How does Google Gemini decide which law firms to name?

The difference matters because Google gives each its own lever. Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode, is controlled by the normal Googlebot rules and snippet settings. The Gemini app's use of your content for grounding is controlled by Google-Extended.

Both draw on the same Google index, so most of the groundwork is shared. The AI Overviews and AI Mode guide covers the Search side. This guide covers what's specific to Gemini: where it reads, how it handles location, and how to test it.

Google's crawler page says Google-Extended lets a site manage whether its content may be used to train future Gemini models and for grounding in Gemini Apps, meaning content from the Search index given to the model at prompt time. It also says the token doesn't affect inclusion in Google Search and isn't a ranking signal.

Most "block AI" advice treats it as a training switch. It is also a grounding switch. A firm that disallows Google-Extended to keep its articles out of training is also telling Google not to ground Gemini's answers in them, which is where a person asking Gemini for a lawyer would have found the firm.

That list explains a common surprise. A firm fills in its profile carefully, and Gemini still repeats an old phone number, because a third-party data source or an old page on the firm's own site says something different. The fix is upstream: every source has to agree.

1. 1

   Verify and complete the profile

   Google says verified businesses are more likely to show up and that complete, accurate profiles do better. Primary category, every service you offer, hours, and an address only if clients visit it. Our Business Profile guide covers the law-firm rules.

2. 2

   Make the website match the profile

   Google crawls the firm's official website as a profile source. Same name, address, phone and practice areas on both, down to the suite number.

3. 3

   Keep reviews coming and reply to them

   Google lists review count and ratings under prominence and recommends replying. A review that names the work, such as "they handled my mother's guardianship", is public text Gemini can read. Our guide on reviews and AI search goes further.

4. 4

   Answer Google's update requests

   Google sometimes calls or texts the number on the profile to confirm details. Whoever answers your phones should know those calls are normal, so the profile doesn't drift.

A worked example, hypothetical: an estate planning firm with a complete profile, 40 reviews and a solid site, but robots.txt blocking Google-Extended after a plugin update. Its Search visibility is untouched, because the token doesn't affect Search.

Its Gemini grounding is gone, though. Removing one line fixes it, and no ranking report would have shown the problem.

One client pivoted from family law into estate planning, and prospective clients started finding the firm inside ChatGPT and similar tools while we built its new reputation. Another, a new business and labor law firm, spent six months on a credible presence everywhere a prospect might look, and now people approach the firm first.

That kind of presence is what Gemini grounds on. More on how estate planning clients choose a firm in estate planning marketing.

This is the work inside our AI search service, and the step-by-step action plan lays it out across every AI tool. We don't sell SEO as a separate service; the Search groundwork Gemini depends on is part of it.