A Step-by-Step Framework for Optimizing Your Law Firm's Google Business Profile

When a potential client searches "divorce attorney near me" or "DUI lawyer in [city]," the first results they see aren't organic blue links — they're the three businesses in the Map Pack. That placement is determined almost entirely by your Google Business Profile and the signals attached to it.

Local SEO for law firms operates on three core factors: Relevance (does your profile match what the searcher needs?), Distance (how close is your office to the searcher?), and Prominence (does Google trust your firm enough to recommend it?). Your GBP is the primary input for all three.

Distance is the one factor you can't control directly — your office is where it is. But relevance and prominence are entirely within your control, and both are shaped by how completely and accurately you've configured your profile.

In our experience working with law firms, the practices that consistently appear in the Map Pack share a common trait: their GBP profiles are complete. Not just the basics — every field filled, photos updated, posts published regularly, and reviews actively managed. Firms that treat GBP as a one-time setup task tend to fall behind competitors who treat it as an ongoing channel.

This guide walks through each optimization layer in the order that produces the most impact.

Before optimization can happen, your profile needs to be claimed and verified. If your firm already has a GBP listing (Google sometimes auto-generates profiles from public data), claim it rather than creating a duplicate — duplicate listings actively harm your local rankings.

Business Name

Use your firm's exact legal name as it appears on your website, letterhead, and state bar listing. Do not add keywords to your business name (e.g., 'Smith Law — Best Personal Injury Attorneys'). Google's guidelines prohibit keyword stuffing in business names, and violations can result in listing suspension.

Address and Service Area

Enter your physical office address precisely. If you also serve clients remotely or across a region, you can add a service area — but do not hide your address unless you genuinely have no physical office clients visit. Hiding your address removes you from distance-based local results, which matters for competitive markets.

Phone Number and Website

Use a local phone number rather than an 800 number where possible — local numbers reinforce geographic relevance. Your website URL should point to your homepage or a location-specific landing page, not a tracking redirect that changes frequently.

Hours of Operation

Keep hours accurate and up to date. Google flags profiles with outdated hours as lower quality. Use the 'Special Hours' feature for court closures, holidays, or planned office closures rather than leaving your standard hours incorrect.

Verification typically happens via postcard, phone, or video call. Some law firms with established web presence qualify for immediate verification. Complete this step before spending time on optimization — unverified profiles have limited visibility.

Your primary category tells Google what your business is. It is the single most influential field in your entire profile. Choosing the wrong primary category — or using a category that's too broad — directly limits which searches trigger your listing.

Primary Category Strategy

Always choose the most specific category that accurately describes your primary practice area. Here's how to think about common choices:

• 'Personal Injury Attorney' — Use if PI is your primary revenue practice. Outperforms 'Lawyer' for PI-specific searches by a meaningful margin in most markets.
• 'Criminal Justice Attorney' — Covers criminal defense broadly. If DUI is your focus, this is still the closest available option as of the latest category set.
• 'Family Law Attorney' — Appropriate for divorce, custody, and adoption-focused firms.
• 'Immigration Attorney' — Highly specific; use if immigration is your primary practice.
• 'General Practice Attorney' — Only appropriate if you genuinely practice across many areas with no primary focus. This category is the least competitive but also the least targeted.

Secondary Categories

You can add up to nine additional categories. Use secondary categories to cover your secondary practice areas — for example, a family law firm that also handles estate planning might add 'Estate Planning Attorney' as a secondary category. Do not add categories for practice areas you don't actually handle; this can trigger quality reviews and confuse potential clients.

Google updates its available category list periodically. Review your categories at least once per year to ensure you're using the most current and specific options available.

Google Posts are short updates that appear directly on your GBP profile. Standard posts expire after approximately seven days, which means a profile with no recent posts looks stale — both to potential clients and, in our experience, to Google's ranking signals.

What to Post

Law firms have several reliable content categories for posts:

• Educational updates — 'What to do in the 24 hours after a car accident' or 'Three things to know before your first custody hearing'
• Practice area highlights — Brief descriptions of specific services, written for the client's situation rather than your credentials
• Community involvement — Sponsorships, pro bono work, or local events (where ethically appropriate and compliant with your state bar's advertising rules)
• Office updates — New team members, new office hours, recognition or awards (verify your state bar's rules on advertising accolades before posting)

Post Frequency and Format

Publishing one post per week is sufficient to keep your profile active. Each post should include a high-quality image (Google de-prioritizes text-only posts), 150–300 words of copy, and a clear call to action. Use the 'Call Now' or 'Learn More' CTA buttons — profiles with active CTA buttons see higher engagement rates in most markets.

Event Posts

If your firm hosts webinars, free consultations, or community events, use the Event post type — these remain visible until the event date rather than expiring in seven days.

Disclaimer: Post content for law firms must comply with ABA Model Rules 7.1–7.3 and applicable state bar advertising rules. What's permitted in Texas may differ from requirements in New York or California. Verify current rules with your state licensing authority before publishing advertising content.

Reviews on your GBP do two things simultaneously: they influence how Google ranks your profile in local results, and they influence whether a prospective client calls you after finding you. Both matter.

Review Velocity and Volume

Industry benchmarks suggest that consistent review velocity — receiving new reviews regularly over time — signals more to Google than a burst of reviews followed by a long gap. A firm that receives two or three reviews per month over a year tends to outperform a firm that received thirty reviews in one month and nothing since.

Ethically Requesting Reviews

You can ask satisfied clients to leave a Google review, but the request must comply with your state bar's ethics rules on solicitation and advertising. As a general principle, asking in a follow-up email after a matter closes is widely accepted. Offering incentives for reviews — discounts, referral fees, anything of value — is prohibited under both Google's policies and most state bar rules. Verify current solicitation rules with your state licensing authority before implementing a review request process.

Responding to Reviews

Respond to every review — positive and negative — within 48 hours. For positive reviews, a brief, specific acknowledgment is sufficient. Do not confirm the reviewer was your client or reference any case details in your response; doing so can create confidentiality issues under attorney-client privilege rules.

For negative reviews, respond calmly and professionally. A template that works well: "Thank you for sharing your feedback. We take all client experiences seriously and encourage you to contact our office directly at [phone] so we can understand your concerns." This response signals responsiveness to Google and potential clients without disclosing privileged information or escalating the situation publicly.

For more on managing your firm's online reputation ethically, see our guide on reputation management for law firms.

The Q&A section of your GBP is one of the most overlooked optimization opportunities for law firms. Anyone — including people who are not your clients — can post a question publicly on your profile. If you don't answer those questions, someone else might, and their answers may be inaccurate or misleading.

Seed Your Own Q&A

You can post questions on your own profile using a personal Google account and then answer them from your business account. This lets you control the narrative around the most common questions your prospective clients ask:

• 'Do you offer free consultations?'
• 'What areas of [state] do you serve?'
• 'How quickly can you respond to a new inquiry?'
• 'Do you handle cases on contingency?'

Answers to these questions appear directly on your profile and can influence a prospect's decision to call. Keep answers factual and specific — vague answers ('We're here to help!') provide no useful information and signal low engagement.

Monitor for Spam and Inaccurate Answers

Check your Q&A section at least monthly. If you see inaccurate answers posted by third parties, flag them for removal via Google's reporting tools and post your own accurate response. If you see spam questions, flag and report those as well.

Monthly Maintenance Checklist

A consistent maintenance routine keeps your profile in top condition:

• Publish at least one new Google Post
• Respond to any new reviews (positive and negative)
• Check Q&A for new questions or inaccurate answers
• Verify business hours are still accurate
• Review photo gallery — remove outdated images, add new ones
• Check for any suggested edits from Google or third parties (these can alter your profile information without your immediate knowledge)

For firms managing multiple office locations, each GBP requires this same maintenance cycle independently. This is covered in detail in our guide on multi-location law firm SEO.