Does a law firm need Apple Business Connect for Apple Maps and Siri?

1. 1

   Sign up as the firm, not as an agency

   At business.apple.com, enter the firm's name, website and address. Apple says the website is optional but can speed up verification. Don't tick the box for an agency that manages data for others; that's for third-party partners.

2. 2

   Use a real person's name

   Apple requires a legal human name for the first administrator. Names like "IT Coordinator" get sent back. A partner or the office manager works.

3. 3

   Verify the organization within 60 days

   Apple asks for two verification methods, such as a D-U-N-S Number or EIN, a domain check through a DNS record, or a document like a business license, lease or utility bill. Review can take up to five business days, and Apple says an organization not approved in the window is deleted.

4. 4

   Add the brand

   Country, primary category and an https website are required. Upload a square logo at least 1024 by 1024 pixels. Apple reviews brand names and logos, which can take up to five business days to appear.

5. 5

   Add or claim the location

   Under Brands, then Locations, search for the firm. If it already exists you claim it; if someone else manages it, Apple lets you request a transfer with supporting documents, reviewed in up to five business days. For an existing location, Apple may offer verification by a phone call with a four-digit code, to the number it has on record.

6. 6

   Place the pin on the building

   Apple wants the coordinates over the building itself, centered on your location, not on the sidewalk, the road or the parking entrance.

Cover photo and location photos

The cover photo and logo together form the place card header. Apple wants a single unedited photo, at least 1600 by 1040 pixels, with no promotional text, watermark or clip art. Location photos start at 720 by 960 pixels, with a limit of 100 per location, and review takes up to three business days.

Apple's standards bar stock photos, AI-generated content, added text, collages and QR codes, and require permission from every person shown. For a firm, that points to real photos of the building, the entrance and the office itself.

Showcases

A showcase is a short promotional module on the place card: a photo, a heading of up to 38 characters, a body of up to 100, and a button. It can run up to 365 days, 90 by default, and Apple asks for at least three calendar days for review. A firm might use one to announce a new office or a language now spoken at the front desk; anything about results or fees still follows your bar's rules.

Actions

Actions are buttons on the place card that link to your own site or booking tool. Apple approves them, in up to three business days. Its URL rules allow UTM tags, so you can track visits from Apple Maps in your analytics, and prohibit GCLID parameters and login trackers.

Apple says that if a customer reports your location closed when the card says open, Apple reviews the report and may edit the name, status or hours. It emails your administrators when it does. You can accept the change or contest it, and Apple reviews a contested change in up to five business days.

Insights show how many times people tapped your firm in search results, whether they searched your name or a category, how many viewed the card, and how many tapped for directions, the website or a call. Small numbers below Apple's reporting threshold show as zero, so a small firm reads them by month, not by day. Our guide to measuring AI search traffic shows where these fit next to your other sources.

An agency can manage the card for you. Apple lets a firm share access with a verified third-party partner through OAuth or a Partner Organization ID, choosing which brands and features it delegates, and says that content stays subject to the same policies as if the firm had created it.

In week one of our AI search work we pull every listing of the firm we can find. The Apple Maps card is one of those listings, and an old address there is as much a contradiction as one on a directory. In the first month mismatched details get corrected, then we keep firm name, address, phone, practice areas, hours and website the same across the Google Business Profile, Bing Places, the legal directories and the bar listing.

The website is what every listing should copy, which is why we build law firm websites with one page per office and the same name, address and phone as the listings. One family law client of our AI search work now shows up first in ChatGPT, adding 50 to 100 calls a month over the last three months.