AI Search: Could Your Content Shortcut Be Making You Harder to Find?

For years, law firms could build a website, invest in SEO, publish a few articles, and then largely leave everything alone.

That approach is becoming harder to rely on.

AI search is changing how prospective clients research attorneys. Instead of simply scanning a page of links, people can now ask detailed questions and receive direct answers, comparisons, and recommendations.

That means law firms need to think beyond simply ranking.

They need to give search systems enough credible information to understand who they are, what they know, and what they should be known for.

That was one of the strongest themes in my conversation with John Sammon, CEO of Sixth City Marketing. John explained that his own company has had to become much more focused about the subjects it publishes around, while also updating older content and making its website easier for both people and search systems to understand.

For law firms, the lesson is important.

Your Website Still Matters

With all the attention surrounding AI search, it may be tempting to wonder whether a website is becoming less important.

John's answer was clear: you still need one.

Your website remains the central place where prospective clients can learn about your attorneys, practice areas, experience, awards, professional memberships, and approach.

But the website has to do more than exist.

A prospective client should be able to scan it and quickly understand:

Who do you help?

What problems do you solve?

What makes your firm different?

What evidence supports your expertise?

Those questions matter to people, and increasingly they matter to AI systems trying to make sense of your firm.

Stop Publishing Content About Everything

One of the changes John described is a stronger emphasis on topical focus.

In the past, businesses sometimes published loosely related articles simply because they might attract links or search traffic.

Today, a scattered website can make it harder to understand what the business actually specializes in.

John said his company has been tightening its content around the key themes of the business rather than publishing broadly unrelated material.

That aligns with Google's current guidance. Google encourages websites to have a clear primary purpose or focus and to publish information that demonstrates first-hand expertise rather than producing large amounts of content across unrelated topics.

For a lawyer, that could mean building a strong body of content around federal employment law, estate planning, professional licensing, business disputes, or another defined practice area.

The goal is not to publish about everything.

It is to become strongly associated with the things you genuinely know.

Update Good Content Instead of Constantly Starting Over

There is another mistake law firms can make: assuming they always need a new article.

Sometimes the better move is improving an existing one.

If you wrote a strong article two years ago and the law, examples, or client questions have changed, update it.

Add new insight.

Improve the answer.

Include a recent example.

Strengthen the author's perspective.

What you should not do is update dates or remove older pages simply to make a website appear fresh. Google specifically warns that adding or removing large amounts of material just to make a site seem newer is not, by itself, a useful search strategy.

Freshness matters when the information itself benefits from being current.

Credibility comes from usefulness, accuracy, and relevance.

Make Your Expertise Easy to Digest

John also emphasized restructuring content so visitors can quickly scan a page, understand what the company does, and get common questions answered.

Law firms should pay close attention to that point.

Legal websites often sound like they were written for other lawyers.

Long paragraphs.

Dense explanations.

Vague statements about "comprehensive representation."

The better approach is to make expertise easy to recognize.

Instead of:

"We provide sophisticated representation across a wide range of employment matters."

Try:

"We represent federal employees in discrimination, retaliation, and reasonable accommodation cases."

Clear language does not make a lawyer sound less sophisticated.

It makes the lawyer easier to understand.

Video Can Become Credibility Content

Another area John has invested in is video.

His team interviews professionals using the questions clients commonly ask, allowing them to explain their experience and knowledge naturally. He pointed out that these conversations often lead to stories and examples that reveal expertise in a way a generic page cannot.

That approach is particularly useful for lawyers.

You do not need a television studio.

You need useful answers.

A lawyer could record short responses to questions such as:

• What should I do if my employer denies my accommodation request?

• Do I need a trust if I already have a will?

• What happens when a business partner breaches an operating agreement?

• What should a professional do after receiving a licensing complaint?

Those videos can demonstrate expertise to prospective clients.

The transcript can also become an article, FAQ, professional post, or another piece of credibility content.

One conversation can create several useful assets.

AI Should Help Your Expertise, Not Replace It

AI tools can make content creation easier.

But easier does not necessarily mean better.

John warned that businesses can quickly reach a point where AI-generated content begins to sound generic and loses the unique voice that helps distinguish one professional from another.

Google makes a similar distinction.

Its current guidance says generative AI can be useful for research and structure, but mass-producing pages without adding original value can violate its spam policies. Google recommends focusing on accuracy, quality, relevance, and human review.

For lawyers, this is especially important.

Your experience is the asset.

AI can help organize it.

It can help turn an interview into an article.

It can help edit a transcript.

But it should not replace the insight, experience, stories, and judgment that make the content worth reading.

Build a Body of Evidence Around Your Expertise

The larger lesson from the conversation is that law firms should stop thinking about online visibility as one isolated tactic.

A website matters.

SEO matters.

Video matters.

Professional profiles matter.

Articles matter.

Third-party mentions matter.

The power comes from the pieces reinforcing one another.

If your website describes you as a federal employment lawyer, your articles answer federal employment questions, your videos discuss those cases, and other credible sources connect your name with the same subject, a much clearer picture begins to emerge.

That is online authority.

It also gives AI search systems more consistent information to work with.

The goal is not simply to publish more.

It is to create enough credible evidence that when someone asks an AI system who knows about a particular problem, your firm's expertise is easy to recognize.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a law firm still need a website for AI search?

Yes. A website remains the primary place to establish who you are, what you do, and where your expertise lies. It also gives search systems structured information they can discover and reference.

Should law firms delete old blog posts?

Not simply because they are old. Update content when the information is outdated or can be materially improved. Useful older content can remain valuable.

Can AI-generated content help a law firm get found?

AI can help with research, organization, editing, and repurposing, but the underlying content should contain genuine expertise, original insight, accurate information, and meaningful human review.