Legal directories
Which legal directories should a law firm claim?
What Avvo, Justia, FindLaw, Super Lawyers, "Best Lawyers", the bar listing, Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps and the BBB are, what claiming each involves, and which to do first.
By Santiago Alvarez, Founder, Ad Hoc Digital
Last updated
The short answer
If you read one part of this page, read this.
Start with your state bar or law society listing, then the profiles on Avvo, Justia and FindLaw, then the general listings that feed maps and assistants: Bing Places, Apple Business, Yelp and the BBB. Super Lawyers and "Best Lawyers" can't be claimed; they're earned by selection, and only then is there a profile to keep current.
Many of these listings exist before anyone at the firm touches them: Yelp, Bing and Apple all describe claiming a listing that's already there. Claiming lets you correct what's shown, and the job is the same everywhere: one firm name, address, phone, list of lawyers and practice areas, matching your website word for word.
That match is what AI tools read when they decide whether they're sure about you. Paid upgrades are optional, and how you mention a rating or award in your own ads is a bar rule question. We work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK.
Why claim at all
AI tools and searchers read these listings whether you've touched them or not.
An unclaimed profile still shows your name. Claiming decides whether what it shows is right.
When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot for a lawyer, the answer is usually built from what a web search returns, and legal directories come back constantly. Our guide to where AI tools find lawyers covers the published study of which directories got cited and what each platform documents, so we won't repeat it here. This guide is the next step: what each directory is and what claiming it involves.
Consistency is the reason to bother. A firm with one address on its website, another on Avvo and a third in Apple Maps gives every tool three versions to choose from. Microsoft says Bing may show business details such as hours and location for business searches, and that owners can claim and verify listings through Bing Places for Business to correct them. That's why Copilot and the Bing side matter as much as Google.
The list
Each directory, what claiming costs by its own page, what to fill in, and when.
Cost is what each directory's own page says. Priority is our judgment from client work, and the directories cited for your case types in your city come first.
| Directory | What it is | Claim cost (its own page) | What to fill in | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State bar or law society listing | The regulator's public record of each lawyer | Part of licensing | Address, phone, firm name, kept current by the lawyer | First |
| Avvo | Lawyer directory | Not confirmed: its pages wouldn't open for us | Details matching your bar record, practice areas, bio | High |
| Justia | Lawyer directory | Not confirmed: its pages wouldn't open for us | Practice areas, office, bio, matching the website | High |
| FindLaw | Directory network: FindLaw.com, LawInfo.com, Abogado.com | Profile Update for listings; Premium Profile from $158 a month | Firm and lawyer details, practice areas | High |
| Bing Places | Microsoft's business listing for Bing and Bing Maps | Not stated on the page we opened | Name, address, phone, hours, website, category | High |
| Apple Business | Place card on Apple Maps, Siri and other Apple apps | Not stated on Apple's pages | Location, category, phone, website, hours, photos | Medium |
| Yelp | Consumer reviews and business listings | Free listing | Category, hours, phone, website; no review requests | Medium |
| BBB | Better Business Bureau business profile | Free profile; accreditation is a separate program | Business name, address, phone, website | Lower |
| Super Lawyers | Selection-based list, part of FindLaw's network | No payment to be selected; upgrades sold | If selected: profile details and practice areas | If selected |
| "Best Lawyers" | Peer-review recognition | Recognized lawyers listed at no cost | If recognized: keep the listing accurate | If recognized |
What claiming involves
Each directory has its own claim process, and most take minutes once you know where to go.
What follows comes from each directory's own claim, support or about pages, opened on October 25, 2026.
- Your bar or law society listing
This one isn't optional, and the lawyer keeps it current. In California, for example, the State Bar says lawyers report contact changes through My State Bar Profile, must report a new address within 30 days, and that the address of record is posted on the bar's website. Other bars run their own versions, so check your own.
- Avvo and Justia
Both are lawyer directories that show up for lawyer searches, so they're on our list. Their own pages refused our requests when we checked on October 25, 2026, so we don't describe their claim terms, ratings or paid placements here. Claim through each directory's own site, copy the details from your bar record and website, and read the current terms before buying anything.
- FindLaw
FindLaw runs four directories: FindLaw.com, SuperLawyers.com, Abogado.com and LawInfo.com. Its support page says lawyers manage their FindLaw Lawyer Directory profile through Profile Update. A Premium Profile with more prominent placement starts at $158 a month, by FindLaw's own page.
- Super Lawyers
You can't claim your way onto this one. Super Lawyers says lawyers are selected each year, state by state, through peer nominations, its own research on 12 indicators and a peer evaluation, with five percent of a state's lawyers selected. Lawyers can't nominate themselves, and Super Lawyers says selected lawyers are published at no charge whether they advertise or not. Once selected, a lawyer can edit the profile online, and adding a photo needs an upgraded profile.
- "Best Lawyers"
"Best Lawyers" describes its recognition as based entirely on peer review. Anyone can nominate a lawyer, including the lawyer, and currently recognized lawyers give feedback on candidates. Recognized lawyers appear at no cost in its regional magazines.
- Yelp
Yelp says the simplest way to claim is to search for the business at biz.yelp.com or in the Yelp for Business app, with phone verification. A claimed page can show as unclaimed again after a period of inactivity, so log in now and then.
- Bing Places and Apple Business
Bing Places for Business lets owners claim and verify existing listings, in the markets where it's offered. Apple Business Connect is now part of Apple Business, where a firm adds its location, picks a primary category and verifies the organization. Our Apple Business Connect guide walks through Apple's steps.
- BBB
The BBB's own page offers to claim a free BBB Business Profile or request a new one. Accreditation is a separate program; we couldn't open its standards page today, so we don't describe its terms.
Reviews, ratings and awards
Two rules trip firms up: Yelp's ban on asking for reviews, and the bar rules on mentioning awards.
Neither stops you claiming a profile. Both change what you do after.
Yelp's support page is direct: don't ask anyone to review your business, including customers, friends and family, because its software may not recommend reviews that seem prompted by the business. So claim Yelp and keep it accurate, and put your review requests into Google. Our guide to reviews and AI search covers where the asking should go.
Ratings and awards are a bar rule question once you use them in your own marketing. Our state guides set out what each regulator says, and they don't all agree:
- California: since January 1, 2026, a reference to an award is allowed only if it isn't given for membership and the organization doesn't charge or solicit a fee for it. See our California guide.
- Florida: bona fide awards, using the award's real name and the date given. See our Florida guide.
- New Jersey: honors and ratings are allowed if the conferrer checked the lawyer's fitness, didn't sell the honor, and describes its method. See our New Jersey guide.
- Ontario: an award that isn't bona fide, or was given partly for a fee, breaches the rule. See our Ontario guide.
Some of these directories sell upgrades, plaques or placements alongside their ratings, so check your own jurisdiction before a badge goes on the website or the Business Profile. Our lawyer advertising rules hub links every state and province we cover. This is a plain summary for marketing planning, not legal advice. Check the current rule with your bar or law society.
Step by step
How to claim and clean up your directory listings in one pass.
Do it in this order, so every later listing copies from one set of details you've already checked.
Write the master record
Firm name exactly as on the sign and website, address, main phone, hours, website, each lawyer's name as on the bar record, and the practice areas you want to be known for.
Fix the bar listing first
It's the regulator's record, and every other listing should match it. Each lawyer updates it through the bar's own system.
Claim the legal directories
Avvo, Justia and FindLaw, each copied from the master record. Add the same practice areas, in the same words, on each.
Claim the map listings
Bing Places, Apple Business and your Google Business Profile, with the same category logic and the same phone number on all three.
Claim Yelp and the BBB
Accurate details only. No review requests on Yelp.
Make the website say it too
The website is the source the others should match. Structured data labels the same name, address and lawyers for machines.
Set a reminder
Every few months, log in to each one. Profiles drift, and Yelp can mark an inactive page unclaimed.
What changes the answer
Your practice, your city and your country change which listings matter.
The table is a starting order, not a rule. These are the things that move a directory up or down.
- Your case types. The directories cited for one case type can differ from another in the same city. Our personal injury guide shows how much that varies for injury searches.
- Your city. Run your own questions in ChatGPT, Copilot and Google and note which directories come back. Our guide to checking what AI says about your firm shows how.
- Your country. Outside the US, the regulator's register and the general map listings come first. Check whether a US legal directory lists lawyers in your country before spending time on it.
- Your offices. Each real office needs its own listing on the map platforms; a firm with one office should have one of each.
- Recent changes. A move, a new phone number or a lawyer leaving turns every old listing into a contradiction until it's fixed.
What we check
When we onboard a firm, we pull every listing we can find before fixing any of them.
The mismatches are usually in places the firm forgot it had.
In week one of our AI search work, we pull every listing of the firm we can find. In the first month, mismatched details get corrected on Google, Bing Places and the directories, because mismatches are among the commonest reasons we see an AI tool hedge about a firm. We claim the directories that matter for the firm's practice area and keep firm name, address, phone, practice areas, hours and website identical on the Google Business Profile, Bing Places, the legal directories, the bar or law society listing and the social profiles.
Where the website itself needs to carry the same facts more clearly, that's part of how we build law firm websites. One family law client of our AI search work now shows up first in ChatGPT and has added 50 to 100 calls a month over the last three months.
Common mistakes
Where firms go wrong.
What we find most often when we audit a firm's listings.
Never claiming the free profiles
Many listings exist anyway, built from whatever the directory found. Unclaimed, it can carry an old address or a lawyer who left.
A different name on every site
"Rivera Law", "Rivera Law Group PLLC" and "Law Office of J. Rivera" read as three firms. Pick one form and use it everywhere.
Skipping the bar listing
It's the regulator's record, it's public, and directories match against it. An outdated bar address contradicts everything else.
Asking clients for Yelp reviews
Yelp says its software may not recommend reviews that look prompted by the business. Ask on Google instead.
Putting a badge on the site without checking the rule
In some places an award that was paid for, or given for membership, can't be advertised. Check your state guide first.
Real results
What this looked like for real firms.
Three AI search and reputation results: a family law firm now showing up first in ChatGPT, a full practice pivot backed by AI visibility, and a new business law firm that people now approach first.
Identifying details are anonymized to protect our clients. Individual result, not a promise or prediction of any specific outcome for your firm.
FAQ
Questions lawyers ask us.
Straight answers to the questions that come up most.
Are legal directories worth it for a law firm?
Claiming your profiles is, because many already show your firm and AI tools read them. Paying for placement is a separate decision. Check which directories are cited for your case types in your city before spending anything.
Should we pay for Avvo, Justia or FindLaw upgrades?
Claim and correct the listing first, then decide. FindLaw's own page prices its Premium Profile from $158 a month. Avvo's and Justia's pages wouldn't open for us when we checked, so read their current terms on their own sites.
Can I pay to get on Super Lawyers or "Best Lawyers"?
Super Lawyers says no lawyer pays to be published and advertising doesn't improve the chances of selection. "Best Lawyers" says recognition is based entirely on peer review. Both sell marketing products separately.
Can I mention my Super Lawyers or Avvo rating in ads?
It depends on your jurisdiction. Florida wants the award's real name and date, New Jersey wants a conferrer that checked fitness and didn't sell it, and California bars awards that were paid for or given for membership. Our lawyer advertising rules hub links each one.
Which directory matters for ChatGPT and Copilot?
The ones cited when you ask about your case types in your city. No platform publishes a list. Copilot works from Bing's results, so Bing Places belongs on the list for every firm.
What about Martindale and Lawyers.com?
They show up in AI answers for some searches, so we claim them for firms where they're cited. Their pages wouldn't open for us when we wrote this, so we haven't described their claim process here.
Do Canadian firms need Avvo or Justia?
Check whether they list Canadian lawyers before spending time on them. The law society's own directory comes first, then the general listings such as Bing Places, Apple Maps and Yelp, with "lawyer" used everywhere. If you'd like us to pull your listings, get in touch.
Where we do this
The services this guide touches.
What this looks like when we run it for a firm, with a demo for your practice on each page.
Sources
Where these facts come from.
Official pages we read when writing this page. Martindale.com, Lawyers.com, Avvo and Justia refused our requests when we tried to open their pages on October 25, 2026, so their claim terms, ratings and prices are left out. The BBB's accreditation standards page also wouldn't open, so accreditation terms aren't described. Platforms and rules change, so check the current version before you act on any of it. This is marketing guidance, not legal advice.
- FindLaw, Lawyer Marketing
- FindLaw, Customer Support
- FindLaw, Legal Directory Advertising
- Super Lawyers, Selection Process
- Super Lawyers, Attorney FAQ
- Best Lawyers, Methodology
- The State Bar of California, Address Change
- Yelp for Business Support, How do I claim a business page
- Yelp for Business
- Yelp Support Center, Don't Ask for Reviews
- Microsoft Support, How Bing delivers search results
- Apple Business User Guide, Add a single location
- BBB, Submit a business to our directory
Written by
Founder of Ad Hoc Digital. Leads strategy and works directly with every client firm on AI search, Local Services Ads, Google Ads and Meta ads.
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