How Google’s AI Overviews Are Disrupting Law Firm SEO And What to Do About It

Executive Summary

Google’s new AI Overviews are starting to reshape how people interact with search results and law firms need to pay attention. These summaries often appear at the very top of the results page, answering queries without requiring users to click through to a website. That means fewer opportunities for law firms to capture organic traffic, control their messaging, and convert searchers into clients. In this blog, we break down what AI Overviews are, how they’re already affecting law firm SEO, and the strategies you need to stay visible and competitive in your market.

What Are AI Overviews and Why They Matter for Law Firms

AI overviews started becoming more prevalent in 2024 and are here to stay. AI Overviews are Google’s generative summaries that appear above traditional organic results. They pull content from various sources to answer questions directly, without requiring the user to visit any particular site, however these results typically link back to the site that was their top source.

For law firms, this marks a major shift. Your carefully optimized blog post or FAQ might no longer be the first thing a potential client sees, even if it ranks #1. Instead, Google’s AI might paraphrase your content (or someone else’s) into its own answer box.

The Impact on Law Firm Websites: Decreased Clicks, Diluted Authority

Law firms that have long relied on strong SEO strategies are starting to notice a change. Blog traffic is dropping. Fewer users are clicking into practice area pages. And in some cases, firms are seeing AI summaries that misrepresent legal concepts or cite generic sources.

Here’s what we’re seeing:

• Lower traffic to previously high-performing pages
• Fewer direct leads from organic search
• Increased “zero-click” behavior from users
• Summaries pulling inaccurate or non-jurisdictional legal info

This isn’t just an algorithm tweak, it’s a full-on change in how search functions.

Why Traditional SEO Isn’t Enough Anymore

If your strategy is still built around publishing a high volume of blog content with keyword targeting alone, you’re going to fall behind. Google is prioritizing:

• Authoritative, structured, scannable content
• Content that’s helpful, not just keyword-optimized
• Pages with schema markup and clear context
• Sites that demonstrate subject-matter expertise

In other words, being helpful and trustworthy has never mattered more.

Law Firms Risk Losing Control of Their Search Narrative

One of the biggest risks with AI Overviews? You don’t control what gets summarized or how. Even if the content is pulled from your site, it might be:

• Taken out of context
• Presented without credit
• Mixed with inaccurate information
• And in some cases, AI may skip over your content entirely, surfacing content from legal directories, news sites, or competitors instead.

That’s a dangerous precedent for a profession that values nuance, ethics, and jurisdictional accuracy.

What Your Firm Can Do Right Now to Adapt

You don’t have to overhaul everything, but you do need to be intentional and have a solid SEO strategy. Start by auditing your top pages and updating them to be more structured, scannable, and authoritative. That means:

• Answering key questions in the first 1–2 sentences
• Using bullet points, subheadings, and short paragraphs
• Updating legal references for jurisdictional accuracy
• Citing authoritative sources (state bar sites, statutes)
• Adding structured data (schema) to key pages
• And where appropriate, start testing multimedia content, especially video! Google is increasingly prioritizing video and even social media posts in results.

SEO Still Matters—It Just Looks Different Now

Despite the changes, SEO isn’t dead. In fact, your firm’s visibility in AI Overviews is often a direct reflection of the quality and structure of your site’s SEO.

Focus on:

• Clean technical SEO and fast-loading pages
• Internal linking that supports topic depth
• Demonstrating experience, authority, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T)
• Creating content clusters around core practice areas
• Getting more 5-star reviews for your firm
• Consistently posting on Google Business Profile to enhance local SEO

Think of it this way: your traditional SEO work lays the foundation. Your adaptation to AI Overviews is what will help your law firm remain competitive.

Final Thoughts: Stay Ahead of the Curve or Risk Falling Behind

This isn’t a one-time update from Google, it’s a long-term shift toward AI-first search. Firms that stay proactive will maintain visibility, credibility, and control. Firms that don’t? They’ll be relying on outdated tactics in a new playing field.

At US Legal Marketing Group, we’re helping law firms reimagine SEO in this new era. From content rewrites and schema markup to video strategy and search monitoring we’ve go you covered. Want to know how your site stacks up in the age of AI Overviews? Let’s talk. Book a strategy call today and we’ll show you exactly where to focus.