What Questions Should I Ask an AI SEO/GEO Agency Before Hiring Them?

The Complete Vetting Guide for Law Firms Evaluating AI Marketing Partners

The legal marketing landscape has transformed dramatically since 2023. As of June 2025, Pew Research Center reports that 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT—double the share from 2023. Among adults with postgraduate degrees (your potential clients), that figure reaches 52%. For younger demographics most likely to seek legal services, adoption climbs to 58% among those under 30. These statistics reveal a fundamental shift in how prospective clients discover and evaluate law firms: they’re increasingly turning to AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, and Claude AI for recommendations before they ever visit a law firm’s website.

This shift has created a gold rush of agencies claiming “AI expertise.” Every traditional SEO firm has rebranded as an “AI marketing agency” or “AI-powered SEO provider.” But there’s a critical distinction most law firms miss: the vast majority of these agencies simply use AI tools like ChatGPT to speed up content creation. They didn’t develop AI systems. They don’t understand how Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) differs from traditional SEO. They can’t explain how AI platforms determine which sources to cite. And when pressed for measurement frameworks or proof of results, they offer vague promises instead of documented methodologies.

For law firms investing $3,000–$15,000 monthly in marketing, choosing the wrong agency doesn’t just waste money—it costs you cases. While your competitors appear in ChatGPT responses and Perplexity citations, your firm remains invisible to half your potential clients. This guide provides the exact questions to ask before signing any contract, the red flags that signal inexperience, and the technical capabilities that separate true AI developers from agencies that simply use AI writing tools. Whether you’re evaluating agencies in Los Angeles, San Diego, or anywhere across our 35 national office locations, these questions apply universally.

Why Vetting AI Marketing Agencies Is More Critical Than Ever

The AI Marketing Gold Rush Has Flooded the Market with Inexperienced Providers

Between 2023 and 2025, the number of agencies advertising “AI marketing services” increased by over 400%, according to analysis of Google Ads data across major metropolitan markets. This explosive growth wasn’t driven by agencies developing AI expertise—it was driven by agencies adding “AI-powered” to their existing service descriptions. The barrier to entry is remarkably low: purchase a ChatGPT Plus subscription ($20/month), use it to generate blog posts faster, and rebrand as an “AI agency.” The result is a market flooded with providers who fundamentally misunderstand how AI platforms work, how users interact with them, and how to optimize for citability.

This distinction matters enormously for law firms. Traditional SEO optimization focused on search engine algorithms—technical factors like page speed, backlink profiles, and keyword density. Generative Engine Optimization, by contrast, focuses on how large language models (LLMs) retrieve, evaluate, and cite information. Published research from the 30th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD ’24, Barcelona, Spain, August 25-29, 2024) identified nine distinct GEO tactics that improve citation rates in AI-generated responses. Agencies that don’t understand this research—or can’t explain how they implement these tactics—are fundamentally unequipped to optimize your law firm for AI visibility.

AI Adoption Has Created a Two-Tiered Market for Legal Services

The Pew Research Center data reveals a dramatic divide: among adults with postgraduate degrees—your most valuable potential clients for complex litigation, business law, estate planning, and other high-value services—52% have used ChatGPT. This demographic doesn’t just use AI platforms for casual queries. They use them to research attorneys, compare law firms, understand their legal options, and generate initial questions before consultations. When these prospects ask “Who are the best personal injury attorneys in Columbus?” or “What should I look for in a business litigation lawyer in Indianapolis?”, the AI platforms they trust provide immediate, conversational responses. If your firm isn’t cited in those responses, you’ve lost the case before the prospect ever visits your website.

Traditional marketing agencies optimized for prospects who begin their journey on Google. They understand how to rank for “personal injury lawyer near me” or “divorce attorney Cincinnati.” But AI-driven searches function entirely differently. Users don’t click through ten blue links—they receive synthesized answers with embedded citations. They ask follow-up questions. They request comparisons. And crucially, they trust AI-generated recommendations more than traditional search results, according to early research on user behavior with conversational AI platforms. Law firms working with agencies that don’t understand this fundamental behavioral shift are optimizing for yesterday’s client acquisition patterns while their competitors capture tomorrow’s clients.

The Cost of Choosing Wrong Goes Beyond Wasted Marketing Spend

When a law firm hires an inexperienced agency, the damage extends far beyond the monthly retainer. Poor-quality content optimized for outdated SEO tactics can actually harm your AI visibility. Content stuffed with keywords, thin on substance, or lacking authoritative citations gets filtered out by AI platforms’ quality assessment mechanisms. Websites with technical errors, slow load times, or poor mobile experiences face similar penalties. And perhaps most damaging, agencies that promise “guaranteed ChatGPT rankings” or “first-page Google AI Overview placement” are selling services they cannot possibly deliver—no agency controls how AI platforms select sources or generate responses.

The opportunity cost compounds over time. While you’re locked into a 12-month contract with an agency that produces generic blog posts and outdated link-building tactics, your competitors are implementing sophisticated AI-powered SEO strategies that establish authority across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, Claude, and Microsoft Copilot simultaneously. They’re building citation profiles. They’re optimizing for conversational queries. They’re measuring their AI visibility systematically. By the time your contract expires and you switch to a competent agency, you’re starting from months behind competitors who chose correctly from the beginning.

Questions About AI Development Experience vs. AI Tool Usage

“How Long Have You Been Developing AI Systems—Not Just Using AI Tools?”

This is the single most important question to ask, and the answer reveals everything. Most agencies will respond with something like “We’ve been using AI since ChatGPT launched in 2022” or “We implemented AI tools across our entire workflow in 2023.” These answers describe tool adoption, not development experience. What you want to hear is specific, verifiable information about building AI systems: “We’ve been developing natural language processing systems since 2002” or “Our team has published research on machine learning applications” or “We built custom AI integrations for client platforms starting in 2015.”

The distinction is critical because agencies that build AI systems understand how they work at a fundamental level. They know how training data influences model outputs. They understand retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures that AI platforms use to pull information from external sources. They can explain the difference between fine-tuning, prompt engineering, and embedding optimization. Agencies that merely use AI tools treat them as black boxes—they know how to input prompts and receive outputs, but they can’t explain why certain content gets cited while other content gets ignored. For law firms investing in ChatGPT optimization or Perplexity AI visibility, this knowledge gap means the difference between strategic implementation and random guesswork.

“Can You Explain How Large Language Models Retrieve and Cite Information?”

This technical question quickly separates experienced AI developers from agencies that use AI writing tools. A competent answer should cover retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), the process by which AI platforms access external information sources beyond their training data. The agency should be able to explain that models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude use embedding-based search to identify potentially relevant documents, then apply quality filters and ranking mechanisms to determine which sources to cite in generated responses. They should understand that citation likelihood depends on factors like source authority, content freshness, structural clarity, and semantic relevance to the query.

Agencies that can’t answer this question competently cannot optimize your content for AI citability—full stop. They might be able to write decent blog posts, but they’re doing so blindly, without understanding what makes content citable in AI-generated responses. This is equivalent to hiring an SEO agency in 2010 that couldn’t explain how PageRank worked or what backlinks were. The foundational knowledge simply isn’t there. For law firms with offices across markets like Columbus, Cleveland, or Indianapolis, this technical expertise determines whether your locations appear in AI responses for “best [practice area] attorneys in [city]” queries.

“What AI Systems Have You Built or Customized for Clients?”

This question demands specific examples with verifiable details. Strong answers include building custom chatbots for client intake, developing AI-powered document analysis tools, creating automated content optimization systems, implementing intelligent lead scoring models, or integrating AI capabilities into existing practice management platforms. Weak answers involve vague descriptions of “using AI for content creation” or “implementing AI tools across our processes.” The difference reveals whether the agency possesses genuine development capabilities or simply subscribes to commercial AI services.

For law firms specifically, ask whether they’ve built systems that understand legal terminology, comply with attorney advertising regulations, or handle practice-area-specific optimization. An agency that has genuinely developed AI systems for legal marketing will have encountered challenges like ensuring compliance with State Bar ethics rules, optimizing for location-specific legal queries, or structuring content to answer common legal questions accurately. These experiences demonstrate depth beyond surface-level AI tool usage and indicate the agency can navigate the unique requirements of legal marketing.

“Who on Your Team Has Technical AI/ML Backgrounds, and What Are Their Credentials?”

Marketing agencies employ marketers, writers, and designers—roles that typically don’t require machine learning expertise. But agencies claiming to provide AI optimization services need team members who understand AI systems at a technical level. Ask for specific credentials: Do they have developers with computer science degrees? Do team members have experience with machine learning frameworks like TensorFlow or PyTorch? Have they completed relevant certifications or training programs? Can they point to published work, conference presentations, or open-source contributions?

The absence of technical credentials doesn’t necessarily disqualify an agency—but it should prompt deeper questions about how they developed their AI expertise and what distinguishes their approach from agencies that simply use AI writing tools. An agency built around AI development since 2002, for example, would have team members whose careers span the evolution from early natural language processing to modern large language models. This historical perspective provides insights that agencies founded in 2023 to capitalize on the ChatGPT boom simply cannot offer.

Questions About GEO Implementation and Methodology

“What Is Your Specific Methodology for Generative Engine Optimization?”

Agencies claiming GEO expertise should be able to articulate a clear, research-backed methodology. The foundational academic research on Generative Engine Optimization was published in the Proceedings of the 30th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD ’24), held in Barcelona, Spain, August 25-29, 2024. This peer-reviewed paper by Aggarwal, Murahari, Rajpurohit, Kalyan, Narasimhan, and Deshpande identified nine core GEO tactics: authoritative citation addition, quotation enhancement, statistical content integration, fluency optimization, unique word incorporation, technical term clarification, source addition, easy-to-understand formatting, and claim generalization. Agencies should be able to reference this research and explain how they implement these tactics specifically for legal content.

If an agency responds with vague descriptions like “we optimize for AI” or “we make your content AI-friendly,” that’s a red flag. A competent answer explains their process for identifying citable statements, structuring content for excerpt extraction, implementing structured data that AI platforms can parse, and optimizing for conversational query patterns. For law firms, this methodology should account for practice-area specificity, geographic targeting, and compliance with legal advertising ethics. An agency working with personal injury firms in San Diego needs different GEO tactics than one serving estate planning attorneys in Cincinnati.

“How Do You Optimize for Different AI Platforms—ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, Claude?”

Each major AI platform operates differently and prioritizes different types of content. ChatGPT emphasizes conversational clarity and structured information. Perplexity prioritizes academic rigor and authoritative citations. Google Gemini integrates deeply with Google’s existing search infrastructure and favors content that performs well in traditional search. Claude emphasizes nuanced understanding and long-form context. Microsoft Copilot combines Bing search data with AI capabilities. An experienced agency should be able to explain these differences and describe how they tailor content for each platform’s specific characteristics.

For law firms, platform-specific optimization means understanding which platforms your potential clients use for different types of legal queries. Research-intensive queries about complex litigation might flow through Perplexity, which emphasizes academic-quality sources. Quick questions about local attorneys might go through ChatGPT, which excels at conversational recommendations. Business attorneys researching AI implementation for clients might use Claude, which handles technical documentation effectively. Your agency should demonstrate awareness of these usage patterns and explain how they optimize across multiple platforms simultaneously. Our comprehensive guides on Google Gemini optimization, Claude AI optimization, and Microsoft Copilot optimization detail platform-specific strategies.

“What Structured Data and Schema Markup Do You Implement for AI Optimization?”

Structured data serves a critical role in GEO that many agencies overlook. While traditional SEO uses schema markup primarily for rich snippets in Google search results, AI platforms rely on structured data to understand content relationships, verify factual claims, and extract specific information types. An experienced agency should implement comprehensive schema markup including Organization, LocalBusiness, LegalService, Attorney, FAQPage, Article, and specialized types like AggregateRating and Review when appropriate for legal services marketing.

Ask specifically about JSON-LD implementation (the format Google and AI platforms prefer), schema validation processes, and how they structure data for multi-location law firms. For practices with offices across markets like Akron, Toledo, and Dayton, proper schema markup helps AI platforms understand geographic service areas, office locations, and jurisdiction-specific expertise. Agencies that respond with vague references to “basic schema” or can’t explain JSON-LD versus microdata formats lack the technical depth needed for effective GEO implementation.

“How Do You Handle Content Freshness and Updates for AI Visibility?”

AI platforms prioritize current information, particularly for time-sensitive topics like legal trends, recent case law, or changing regulations. An agency’s content strategy should include systematic updates to existing content, not just creation of new pages. Ask how they determine which content needs updating, what their update schedule looks like, and how they signal freshness to AI platforms through proper date stamping, change logs, and structured data updates. For legal content covering evolving areas like AI regulation, data privacy law, or cryptocurrency litigation, content freshness directly impacts citation rates.

The agency should also explain their approach to deprecating outdated content that might harm your AI visibility. Old blog posts with incorrect legal information, discontinued service pages, or content about superseded regulations can reduce overall domain authority in AI platform assessments. A sophisticated content governance strategy identifies, updates, or removes problematic content systematically rather than letting it accumulate indefinitely.

Questions About Measurement and Proof of Results

“What Specific Metrics Do You Use to Measure GEO Performance?”

GEO measurement differs fundamentally from traditional SEO metrics. While SEO tracks rankings, organic traffic, and conversions, GEO requires measuring citation rates, mention frequency, answer accuracy, and competitive positioning within AI-generated responses. An experienced agency should present a clear measurement framework that includes: baseline documentation of current AI visibility before implementation begins, defined query sets covering your practice areas and locations, consistent testing cadence (monthly or bi-weekly query testing), and comparative metrics tracking your performance against competitors.

Ask to see examples of their reporting dashboards or measurement tools. They should track which specific queries generate citations for your firm, how your citation rate trends over time, what types of content perform best across different platforms, and how your AI visibility correlates with website traffic and lead generation. Agencies that can’t provide specific measurement methodologies are essentially asking you to trust that their work produces results without any verifiable way to confirm effectiveness. This is unacceptable for marketing investments of $36,000–$180,000 annually.

“Can You Provide Case Studies or Examples of Improved AI Visibility for Law Firms?”

Concrete examples reveal more than abstract promises. Ask for specific case studies showing before-and-after AI citation rates, screenshots of client mentions in ChatGPT or Perplexity responses, or data demonstrating improved visibility over defined time periods. The case studies should include details about the law firm’s practice areas, geographic markets, starting baseline, implementation timeline, specific tactics deployed, and quantifiable results achieved. Vague claims like “we’ve helped hundreds of law firms improve their AI presence” mean nothing without verifiable data.

Pay attention to whether the case studies involve firms comparable to yours. An agency that primarily works with solo practitioners may not have experience with multi-location practices spanning markets like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. Similarly, agencies focused on criminal defense may lack experience with complex civil litigation or business law marketing. The best case studies demonstrate success with firms similar to yours in size, practice areas, and geographic scope.

“How Long Does It Typically Take to See Measurable Results from GEO Implementation?”

Realistic timelines demonstrate industry experience. AI platforms don’t update their knowledge bases instantly—there’s lag time between content publication and AI platform indexing. For most law firms, initial citation improvements appear within 2-4 months of implementing comprehensive GEO strategies, with more substantial visibility gains developing over 6-12 months. Agencies promising “immediate ChatGPT rankings” or “first-page AI results in 30 days” are either lying or fundamentally misunderstand how AI platforms work.

The timeline should account for content creation velocity, technical implementation requirements, and the complexity of your practice areas. A solo personal injury attorney in a single market might see results faster than a 50-attorney firm with seven practice areas across fifteen states. Ask the agency to provide realistic timelines based on your specific situation, including what early indicators (increased branded searches, improved engagement metrics, early citation appearances) you should watch for before full visibility materializes.

“What Happens If Results Don’t Meet Expectations?”

Performance guarantees in AI marketing are impossible to provide legitimately—no agency controls how ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google Gemini select sources. However, reputable agencies should offer clear accountability structures. This might include monthly performance reviews against agreed-upon KPIs, adjustment periods where strategies pivot based on early results, or contract flexibility if fundamental approach changes become necessary. Ask specifically about their policy if citation rates don’t improve after 6 months of implementation, or if competitive analysis shows your AI visibility declining relative to competitors.

Also inquire about their diagnostic process when results underperform. Experienced agencies will investigate whether the issue stems from technical implementation problems, content quality gaps, insufficient domain authority, or external factors like increased competitor activity or platform algorithm changes. Agencies that respond defensively to questions about underperformance or that can’t articulate a systematic troubleshooting process should raise concerns about their accountability and problem-solving capabilities.

Questions About Legal Industry Expertise

“How Do You Ensure Compliance with Attorney Advertising Rules and Bar Ethics Guidelines?”

Legal marketing operates under strict regulatory constraints that don’t apply to most industries. Every U.S. state maintains specific rules about attorney advertising through their respective bar associations. Content must avoid prohibited guarantees (“we win every case”), misleading claims about results, inappropriate client testimonials, or other violations that could result in bar complaints or disciplinary action. An agency with genuine legal industry experience should be able to cite specific rule numbers from your state bar’s professional conduct guidelines and explain how their content creation process ensures compliance.

This becomes particularly important for GEO because AI platforms may extract and cite content out of context. A statement that’s compliant when read in full might become problematic when quoted as a standalone excerpt in a ChatGPT response. Ask how the agency structures content to remain compliant even when AI platforms excerpt individual sentences or paragraphs. Their answer should demonstrate awareness of this challenge and describe specific writing techniques that maintain compliance across different citation contexts. For firms with offices in multiple states like Florida, New York, and Illinois, compliance complexity multiplies—the agency must navigate varying state regulations simultaneously.

“What Experience Do You Have Marketing Different Practice Areas?”

Practice areas have fundamentally different marketing dynamics. Personal injury marketing emphasizes quick response, emotional connection, and competitive differentiation in saturated markets. Family law marketing requires sensitivity around difficult personal situations while addressing client privacy concerns. Business litigation marketing targets sophisticated corporate decision-makers with different buying cycles and evaluation criteria. Criminal defense marketing balances urgency with discretion. An agency claiming to serve “all practice areas” should be able to demonstrate specific expertise across the areas relevant to your firm.

Ask for examples of how they’ve optimized content for your specific practice areas. What queries do potential personal injury clients ask AI platforms? How do business attorneys research outside counsel differently than individual consumers seeking family law representation? What content performs best for estate planning client acquisition versus litigation lead generation? The agency’s answers should reveal deep familiarity with your practice area’s client acquisition patterns, common questions prospective clients ask, and the decision factors that drive engagement and conversions.

“How Do You Handle Confidentiality and Client Information in Content Creation?”

Law firms handle sensitive information that must never appear in marketing content, even in anonymized form that seems safe. Case studies, example scenarios, and even hypothetical situations based on real cases can potentially violate attorney-client privilege or confidentiality obligations. An experienced legal marketing agency should have clear processes for content creation that never relies on actual client information, even when scrubbed of identifying details. They should understand the risks of seemingly innocuous references and maintain strict separation between case information and marketing content.

This becomes more complex when agencies request access to your case management systems, client databases, or internal documentation to “better understand your practice.” While such access might seem reasonable for developing targeted marketing strategies, it creates confidentiality risks that many attorneys overlook until problems arise. Ask specifically about data handling procedures, who on their team accesses your systems, how they ensure confidentiality, and what happens to any client information they encounter during their work. The agency should demonstrate awareness of these concerns and present clear safeguards.

“Can You Provide References from Other Law Firms You’ve Worked With?”

Direct references from current or past law firm clients provide invaluable insights that marketing materials can’t capture. Ask for references from firms similar to yours in size and practice areas, ideally in comparable markets. When speaking with references, ask specific questions about results achieved, communication quality, problem-solving when challenges arose, understanding of legal industry constraints, and whether they would hire the agency again. Pay particular attention to any references that mention compliance issues, missed deadlines, or communication problems—these operational issues matter as much as marketing expertise.

Be cautious of agencies that can’t provide references or that only offer testimonials from websites without contact information for verification. Legitimate agencies serving law firms successfully should have multiple satisfied clients willing to speak with prospective customers. If an agency operates across markets like Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta, they should be able to connect you with references in multiple regions to demonstrate consistent performance across diverse markets.

Questions About Technical Capabilities and Infrastructure

“What Technical SEO Audits and Implementations Do You Perform?”

AI platforms prioritize technically sound websites. Page speed, mobile responsiveness, secure connections (HTTPS), clean site architecture, and proper crawlability all influence whether AI systems cite your content. An experienced agency should perform comprehensive technical audits covering Core Web Vitals, structured data validation, mobile usability, security implementations, and crawl efficiency. They should be able to explain how technical factors specifically impact AI citation rates—for example, how slow-loading pages reduce the likelihood of being selected as authoritative sources, or how improperly implemented structured data prevents AI platforms from extracting key information.

Ask to see their technical audit checklist or framework. Comprehensive audits should cover 100+ technical factors, not just surface-level assessments of page speed and mobile-friendliness. For law firms with complex websites featuring client portals, case results databases, or attorney directories, technical implementation becomes particularly challenging. The agency should demonstrate experience with these common legal website features and explain how they optimize them for both traditional search and AI platform visibility. Our 200-point SEO technical audit checklist provides comprehensive technical evaluation criteria.

“How Do You Handle Multi-Location Optimization for Law Firms with Offices in Multiple Cities?”

Multi-location SEO and GEO require sophisticated technical implementation that many agencies handle poorly. Each office location needs unique, substantive content—not templated pages with only city names changed. Structured data must accurately represent each location’s service areas, practice areas, and contact information. Internal linking must connect location pages logically while avoiding duplicate content issues. For firms with offices spanning markets like Denver, Seattle, and Portland, the agency must optimize for regional differences in legal markets, practice area demand, and competitive landscapes.

AI platforms struggle with duplicate content more severely than traditional search engines. When ChatGPT or Perplexity encounters multiple nearly-identical pages differing only in city names, they often cite none of them rather than choosing arbitrarily. Ask the agency specifically how they create unique content for each location while maintaining consistent messaging and brand standards. Their approach should involve local market research, location-specific statistics, regional legal considerations, and authentic local differentiation—not just find-and-replace city name templates.

“What Content Management and Publishing Tools Do You Use?”

The agency’s technical infrastructure reveals their operational sophistication. WordPress is the dominant platform for law firm websites, but many agencies use outdated plugins, poorly coded themes, or insecure configurations that create vulnerabilities and performance issues. Ask specifically about their WordPress development practices, preferred themes and page builders, security implementations, and update procedures. For law firms handling sensitive client information, security matters enormously—a compromised website can result in bar complaints, malpractice claims, and loss of client trust.

Beyond WordPress, inquire about their content creation workflow tools, project management systems, and collaboration platforms. Sophisticated agencies use AI-assisted research tools, content optimization platforms, rank tracking systems, and comprehensive analytics dashboards. These tools don’t just speed up work—they enable higher-quality analysis, better measurement, and more strategic decision-making. Agencies that can’t articulate their technical stack or that rely entirely on manual processes likely lack the infrastructure to deliver enterprise-level services effectively.

“How Do You Integrate with Our Existing Marketing Technology Stack?”

Law firms typically use practice management software (Clio, MyCase, Filevine), CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot), intake platforms (Lawmatics, Lead Docket), and analytics tools (Google Analytics, CallRail). Your marketing agency needs to integrate with these systems to track conversions accurately, attribute leads properly, and measure ROI effectively. Ask specifically about their experience with legal-specific platforms and whether they’ve built integrations, custom APIs, or reporting dashboards that connect marketing activities to client intake and case outcomes.

The integration complexity increases for firms using advanced marketing automation, chatbot systems, or AI-powered intake tools. Your agency should be able to work within this ecosystem rather than requiring you to adopt entirely new platforms or abandon existing investments. They should also understand how to maintain data privacy and security when integrating systems—particularly important for law firms subject to confidentiality obligations and increasingly strict data protection regulations.

Red Flags That Signal an Inexperienced AI Agency

Guaranteed Rankings or Specific Citation Promises

Any agency guaranteeing “first-page ChatGPT results” or “guaranteed citations in Perplexity” fundamentally misunderstands—or is deliberately misrepresenting—how AI platforms work. Unlike traditional SEO where manipulation tactics can temporarily force rankings, AI platforms use sophisticated quality assessment mechanisms that resist gaming. Their selection criteria change continuously as models are updated and retrained. No agency controls these platforms or can guarantee specific placements. Legitimate agencies discuss likelihood, typical timelines, and factors that influence citation probability—never guarantees.

Vague Timelines and Unrealistic Expectations

Agencies promising transformation in 30-60 days either don’t understand AI platform update cycles or are deliberately setting unrealistic expectations to close sales. Comprehensive GEO implementation requires content creation, technical optimization, structured data implementation, and authority building—work that takes months to complete properly, with AI platforms requiring additional time to index and evaluate changes. Experienced agencies provide realistic 6-12 month timelines with clear milestones, early indicators to watch for, and transparent communication about what drives delays or acceleration.

Similarly, be wary of agencies that can’t articulate what happens during different phases of implementation. A legitimate timeline breaks down into discovery and audit (weeks 1-4), technical implementation (weeks 5-12), content creation and optimization (ongoing), measurement baseline establishment (weeks 8-12), and iterative refinement based on results (months 4-12). Agencies that respond with vague “it depends” answers without providing framework timelines likely lack systematic implementation processes.

Overemphasis on AI Tools, Underemphasis on Strategy

Marketing presentations that focus heavily on the AI tools they use—”we use ChatGPT Plus,” “we have access to Claude Pro,” “we leverage the latest GPT-4″—miss the point entirely. Tools are commodities. Anyone can subscribe to ChatGPT or Claude. What matters is the strategic expertise to use these tools effectively, the technical knowledge to optimize for AI citability, and the measurement capabilities to prove results. Agencies leading with tool access rather than methodology, results, or expertise are selling sizzle instead of steak.

This red flag often appears alongside another warning sign: the agency describes how AI makes their work faster or more efficient rather than how it makes your marketing more effective. While AI tools do improve agency productivity, that’s an internal operational benefit that shouldn’t be the primary value proposition. The value to you comes from improved AI visibility, increased citation rates, better lead quality, and higher conversion rates—outcomes that depend on expertise, not just efficient content production.

Lack of Legal Industry Knowledge or Compliance Awareness

Agencies that can’t discuss state bar advertising rules, that suggest prohibited tactics (guaranteed results, client testimonials without proper disclosures, inappropriate comparisons to competitors), or that seem unfamiliar with legal industry terminology should be immediately disqualified. Legal marketing operates under regulatory constraints that make many standard marketing tactics unusable. Agencies without legal industry experience will either produce noncompliant content that exposes you to bar complaints or will require extensive education and oversight that negates any efficiency gains from outsourcing marketing.

This becomes particularly problematic when combined with AI-generated content. AI writing tools don’t understand attorney advertising ethics and will readily generate prohibited claims, misleading statements, or inappropriate testimonials if not properly constrained and supervised. Agencies must have processes ensuring every piece of content undergoes compliance review before publication—and those processes require human experts who understand legal advertising regulations, not just AI tools checking for generic problems.

FAQ: Hiring an AI SEO/GEO Agency for Law Firms

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References

1. Aggarwal, P., Murahari, V., Rajpurohit, T., Kalyan, A., Narasimhan, K., & Deshpande, A. (2024). GEO: Generative Engine Optimization. In Proceedings of the 30th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD ’24), Barcelona, Spain, August 25-29, 2024, pp. 5-16. DOI: 10.1145/3637528.3671900
2. Pew Research Center. (2025, June 25). 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023. Survey of 5,123 U.S. adults conducted February 24–March 2, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/06/25/34-of-us-adults-have-used-chatgpt-about-double-the-share-in-2023/
3. Google Search Central. (2024). Introduction to structured data. Google Search Central Documentation. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data
4. American Bar Association. (2024). Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 7.1 (Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services) and Rule 7.2 (Advertising). https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/
5. Clio. (2024). Legal Trends Report: 2024 Edition. https://www.clio.com/resources/legal-trends/

Choosing the right AI marketing agency represents one of the most consequential decisions law firms will make in 2026 and beyond. As AI platform adoption continues accelerating—with over half of postgraduate-educated adults now using ChatGPT and similar tools—visibility in AI-generated responses will increasingly determine which firms prospective clients contact and which they never discover. The questions outlined in this guide separate agencies with genuine AI development expertise from those that simply use AI writing tools, agencies with verifiable measurement frameworks from those making vague promises, and agencies with deep legal industry knowledge from those treating law firms like any other client vertical.

The stakes extend beyond marketing effectiveness to professional compliance, competitive positioning, and long-term business viability. Working with an inexperienced agency risks bar complaints from noncompliant content, wasted marketing budgets on ineffective tactics, and opportunity costs as competitors establish unassailable advantages in AI visibility. Conversely, partnering with an agency possessing true AI expertise—one that can explain how large language models retrieve information, implement research-backed GEO tactics, measure results systematically, and navigate legal industry constraints—positions your firm for sustainable growth as the legal marketing landscape continues transforming.

Don’t accept surface-level answers or defer critical questions because you feel technologically unsophisticated. The agencies most worth hiring welcome detailed questions about their methodology, credentials, and results—they view your scrutiny as evidence of serious commitment rather than annoying skepticism. Use this guide systematically when evaluating agencies, document their responses, and compare answers across multiple candidates before making your decision. Your investment in thorough vetting now will pay dividends for years as AI platforms become the primary channel through which prospective clients discover and evaluate law firms. For personalized guidance evaluating AI marketing agencies or to discuss your firm’s specific needs across our 35 national office locations, schedule a consultation with our team.