Questions worth asking
- What will you measure, where does each number come from, and do you keep AI citations separate from consultations?
- Can you show dated examples of past work, with the reporting period and the source of each figure?
- What do you promise, and what do you tell clients no one can promise?
- Who checks each page against our state's advertising rules, and who approves it before it goes live?
- Will any of our client information go into an AI tool, and what are your security and confidentiality terms?
- What is the price, what is excluded, and can we stop after the first project?
- Do you work with a competing firm in our practice area and market?
Why these questions
Google's own guidance on hiring an SEO suggests asking for examples of previous work, what results to expect and in what timeframe, and how the provider measures success. It also says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. AI answers vary by person, place, and day, so the same caution applies to citations.
The legal questions carry more weight. ABA Model Rule 7.1 bars false or misleading communications about a lawyer's services, and a page stays your communication no matter who drafted it. ABA Formal Opinion 512, issued July 29, 2024, says the principles for outsourcing work to third-party providers also apply to generative AI providers, and lists steps such as reference checks, understanding a vendor's security policies, and confidentiality agreements. We cover the AI side in whether lawyers can use AI to write their websites.
How we answer them
We report seven measures, each kept separate, and we do not guarantee rankings, citations, or cases. The foundation is a fixed-price project of 30 to 60 days, ongoing work starts at $1,500 per month and runs month to month, and we work with one firm per practice area per market. You approve every page before it is published. The cost question has its own answer in what AEO costs a law firm.
Go deeper
The AI search guide for law firms links every state and practice guide. For an example of the rule-by-rule review any provider should be able to do for your state, see the North Carolina guide.
Common questions
Is a guarantee of AI citations a red flag?
Yes. Assistants choose their own sources, and answers change from one conversation to the next. Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and no provider controls what an AI assistant writes either.