The Visibility Gap This Chicago law firm had built its practice on professionalism, client trust, and proven results in high-stakes cases. In the courtroom, their reputation was solid. But online, things told a different story.A small cluster of negative reviews had pushed them down in Google Maps rankings. Their Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) information was inconsistent across the web. And perhaps most concerning, they weren’t showing up in AI-powered tools like ChatGPT for relevant local legal searches.Potential clients searching for a lawyer in Chicago and even those looking for exactly the services this firm offered simply weren’t finding them. A law firm’s reputation is everything but in the digital age, reputation isn’t just word of mouth. It’s reviews, listings, and search visibility working together to tell a consistent story.By combining review generation, citation management, Google Business Profile optimization, and AI-focused content creation, we restored both their local and AI visibility. The result: more trust, more traffic, and better-qualified leads.
What was going wrong?
This Chicago law firm had the expertise to win cases but was losing ground online. Negative signals across reviews, directories, and AI tools meant fewer high-value clients were finding them and more were turning to competitors. Here’s what was holding them back:
- Negative reviews impacting rankings: A few poor reviews outweighed positive ones, damaging both trust and Google’s local ranking signals.
- Inconsistent online listings: Mismatched and duplicate business listings across directories confused search engines and reduced credibility.
- Zero AI visibility: They weren’t being recommended in ChatGPT or other AI-driven tools, missing out on a growing channel for client acquisition.
- Missed opportunities: Without action, these issues were limiting their ability to attract high-value clients and letting competitors with stronger digital profiles dominate local search results.
Droved’s Action Plan
We put together a recovery and growth plan designed to rebuild trust, fix technical issues, and expand their reach into AI-powered search.
- Step 1: Review Strategy and Reputation Repair Developed a review outreach plan to encourage satisfied clients to share detailed, positive feedback. Focused on authentic reviews that mentioned specific legal services and Chicago location references by improving both credibility and local keyword relevance. Monitored reviews across platforms to ensure prompt, professional responses that demonstrated client care.
- Step 2: Citation and Listing Cleanup Identified and removed duplicate business listings that were diluting search authority. Corrected inconsistent NAP data across all major legal and local directories. Added missing listings on trusted, high-authority citation sources to strengthen Google’s trust in their business profile.
- Step 3: Google Business Profile Optimization Updated categories to reflect their most profitable practice areas. Expanded service descriptions with keywords clients actually search for. Added professional, high-quality photos of their office, team, and community involvement. Published Google Posts to signal ongoing activity and engagement.
- Step 4: AI Optimization Created AI-friendly content that clearly outlined their services, credentials, and location, structured so ChatGPT and similar tools could easily parse and recommend it. Implemented structured schema markup on their website for legal services, locations served, and client reviews.
The Turnaround
After partnering with Droved, the firm’s digital presence rebounded and began attracting the right kind of clients. By addressing reviews, cleaning up citations, and building AI visibility, they became far more competitive in Chicago’s legal market.
- Google Maps Rankings: Returned to the Google Maps 3-Pack for key searches like “Chicago law firm” and “business lawyer Chicago.”
- Review Profile: Positive reviews began to outweigh negative ones, improving both their public reputation and Google’s trust signals.
- Citation Consistency: Their NAP data was now 100% consistent across 50+ directories, boosting credibility in search algorithms.
- AI Recommendations: They began appearing in ChatGPT responses for local legal queries, putting them in front of clients using AI search tools.
- Lead Quality: Inquiries shifted toward higher-value cases, with prospective clients often mentioning they had found the firm via online search or AI tools.
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