Resources
Law firm marketing guides
81 straight answers to the questions law firm owners ask us: what to spend, which ads to run, how AI tools pick firms, what happens after the lead arrives, and what the rules let you say. Checked against Google's, Meta's and the regulators' own pages.
Start here
The questions most firms ask first.
What it costs, how to plan it, how to get Google Verified, how AI tools pick firms, how fast to answer a lead, and what the rules allow.
Costs and planningHow do you build a marketing plan for a law firm?Build the plan backwards from signed cases: the foundation, which channel first for your practice and budget, intake, tracking, and a one-page template.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026Read the guideCosts and planningHow much does law firm marketing cost?Typical monthly ad spend by platform, how Google and Meta charge, real cost-per-click data from three markets, and how to work out what a signed case costs you.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 9, 2026Read the guideLocal Services AdsHow does a law firm get Google Verified (formerly Google Screened)?Every check Google runs before a law firm gets the badge, what to have ready for each one, and what to do when it stalls.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 9, 2026Read the guideAI searchHow does a law firm show up in ChatGPT and Google's AI answers?What Google, OpenAI and Microsoft document about their AI answers, and the steps that get a law firm named in them.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026Read the guideIntakeHow fast should a law firm respond to a new lead?Within minutes, by a person, every time. Why the first few minutes decide so many cases, the setup that makes it possible, and how to measure it honestly.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026Read the guideAdvertising rulesWhat are the advertising rules for lawyers in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK?One comparison of the rules that change law firm marketing in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, with short answers and a guide for each jurisdiction.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026Read the guide
Want a plan for your own firm instead? The Law Firm Growth Guide asks 7 questions and writes one.
5 guides
Costs and planning
What to budget, how to plan, how long it takes, and how to pick who does the work.
- How much does law firm marketing cost?Typical monthly ad spend by platform, how Google and Meta charge, real cost-per-click data from three markets, and how to work out what a signed case costs you.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 9, 2026
- Should a law firm hire a marketing agency or an in-house marketer?What one in-house hire can realistically cover, what official wage data says they cost, what the firm should own either way, and when a hybrid makes sense.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What should a law firm ask a marketing agency before signing?Fifteen questions in five groups, what a good answer sounds like, and the red flags, from account ownership to the bar rules on paying for leads.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How do you build a marketing plan for a law firm?Build the plan backwards from signed cases: the foundation, which channel first for your practice and budget, intake, tracking, and a one-page template.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How long does law firm marketing take to bring in signed cases?Channel by channel: when leads start, when signed cases follow, what Google's and Meta's learning periods mean, and how to judge the first three months.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
8 guides
Local Services Ads
Google's pay-per-lead ads for lawyers: verification, credits, ranking, budgets and reviews.
- Local Services Ads or Google Ads: which should a law firm use?Pay per lead or pay per click: how Google's two ad types differ for a law firm, where each is available, and when to run both.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 9, 2026
- How does a law firm get Google Verified (formerly Google Screened)?Every check Google runs before a law firm gets the badge, what to have ready for each one, and what to do when it stalls.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 9, 2026
- How do Local Services Ads lead credits and disputes work for law firms?Manual disputes are gone. How Google credits poor Local Services Ads leads now, what it still charges for, and how to check the credits land.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What decides where a law firm shows in Local Services Ads?The ranking factors Google names today, what it no longer names, what a firm controls, and what to check when leads drop in a week.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How should a law firm set its Local Services Ads budget and bids?The weekly budget, the monthly max, which bid mode to use, and how we set and adjust a firm's budget against signed cases.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How do reviews affect a law firm's Local Services Ads?Where Local Services Ads reviews come from, why Google recommends 5 or more, how they feed ranking and price, and the rules for asking.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- Which Local Services Ads categories and job types can a law firm choose?Google's US legal categories, what each one covers, which to pick for your practice, and what to do when yours isn't on the list.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- Can law firms in Canada and the UK use Local Services Ads?What Google's own country pages say about Local Services Ads for lawyers in Canada, the UK and Australia, and what firms there run instead.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
7 guides
Google Ads
Search ads for law firms: keywords, negatives, landing pages, call tracking and what ad copy may say.
- Which keyword match types should a law firm use in Google Ads?Exact, phrase and broad match as Google defines them today, why we launch law firm accounts on exact match, and when broad match earns a test.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Which negative keywords does a law firm need in Google Ads?The negative keyword themes every law firm needs, how negative match types really behave, and the weekly routine that keeps the list honest.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What makes a landing page work for law firm Google Ads?One page per case type, the ad's words on the page, a tracked number and a three-field form, and the checks we run before any page takes a paid click.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Should a law firm use Performance Max?What Performance Max is, why we don't launch law firms on it, when it can earn a test, and what the Local Services Ads move into it means.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How much should a law firm spend on Google Ads, by practice area?What clicks cost by practice area in our October 2026 pull, how to work a Google Ads budget back from signed cases, and the guardrails that keep it safe.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How should a law firm track calls from Google Ads?Calls from ads, calls from your website, call length, Google's own call recording, and sending signed cases back so Google learns which calls mattered.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What can a law firm say in Google Ads and Meta ads under bar rules and platform policies?Two rulebooks judge every law firm ad: your bar's and the platform's. A table of risky phrases with safer versions, and how we check ads before they run.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
4 guides
Meta ads
Facebook and Instagram ads for law firms: forms, creative, special ad categories and retargeting.
- Should a law firm use Facebook lead forms or send people to its website?Instant forms or a landing page: what each does to lead volume and quality, how to track both, and which case types suit which.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Do Meta's special ad categories apply to law firm ads?Housing, employment, financial products and politics: which law firm ads fall into Meta's special categories, what changes, and what Meta does if you skip it.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What Facebook and Instagram ad creative works for law firms?Which formats sign cases, where hooks come from, the bar rules on actors and testimonials, what Meta rejects, and when ads wear out.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- Can a law firm retarget website visitors, and what are the rules?What Google and Meta allow law firms to do with website visitor audiences, practice by practice, plus the privacy and bar rules that sit alongside them.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
13 guides
AI search
How ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI answers pick the law firms they name.
- How does a law firm show up in ChatGPT and Google's AI answers?What Google, OpenAI and Microsoft document about their AI answers, and the steps that get a law firm named in them.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How can a law firm measure traffic and cases from AI search?Where AI search shows up in your data, where it doesn't, and the four measurements that together give a law firm an honest monthly number.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How does ChatGPT decide which law firms to recommend?What OpenAI actually documents about ChatGPT search: the crawlers, the rewritten queries, location and maps, and the settings a law firm controls.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How does Google Gemini decide which law firms to name?The Gemini app grounds answers in Google Search and reads public Maps and YouTube data. Here's what that means for a law firm, setting by setting.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How does Perplexity decide which law firms to cite?Perplexity searches the web on every question and numbers its citations. Here's how its crawlers, index and source labels work for a law firm.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How does Microsoft Copilot decide which law firms to name?Copilot grounds its answers in Bing. The Bing settings, tags and reports that decide whether a law firm gets cited, from Microsoft's own pages.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How do Google AI Overviews and AI Mode affect law firms?What AI Overviews and AI Mode are, how Google picks the links in them, the controls a firm has, and how they show up in Search Console.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Is AI search different from SEO for a law firm?Google says optimizing for its AI answers is still SEO. What carries over for a law firm, the five things that really change, and what to skip.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How can a lawyer check what ChatGPT and Google's AI say about their firm?A 30-minute self-check: the prompts to run, how to set up a fair test, what to write down, and how to trace a wrong answer back to the page behind it.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Which websites do ChatGPT and Google's AI use when they recommend a lawyer?The sites AI tools read before naming a lawyer: what Google, OpenAI and Microsoft document, what one 1,000-answer study found, and what a firm controls on each.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Does a law firm need an llms.txt file?What llms.txt is, who says they read it and who says they don't, why we keep one on our own site, and what does more for a law firm.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Which structured data (schema) should a law firm website use?LegalService for the firm, Person for each lawyer, Service for each practice: the schema a law firm needs in 2026, the rules Google enforces, and what to delete.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Do reviews affect whether AI tools recommend a law firm?Where AI tools read a law firm's reviews, what Google says counts and ratings do, and why the words have to stay the client's own.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
6 guides
Google Business Profile
Setting up, verifying and keeping a law firm's profile on Google Search and Maps.
- How should a law firm set up its Google Business Profile?The setup end to end: the name Google allows, the address rules that catch law firms, service areas, one phone number, hours, categories, services and the description.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- Which Google Business Profile categories should a law firm choose?One primary category for the work that pays the bills, a few additional ones for real practices, services for everything else, and how to change them without a re-verification surprise.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- How does a law firm verify its Google Business Profile?The verification methods Google offers today, how to film a law office without showing a client file, what to do in a shared suite, and why verification fails.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- Why do law firm Google Business Profiles get suspended, and how do you fix it?The guideline breaks that get law firm profiles suspended, what to do in the first week, the appeal you only get to send once, and the knock-on effect on Local Services Ads.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- Can a law firm have a Google Business Profile for each office or each lawyer?One profile per staffed office, and a profile for each public-facing lawyer if you want one. Google's rules for both, the naming formats, and when bulk verification applies.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- How should a law firm use Google Business Profile posts, photos and Q&A?Question-led posts with no phone digits, real photos of the firm with no client faces, and what's actually left of Q&A after Google shut it down in 2025.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
4 guides
Reviews
Asking for reviews within the rules, replying to bad ones, and using testimonials in marketing.
- How can a law firm get more Google reviews without breaking the rules?Ask every client, at the same two moments, with a direct link. The system we set up for firms, and the Google, FTC and bar rules that decide what's allowed.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- What do bar and law society rules say about asking clients for reviews?New York and Texas say yes with conditions, Quebec says don't solicit testimonials online, the SRA encourages it. The rules on asking, place by place.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- How should a lawyer respond to a bad online review?The ABA says a bad review doesn't let you reveal client information. When to stay quiet, what a safe reply sounds like, and how to report reviews that break Google's rules.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- Can lawyers use client reviews and testimonials in their marketing?Yes in most places, with conditions that change at every border. A jurisdiction table, the rules on results, and a checklist before a quote goes on your site.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
6 guides
Intake
What happens after the lead arrives: response time, answering, follow-up, show rates and the CRM.
- Which intake numbers should a law firm track?The seven numbers between a new lead and a signed case, how to measure each in a CRM, and where each one usually leaks.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 9, 2026
- How fast should a law firm respond to a new lead?Within minutes, by a person, every time. Why the first few minutes decide so many cases, the setup that makes it possible, and how to measure it honestly.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- Should a law firm use an answering service, and what should it do?Use one for the hours nobody can pick up. Brief it to answer fast, take only what a conflict check needs, and book or capture every caller without screening anyone out.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- What should a law firm's lead follow-up sequence look like?Calls first, texts to hold the conversation, email for the slow deciders, and a clear stop. The sequence we build, and the consent rules for each country.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- How can a law firm get more booked consultations to show up?Most no-shows are decided before the consultation, not on the day. Book soon, confirm at once, remind twice, tell them what to bring, and rebook the ones who miss it.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- What does a law firm need from a CRM for intake?One place for every lead, stages that mean something, the source on every record, and follow-up that runs off the stages. What to set up first, and what a CRM isn't.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
3 guides
Measurement
Cost per signed case, call tracking and telling which marketing brought in each case.
- How does call tracking work for a law firm, and is recording calls legal?Tracking numbers, numbers that swap per visitor, keeping your listings consistent, what recording laws say in four countries, and tying each call to a signed case.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How does a law firm work out its cost per signed case?The formula, which costs belong in it, why cost per good lead beats cost per lead, how to handle cases that sign months later, and how to tell if your number is good.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How can a law firm tell which marketing brought in each case?UTM tags, click IDs, tracking numbers and the "how did you hear about us?" question, how to combine them in a CRM, and what GA4 can't see.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
2 guides
Hiring and growth
Hiring intake staff and knowing when to open another office.
- How should a law firm hire and train intake staff?For many solo lawyers the first hire should be the person who answers the phone and runs intake. When to hire, what the role is, how to train, and how to know it's working.By Charlotte Thompson · Updated October 11, 2026
- When should a law firm open a second office, and how do you market it?The signs a firm is ready for a second office, and how to market it: a Business Profile only for a staffed office, LSA service areas, Google Ads locations and intake.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
17 guides
Advertising rules
What lawyers may say in ads, by jurisdiction, from the regulators' own rules.
- What are the advertising rules for lawyers in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK?One comparison of the rules that change law firm marketing in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, with short answers and a guide for each jurisdiction.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What do the ABA Model Rules let lawyers say in ads?Rules 7.1 to 7.3 after the 2018 rewrite, the comments that decide most ad questions, three formal opinions, and how Florida, Texas, New York and others depart.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What are the Florida Bar's advertising rules for law firms?Filing 20 days before first use, the $250 fee, what's exempt, the content rules on results, specialists and fees, and how they apply to Google and Meta ads.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Which Texas lawyer ads must be filed, and what must they say?Texas files ads after they run, not before: within 10 days, $100 each. What's exempt, what every ad must say, and the criminal 31-day rule on injury contact.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What changed in New York's lawyer advertising rules on June 1, 2026?New York swapped its detailed ad rules for the ABA's short ones. What's gone (the label, the results disclaimer, filing, the 30-day wait) and what still binds.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What are California's rules on lawyer advertising?Two sets of rules apply to every California law firm ad: the State Bar's Rules 7.1 to 7.5 and a statute consumers can sue under. What each requires, and what changed in 2026.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Which Nevada lawyer ads must be filed with the State Bar?Every paid ad a Nevada firm runs gets filed with the State Bar within 15 days, at $100 per ad. What counts, what's exempt, and the disclaimers each ad needs.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What are Pennsylvania's rules on lawyer advertising after the 2024 amendments?The October 2024 order rewrote Pennsylvania's Rules 7.1 to 7.3 and deleted 7.4 and 7.5. What changed, what every ad still needs, and why texting a prospect is now live contact.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How do Illinois' 2025 rules on lead platforms and directories affect law firm marketing?Since July 1, 2025, Illinois lawyers who get clients through directories, lead generators or matching sites have to disclose it, check the platform, and avoid fee-share pricing.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Can a law firm pay for leads or referrals?Paying for advertising is fine almost everywhere. Paying someone to recommend you, or for a specific injury client, often isn't. Where the line sits in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What do the Law Society of Ontario's rules allow lawyers to say in marketing?Rule 4.2-1 and its commentary, line by line: what an Ontario lawyer's website, Google ads and social posts can and can't say, and the fee rules that reach the website.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What are the BC and Alberta rules on lawyer marketing?BC's Code 4.2-5 and its 2025 ethics advisory, Alberta's 2026 Code, and what each one does to a law firm's website, ads and reviews, plus Quebec's line on testimonials.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What do the SRA rules say about solicitor marketing?What the SRA Code, its guidance and the CAP Code let a solicitor's firm say and do in ads, on its website and through introducers, in plain words.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What prices and information must solicitors publish under the SRA Transparency Rules?The services that need published prices, what rule 1.5 says the price page must contain, and the badge, number and complaints details every regulated firm's site needs.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What are the advertising rules for lawyers in Australia?Rule 36 and the Australian Consumer Law apply everywhere; personal injury limits and claim farming bans depend on the state. The full map, state by state.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- Can personal injury lawyers advertise in New South Wales?Many guides still say NSW bans personal injury advertising. It doesn't. What replaced the old ban: rule 36, the Australian Consumer Law, and the 2025 claim farming laws.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- What may a personal injury firm advertise in Queensland and the Northern Territory?Australia's strictest personal injury advertising laws: what an ad may say, where it may appear, what a firm's own website may explain, and the 2026 reprimand that shows how it's applied.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
3 guides
By country
What changes for law firms in Canada, Australia and the UK.
- How is marketing a law firm in Canada different from the US?The real differences for a Canadian firm: provincial law society rules, Google's missing legal ad categories, wording, Quebec's French rules, and CASL for follow-up.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How do law firms in the UK market under the SRA rules?The channels open to a solicitor firm in England and Wales, the regulators that watch each one, and what PECR and UK GDPR change about follow-up and intake.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
- How is marketing a law firm in Australia different?What changes when the firm is Australian: the rules, the channels Google offers, the Spam Act and Privacy Act at intake, and the currency and clock the accounts run on.By Santiago Alvarez · Updated October 11, 2026
Glossary
Law firm marketing terms, defined.
106 terms from answer rate to the SRA Transparency Rules, each in a sentence or two, with a link to the guide that explains it.
- A2P 10DLC
- ABA Model Rules (advertising)
- Ad copy rules
- Ad creative
- Advertising filing
- AI Mode
- AI Overviews
- AI Performance report
- AI search
- AI visibility check
- Answer rate
- Answer-first page
- Answering service
- Attribution
- Bing Places for Business
- Boosted post
- Broad match
- Business Profile posts
- Business Profile suspension
- Business Profile verification
- Call tracking
- CAP Code
- CASL
- Claim farming
- Close variants
- Conflict check
- Consult show rate
- Contact rate
- Conversion
- Conversions API
- Cost per click
- Cost per lead
- Cost per signed case
- CRM
- DMCC Act fake reviews ban
- Dynamic number insertion
- Exact match
- Google Business Profile
- Google Verified
- Google-Extended
- GPTBot
- In-house marketer
- IndexNow
- Individual practitioner listing
- Instant form
- Intermediary connecting service
- Intake
- Intake specialist
- Job types
- Landing page
- Law Society of BC ethics advisory on testimonials
- Lawyer advertising rules
- Lead credit
- Learning period
- Legal directory
- llms.txt
- Local Services Ads
- Local Services Ads availability
- Manager account
- Marketing plan
- Match type
- Negative keyword
- Nevada ad filing
- NSW personal injury advertising
- OAI-SearchBot
- Offline conversion import
- Organic social
- Past results disclaimer
- Pay per lead
- PECR
- Pennsylvania advertising rules
- Performance Max
- PerplexityBot
- Phrase match
- Pre-badge ads
- Primary category
- Published contingency fee maximum
- Qualifying provider
- Quality Score
- Queensland PI advertising limits
- Referral fee
- Responsiveness
- Retargeting
- Review gating
- Review response
- Reviews and AI answers
- Reviews on Local Services Ads
- Runners and cappers
- Search terms report
- Second office
- Short-form video
- Smart Bidding
- Solicitation
- Spam Act
- Special ad categories
- Specialist (wording)
- Speed to lead
- SRA Code of Conduct
- SRA Transparency Rules
- Structured data
- TCPA
- Testimonial
- Texas Advertising Review Committee
- UTM tags
- Virtual office
- Weekly budget (LSA)
By practice area
Marketing for your practice area.
How clients in each practice search and choose a lawyer, which channels fit, and where intake usually leaks.
Who writes these guides
Written by the people who run the accounts.
Not a content team. The two founders who work directly with our client firms write them, and keep them current as Google, Meta and the rules change.
Santiago AlvarezFounderFounder of Ad Hoc Digital. Leads strategy and works directly with every client firm on AI search, Local Services Ads, Google Ads and Meta ads.57 guidesMore about Santiago
Charlotte ThompsonCo-FounderCo-founder of Ad Hoc Digital. Leads social media and content, runs onboarding for new client firms, and is on the regular check-in calls with clients.24 guidesMore about CharlotteWe work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK.
Are you interested in learning more?
Simply click the button below and book a meeting to find out more
3 guides
Social media
What lawyers post, how short video works, and the bar rules that apply to social media.