legal questions, the gap between lawyers who are promoted and those who aren’t depends not on capability but on findability.

If you’re using the internet to search for information — and based on statistics from January of this year, you would be in a very, very small minority if you aren’t — you know it is now almost impossible to avoid using artificial intelligence. For billions of people worldwide, internet searching is a daily habit (or actually, a several-times-a-day habit), nearly all of it — just shy of 91% – handled by Google, “a dominant American multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products” according to Google AI. Google handles more than 5 trillion queries worldwide annually, which works out to be roughly 13.7 billion searches per day. For those of you who like a good research rabbit hole like I do, that’s 189,815, give or take, searches per second.

If you’re the average user, you open up a browser, most likely on your mobile phone, and type a query three to four times a day. In seconds, you have at least a top-line answer. Nearly half (48%) of search results include AI overviews at the top. You get your answer directly on Google’s results page, and if you’re satisfied, you don’t click through any links below. By some estimates, upward of 80% of searches end without the user clicking a single link — a so-called zero-click search.

What Google’s AI overviews started, generative AI “answer engines” like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude have accelerated. As of 2026, somewhere between 80% and 85% of all user interactions remain within the search platform — in other words, are zero-click.

As I am sure you have already guessed, I am not your average user, and I suspect you aren’t either. Given the rapid rise of AI as an information gatekeeper, I’ve lately been spending time asking AI-enabled tools questions I already know the answers to, just to see the results.

Questions such as:

• Who are the best lawyers for employees who want to sue their employers?

• What lawyers handle criminal investigations in health care?

• What lawyer can help me sell my company?

•  What lawyer can help me with a will?

The results are inconsistent at best and, more often than not, significantly lacking. Some lawyers with strong reputations in the queried area show up regularly, as they should. Other lawyers, equally experienced and well regarded, hardly ever appear, and some don’t appear at all. Different tools and platforms, even different levels of AI involvement on the same platform — AI overviews versus AI search mode in Google — impact who is promoted to the user. 

I’ve also been asking questions including:

• What do I do if I’ve been fired for reporting my supervisor to HR?

•  I’ve been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury; should I hire a lawyer?

•  I’m getting ready to retire; how much can I sell my company for?

• Can I write my own will in Pennsylvania, since I don’t have a lot of money?

Clients aren’t searching just for lawyers; they are searching for answers. All kinds of clients, from individuals looking for help with legal questions about family and small-business law to CEOs, CFOs and senior managers at large companies looking for quick answers to their legal, regulatory and business questions are using AI-enabled search engines and generative AI programs first and consulting a lawyer later.

For lawyers, the answers to these questions aren’t who to hire but who shows up as expert sources within the query conversation.

The shift is subtle but significant. In traditional search, visibility is determined by where you rank on the search page. Users are likely to click through top-ranked links to websites, bios and other online resources to get more information, giving you more opportunities to provide a fuller picture of you and your practice. In a zero-click search environment, visibility is defined by whether and how you are included in the answer — and if you’re not within the answer, you don’t exist, so it’s significantly less likely that the client will find their way to your bio, LinkedIn profile or website.

Regardless of the type of AI tool or platform, the gap between who is promoted and who isn’t depends not on capability but on findability.

AI systems don’t simply scan webpages looking for keywords; they also identify, evaluate and validate lawyers and firms based on clarity, consistency, value and trust signals reflected across the entire digital universe.

For lawyers, this creates a practical challenge and an opportunity. Lawyers who optimize their digital presence for AI findability can stand out in ways that may have been less visible in traditional search.

Start with a good foundation: your online bio

AI views your law firm bio as a very rich data asset, frequently the first and primary source it uses to determine who you are, what you do and whether you are relevant to a given query. 

As we have seen from my test queries, lack of capability and experience is not the reason AI might fail to promote you in a search answer. It’s that your digital profile fails to convey what AI is looking for.

AI systems and clients are both trying to answer the same question: Is this lawyer the right one for my particular issue?

Specificity answers that question, and clearly demonstrated experience is more discoverable and valuable to AI and more credible to both AI and human clients than generalized claims. 

In other words, a lawyer who “represents health care providers in False Claims Act suits and investigations” is far more likely to be surfaced by AI than one who “handles complex white collar litigation” or “advises on government investigations.”

AI search platforms are looking for bios that demonstrate experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness, often called EEAT, rather than just claiming it. For lawyers, this means shifting from lists of credentials and capabilities to specific examples of work. Even at a high level, framing experience in terms of “problem, action and result” provides more substance:

• What types of issues do your clients face?

• What approach do you take?

• What are the outcomes?

Individual client examples are great, with or without disclosing client names, but identifying core areas of your work and describing them clearly and in detail also signal value, authority and trust to AI.

In practice:

• Use plain, client-facing language.

• Emphasize specific core areas of work, not broad practice capabilities.

• Highlight industries, types of clients and recurring issues.

• Include select representative matters that illustrate that work rather than every matter you’ve handled.

Optimize and align your digital profile

If your bio is the foundation of your findability, your broader digital presence is what reinforces it.

AI systems don’t rely on a single source of data; they scan and analyze data from all available digital platforms — firm websites, social media, legal directories and third-party platforms — and then look for alignment and consistency across them. Inconsistent, incomplete or outdated information signals lack of credibility and trust.

For professionals like lawyers, LinkedIn in particular serves as a rich secondary source of data reinforcing your experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness. Legal directories can also play an important credibility role. Platforms such as Avvo, Martindale-Hubbell, Justia and Best Lawyers provide structured, standardized information that AI systems can easily interpret. In many cases, they function as reference points for validation.

Consistency matters at both a strategic and a practical level, including:

• Maintaining complete, up-to-date profiles on major platforms, LinkedIn in particular, where your profile should align with your firm bio

• Using consistent descriptions of your work and experience across all platforms, including your bio, LinkedIn and directories

• Keeping your name, office location and contact information up-to-date and identical across listings

• Periodically reviewing your online presence for outdated or conflicting information

These are simple yet foundational elements of your online presence.

Show expertise and experience with content that answers client questions

Thought leadership and owned content — whether firm-branded publications, videos or podcasts, or LinkedIn posts and articles — remain essential for visibility for all lawyers. But AI search requires a different approach.

Inside the zero-click search environment, content that isn’t linked and promoted isn’t seen, no matter how informative or well written it is. Traditional search prioritizes content that contains keywords that align with search terms, but AI-enabled search is driven by relevance to conversational questions such as: 

• What should a company do after a data breach?

• Are noncompete agreements enforced in Pennsylvania?

• What does an effective AI governance policy cover?

Content that answers clients’ questions is more likely to be included, linked and promoted as an authoritative source in AI overviews and generative AI answers, providing both visibility and the stamp of enhanced credibility.

Depth and consistency are also as important as relevance in AI search. Publishing occasionally or across a wide range of topics is less effective than building a sustained body of work in a more narrowly defined area, whether around specific legal or business topics, particular industries, market sectors, or clients.

AI systems extract, evaluate and summarize content rather than just provide a link, so structure, organization and scannability also matter.

AI-friendly content:

• Frames topics to address specific client questions — FAQs or Q&As are particularly AI-friendly

• Uses clear, descriptive subheadings and sections

• Starts with a clear, concise answer, then expands with supporting data and analysis

• Includes bullet points or lists to improve clarity and scannability

Build a broader authority footprint 

AI systems look for credibility and trust signals from the broader digital universe. Independent third-party validation through earned media — being quoted as an expert media source and writing contributed or guest content — and high-quality recognitions and awards all reinforce that your authority and expertise are not just claimed by you but acknowledged by others. Client reviews and recommendations can also play a role — particularly when they include specific references to the type of work you performed or the outcome you achieved.  

To build and strengthen your authority footprint:

• Pursue media opportunities and external publications.

• Participate in speaking engagements, panels and podcasts.

• Ask for specific, descriptive client testimonials, reviews and recommendations.

• Apply for and maintain high-quality, relevant and appropriate rankings, recognitions and awards such as Chambers, Legal 500, industry and association awards, not pay-for-play programs.

Start where you are and build from there

For individual lawyers, optimizing for AI searchability requires building a unified digital identity and curating it over time. 

In other words, it’s not a one-time update; it’s an ongoing effort.

Here is a checklist to get you started:

• Conduct an audit of your digital presence to identify inconsistencies and outdated content.

• Review and revise your bio to focus on EEAT.

• Standardize core information — identity, firm name, contact information — and descriptions of the work you do and the clients and industries you serve across all of your profiles and platforms.

• Develop a content plan focused on the questions your target clients are asking.

• Explore opportunities for third-party credentialing and validation.

• Set reminders for regular updates and refinements.

Don’t forget that humans do the hiring — for now

I know the title says five steps, but here’s a bonus tip as a reminder: 

AI-enabled search tools have accelerated the shift from visibility based on search rankings to visibility based on relevance, expertise, credibility and trustworthiness — in essence, the elements that human clients also look for in their lawyers. The technology that determines how clients find, evaluate and ultimately hire lawyers may have changed, but the fundamentals have not.

Featured Articles