What Is an LLM? Why Law Firms Must Optimize for Large Language Models in 2025
52% of Americans now use AI platforms like ChatGPT—and they’re using them to find lawyers. Here’s what your firm needs to know.
Last Updated: December 7, 2025 • 12 min read
📑 Table of Contents
Half of all American adults now use artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude to find information, solve problems, and make decisions—including decisions about hiring attorneys. This isn’t a prediction about the future. It’s happening right now.
According to research from Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center, 52% of U.S. adults have used a Large Language Model, with 34% using these tools daily. For law firms, this represents both an unprecedented opportunity and an existential threat: if potential clients are asking AI platforms for lawyer recommendations and your firm doesn’t appear, you’re invisible to a rapidly growing segment of your market.
This guide explains exactly what Large Language Models are, how they’re transforming client acquisition for law firms, and what your firm must do to remain visible in this new AI-powered search landscape. Whether you’re a managing partner at a major firm or a solo practitioner, understanding Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is no longer optional—it’s essential for survival.
What Is a Large Language Model (LLM)?
A Large Language Model is a type of artificial intelligence trained on massive amounts of text data—books, articles, websites, academic papers, and more—to understand and generate human-like language. Unlike traditional search engines that match keywords to web pages, LLMs actually understand the meaning behind words and can generate original, contextually relevant responses.
💡 Key Insight
The “large” in Large Language Model refers to the number of parameters—the adjustable values the model uses to make predictions. GPT-4, which powers ChatGPT, has over 1 trillion parameters. This massive scale enables these models to understand nuance, context, and meaning in ways that were impossible just a few years ago.
The most widely-used LLMs that law firms need to understand include:
- ChatGPT (OpenAI): The market leader with 501 million monthly users globally and 74% market share. ChatGPT is the most likely platform where potential clients will ask about lawyers.
- Google Gemini: Google’s multimodal AI integrated into Search, used by 50% of LLM users. Critical because it influences Google’s AI Overviews.
- Claude (Anthropic): Known for nuanced, research-quality responses and growing adoption among professionals.
- Perplexity AI: A research-focused AI search engine that provides cited answers—particularly important for complex legal questions.
- Microsoft Copilot: Integrated into Windows, Office, and Bing, used by 39% of LLM users.
- Grok (xAI): Elon Musk’s AI platform with real-time data access, growing in influence.
Each platform has different strengths and optimization requirements. Our GEO services help law firms develop platform-specific strategies for maximum visibility across all major LLMs.
The Explosive Growth of LLM Adoption: By the Numbers
The adoption of Large Language Models represents one of the fastest technology shifts in human history. Consider these statistics that demonstrate the scale and speed of this transformation:
52%
of U.S. adults use LLMs
Source: Elon University, 2025
501M
monthly ChatGPT users
Source: Hostinger, May 2025
34%
use LLMs daily
Including 10% “almost constantly”
$82.1B
projected LLM market by 2033
Source: Market Research
Demographic Adoption Patterns That Matter for Law Firms
Understanding who uses LLMs helps law firms target their optimization efforts effectively. The Elon University survey revealed surprising patterns:
- Hispanic adults (66%) and Black adults (57%) are more likely to use LLMs than White adults (47%)—suggesting AI tools may be bridging historical technology access gaps.
- Women lead adoption at 53%, a departure from typical early technology adoption patterns.
- 53% of households earning under $50,000 use LLMs, indicating broad socioeconomic penetration.
- 72% have used ChatGPT specifically, making it the dominant platform for consumer queries.
- 65% have had spoken conversations with LLMs using voice interfaces.
These patterns are particularly relevant for personal injury law firms and practices serving diverse communities. When potential clients from all demographic backgrounds are using AI to find attorneys, visibility on these platforms becomes essential for equitable access to legal services.
⚠️ Critical Statistic for Law Firms
A 2025 consumer study found that 21% of consumers would use ChatGPT in their process of researching lawyers online. This represents millions of potential clients who may never find your firm if you’re not optimized for AI visibility.
The legal industry itself is embracing AI at remarkable rates. According to Clio’s 2024 Legal Trends Report, 79% of lawyers are now using AI in their practice. Yet most firms haven’t considered how AI is changing how clients find them. This disconnect represents both a vulnerability and an opportunity for forward-thinking practices. Learn how to assess your current AI visibility with our free AI visibility audit tool.
How LLMs Work: A Non-Technical Explanation for Law Firm Leaders
Understanding the basics of how LLMs process information helps explain why traditional SEO tactics don’t translate directly to AI visibility. Here’s a simplified breakdown of the technology that’s reshaping legal marketing.
The Training Process
LLMs are trained on massive datasets containing billions of text documents. During training, the model learns patterns in language—how words relate to each other, what makes a sentence coherent, and how to reason about complex topics. Think of it like a law student who has read every legal document, news article, and website ever published, and can synthesize that knowledge into coherent responses.
Embeddings: The Secret Language of AI
When an LLM processes your law firm’s website content, it converts the text into vector embeddings—numerical representations that capture semantic meaning. These embeddings allow the AI to understand that “car accident attorney” and “motor vehicle collision lawyer” mean essentially the same thing, even though they share no words.
This is fundamentally different from traditional search engines that rely on keyword matching. An LLM can understand questions like “Who should I call if I got hurt at work and my employer is being difficult?” and match it to content about workers’ compensation attorneys—even if those exact words never appear on your website.
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Modern AI systems like ChatGPT with web access and Perplexity use a technique called Retrieval-Augmented Generation. When you ask a question, the system first retrieves relevant information from its knowledge base or the web, then uses the LLM to synthesize that information into a coherent response. This is why your firm’s content must be both findable and authoritative—the AI needs to retrieve it and trust it enough to cite it.
✅ What This Means for Your Firm
To appear in LLM responses, your content must be semantically rich (covering topics comprehensively with natural language), authoritative (demonstrating expertise through credentials, citations, and specifics), and structured (using schema markup that helps AI understand your content’s meaning and relationships). This is the foundation of effective GEO optimization.
How Consumers Use LLMs to Find and Evaluate Lawyers
The way potential clients search for legal services is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Understanding these new behaviors is essential for any law firm that wants to remain competitive.
From Keywords to Conversations
Traditional Google searches look like: “personal injury lawyer Los Angeles.” AI queries look like: “I was in a car accident last week in LA and the other driver’s insurance company is already calling me. What should I do and who should I talk to?”
This conversational approach means potential clients are providing much more context about their situation. LLMs that recommend your firm need to understand not just your practice areas, but the specific situations you handle, the outcomes you’ve achieved, and why you’re the right choice for someone in that particular circumstance.
The Rise of AI-Assisted Legal Decision Making
NBC News reported in October 2025 that a growing number of litigants are using ChatGPT and Perplexity to assist with their legal cases. While this raises concerns about accuracy (AI hallucinations remain a real problem), it demonstrates the trust consumers place in these tools. One user described it as “having God up there responding to my questions.”
Remarkably, research published in April 2025 found that non-experts trust legal advice from ChatGPT more than from human lawyers when they don’t know the source. This presents both a competitive threat and an opportunity: if you can be the attorney that AI recommends, you’re starting with an unprecedented level of inherent trust.
Real Client Acquisition Happening Now
This isn’t theoretical. Legal marketing agencies are already tracking ChatGPT as a referral source in Google Analytics for law firm clients. According to iLawyer Marketing, some firms are seeing actual leads generated through LLM recommendations. The firms that have optimized for ChatGPT visibility are getting cases while competitors remain invisible.
| Traditional Search | LLM-Based Search |
|---|---|
| Keyword-based queries | Conversational, contextual questions |
| Returns list of websites to evaluate | Provides synthesized answer with recommendations |
| User must click and read multiple sites | AI does the comparison and filtering |
| SEO-optimized content ranks higher | Authoritative, citation-worthy content gets recommended |
| Rankings based on links and keywords | Recommendations based on semantic relevance and trust signals |
Why Your Law Firm Must Optimize for LLMs: The Business Case
The shift to AI-powered search isn’t a future consideration—it’s a present reality that’s already affecting your firm’s client acquisition. Here’s why LLM optimization should be a priority in 2025.
1. The Zero-Click Future Is Here
When someone asks ChatGPT “Who’s the best divorce lawyer in Phoenix?”, they often get a direct answer without ever clicking through to a website. The AI makes the recommendation, the user accepts it. If you’re not the recommendation, you don’t exist in that interaction. This is fundamentally different from traditional search where you could at least appear in results and compete for attention.
2. First-Mover Advantage Is Real
Most law firms haven’t yet optimized for AI visibility. This means there’s a significant opportunity for early movers to establish dominance. The firms that act now can build authority and visibility before the market becomes saturated. Our clients have achieved 340% increases in AI platform citations through comprehensive GEO marketing strategies.
3. AI Is Becoming the Primary Research Tool
The research is clear: 88% of professionals say LLMs have improved the quality of their work output. As people become more comfortable using AI for important decisions, they’ll increasingly rely on it for finding professional services—including legal representation. The 21% of consumers already using ChatGPT to research lawyers is just the beginning.
4. Traditional SEO Isn’t Enough Anymore
High Google rankings don’t automatically translate to LLM visibility. AI platforms use different signals to determine which sources to cite: semantic relevance, authority signals, content freshness, and structured data all play crucial roles. A firm can rank #1 on Google for a keyword and still be invisible to ChatGPT users asking about the same topic. Understanding the differences between GEO and traditional SEO is essential.
5. ROI Potential Is Substantial
When your firm is recommended by an AI platform, the conversion dynamics are different from traditional search. The potential client already trusts the recommendation—they’re not comparing you against 10 other options. This higher-intent traffic can translate to better conversion rates and higher ROI. Use our ROI Calculator to estimate the potential impact for your practice.
LLM Optimization Strategies for Law Firms
Optimizing your law firm’s content for LLM visibility requires a multi-faceted approach. Research from Princeton and Georgia Tech shows that GEO tactics can improve AI visibility by up to 40%. Here are the key strategies your firm should implement.
Create Citation-Worthy Content
LLMs cite content that demonstrates expertise and provides concrete value. This means moving beyond generic practice area descriptions to create content that:
- Leads with direct answers—start with a 30-50 word response to the primary question
- Includes specific statistics with sources—”76% of car accident cases settle out of court (American Bar Association, 2024)”
- Demonstrates expertise through credentials—author bios, case results, years of experience
- Covers topics comprehensively—2,000-3,500 words for complex legal topics
- Uses natural language variations—cover semantic relationships, not just target keywords
Our AI content creation services are specifically designed to produce citation-worthy content that AI platforms trust and recommend.
Implement Comprehensive Schema Markup
Schema markup provides structured data that helps AI platforms understand your content’s meaning and relationships. For law firms, essential schema types include:
- LegalService schema—defines your practice areas and services
- Attorney/Person schema—establishes attorney credentials and expertise
- LocalBusiness schema—connects your firm to geographic locations
- FAQPage schema—structures Q&A content for AI retrieval
- Article schema—provides publication dates, authors, and content metadata
Use our free Attorney Schema Generator to create comprehensive schema markup for your firm.
Optimize for Each Major Platform
Different AI platforms have different optimization requirements. A comprehensive LLM strategy addresses each platform’s unique characteristics:
- ChatGPT: Conversational Q&A format, clear definitions, natural language
- Google Gemini: Leverage Google ecosystem signals, schema markup, E-E-A-T
- Claude: Nuanced perspectives, balanced coverage, logical argumentation
- Perplexity: Research-quality citations, academic tone, authoritative sources
- Microsoft Copilot: Bing integration, professional context, enterprise signals
Build Authority Through Strategic Content Architecture
LLMs assess topical authority by understanding how your content relates across your website. Building topical authority requires a hub-and-spoke content architecture where pillar pages link to detailed supporting content, creating a semantic web that demonstrates deep expertise.
For example, a family law firm might have a pillar page on divorce proceedings that links to detailed pages on child custody, asset division, spousal support, and mediation. This architecture helps AI platforms understand that your firm has comprehensive expertise in the full scope of family law matters.
Maintain Content Freshness
AI platforms prioritize current information. Implement a content freshness strategy that includes updating published dates in schema, displaying “Last updated” dates visibly on pages, referencing current year statistics, and reviewing content quarterly at minimum. This signals to AI platforms that your information is reliable and current.
Frequently Asked Questions About LLMs for Law Firms
The Bottom Line: Act Now or Fall Behind
Large Language Models represent the most significant shift in how consumers find professional services since the advent of Google search. With 52% of Americans already using AI tools like ChatGPT, and 21% specifically using them to research lawyers, the window for establishing AI visibility is narrowing.
The firms that optimize for LLM visibility today will be the ones capturing this new channel of high-intent client inquiries tomorrow. Those that wait will find themselves invisible to a growing segment of their potential market—and playing catch-up to competitors who moved first.
InterCore Technologies has been at the forefront of AI-powered legal marketing since 2002. Our comprehensive Generative Engine Optimization services help law firms achieve visibility across all major AI platforms while maintaining strong traditional search performance. We’ve helped clients achieve 340% increases in AI platform citations and ROI ratios of 18:1 to 21:1.
The question isn’t whether your firm should optimize for LLMs—it’s whether you’ll do it before your competitors do.
Ready to Make Your Law Firm Visible to AI Platforms?
InterCore Technologies has helped law firms achieve 340% increases in AI platform citations. Let’s discuss how LLM optimization can transform your client acquisition strategy.
InterCore Technologies • 13428 Maxella Ave, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 • sales@intercore.net

Scott Wiseman
CEO & Founder, InterCore Technologies
Scott Wiseman has pioneered AI-powered marketing solutions for law firms since founding InterCore Technologies in 2002. With over 20 years of experience in legal technology, he leads InterCore’s development of Generative Engine Optimization strategies that have achieved documented results including 340% increases in AI platform visibility for law firm clients.
Frequently Asked Questions About LLM Embeddings
Understanding how embeddings work is essential for law firms looking to optimize content for AI-powered search platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity. These answers address the core concepts behind embedding technology and its implications for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
Get Your Law Firm Discovered by AI Platforms
InterCore Technologies has helped law firms achieve 340% increases in AI platform citations. Let’s discuss how embedding optimization can transform your firm’s digital visibility.
InterCore Technologies • 13428 Maxella Ave, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 • sales@intercore.net