The Visibility Gap This Chicago law firm had years of legal expertise, strong client outcomes, and a solid reputation offline. But digitally, they were lagging. Their Google Business Profile wasn’t optimized, key directory listings were outdated, and AI tools like ChatGPT weren’t pulling them into search results for local legal queries.That meant potential high-value clients searching for help in Chicago weren’t even seeing them as an option.We didn’t just fix the basics, we aligned their entire local SEO and AI optimization strategy with their most profitable case types. That meant higher visibility where it mattered and stronger trust signals for the right audience.
What was going wrong?
This Chicago law firm had an incomplete profile, outdated listings, no AI visibility, and weak authority signals that kept them from being found.
- Google Business Profile gaps: Missing service details, outdated images, and no fresh updates.
- Inconsistent citations: Old or conflicting listings across legal directories and local platforms.
- Zero AI visibility: Absent from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other emerging search tools.
- Weak authority signals: No structured data or optimization for legal-specific searches.
Droved’s Action Plan
We designed a targeted, AI-first local SEO strategy to put them back in front of the right audience.
- Step 1: Google Business Profile Overhaul Added clear practice area descriptions and attorney specializations. Updated images to reflect the firm’s professionalism and credibility. Published consistent updates to signal activity to Google’s local algorithm.
- Step 2: Citation Cleanup and Legal Directory Optimization Corrected and synced NAP data across top legal platforms and local business directories. Removed duplicates to consolidate authority.
- Step 3: AI-Optimized Content & Structured Data Wrote practice-area-focused content that matched how clients search in both Google and AI tools. Implemented schema markup to help AI platforms identify their expertise and location.
The Turnaround
With focused optimization, the firm regained top Map rankings, secured AI search visibility, and began attracting the high-value cases they were targeting.
- Google Maps Rankings Restored: Back in the 3-Pack for competitive legal searches.
- AI Search Presence Secured: Now appearing in ChatGPT results for “Chicago law firm” and related high-value queries.
- Better-Quality Leads: Increased inquiries from clients needing exactly the type of cases they wanted to win.
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