What decides who shows up on the map
When someone searches "divorce lawyer near me," Google usually shows a map and a short list of firms, pulled from Business Profiles. Local SEO is the work of getting your firm into that list and making sure the person who sees you calls.
Google's own page says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search. Distance is how far you are from the searcher. Prominence is how well known you are, which Google says draws on things like how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have.
That tells you something most firm owners would rather not hear. If your office is across town from where someone's standing, some searches will go to a closer firm no matter what you do. So don't judge your local SEO from your own desk, and don't believe anyone who promises you the top spot across a whole metro.
Google's rules for attorney profiles
Google's Business Profile guidelines name lawyers as individual practitioners and set out specifics. They're worth reading in full once, because a suspended profile can take your firm off the map entirely. As of November 2026, these are the ones that matter most:
| Your situation | What Google's guidelines say |
|---|---|
| Solo attorney, own firm | One profile. A practitioner shouldn't have several profiles to cover different specialties. |
| Several public-facing attorneys at one office | The firm gets a profile for the location. Each attorney can have one too, named with only their own name, not the firm's. |
| Paralegals and other support staff | They shouldn't create profiles. |
| Rented mailing address or virtual office | Not eligible for a Business Profile. |
| Co-working space | Only with clear signage, staffed during business hours, and receiving clients there. |
| You serve clients at their locations | One profile for the central office, with a service area. A "virtual" office isn't allowed unless it's staffed during business hours. |
Should each attorney in a small firm create a profile? Google allows it, but I'd think twice. A partner's personal profile can show up for the same searches as the firm's and split your reviews. And if someone leaves, you have a profile with their name on it to deal with. For most small firms, one strong firm profile is a better use of the time.
On your name: Google says your business name should reflect your real-world name, and that including unnecessary information can get a profile suspended. So "Hale Law" can't become "Hale Law Best Tucson DUI Attorney." Some firms try it anyway. It's a bad bet when your phone depends on that profile.
Choose categories that describe what you do, and don't add them solely as keywords. If you're mostly a family law practice, your primary category should say so.
Your domain and firm name are advertising too
This one gets missed by marketers. The comment to Rule 7.1 treats firm names and designations as communications about your services, and says a lawyer may use a distinctive website address that isn't misleading. It also warns that a trade name with a geographic term, its example is "Springfield Legal Clinic," may need a statement that it isn't a public legal aid organization.
So before you buy TucsonInjuryHelp.com because it has the keywords in it, ask whether a reasonable person would think it's a government service or a referral program. Your state may have tighter rules on trade names. An exact-match domain isn't worth a bar complaint.
Asking for reviews without crossing a line
Google lets you ask clients to leave a review and gives you a link or QR code to send them. The limits are in its Maps content policy: no incentives, no discouraging negative reviews, and no selectively asking only the clients you think are happy. That last one rules out the common software trick of asking "how was your experience?" and sending only the five-star answers to Google.
Federal law also has a say. The FTC's rule on reviews bars a business from writing or buying reviews that misrepresent whether the reviewer exists or had any real experience with you.
Then there's your bar. Rule 7.2(b) bars giving anything of value for recommending you, apart from narrow exceptions. Florida says a testimonial can't be written by the lawyer and the person can't receive anything of value, and it needs the client's informed consent if it relates to their matter. Check your own state before you quote a review on your site, because a review sitting on Google and a testimonial you publish in your own marketing may be treated differently. Rule 7.3, on solicitation, is about seeking work, and it excepts people with a prior professional relationship with you, so asking a past client for a review is mainly a question under the other two rules.
A practical note: ask at the moment the matter closes, in your own words, with the link in the same message. Tell them there's no need to describe their case. Some clients, in some practice areas, will never want a public review. Leave them alone.
Also, skip the review stars on your own pages. Google says a business that controls the reviews about itself is ineligible for the star review feature in search results, including through embedded widgets. Adding the markup does nothing for you.
How to answer a bad review
Google's general advice is to reply to reviews and share your perspective. For a lawyer, that advice runs straight into the duty of confidentiality.
ABA Formal Opinion 496 (2021) concluded that an online review isn't the kind of controversy that lets you reveal client information to defend yourself. According to the ABA's Litigation News summary, here's what's left:
| Who wrote it | What you can do |
|---|---|
| A current or former client | Don't respond online, beyond acknowledging that your obligations prevent it. The opinion's example: "Professional obligations do not allow me to respond as I would wish." |
| Someone who was never a client | You can say that the person has never been a client. |
| An opposing party's lawyer, or a client's friend or relative, about a real matter | Get informed client consent before disclosing anything. Even a general denial can reveal you were involved. |
| Anyone, if you're not sure what to do | Say nothing, since a reply can draw more attention to it. Or invite them to call you. You can also ask the site hosting the review to remove it. |
Your state may see this differently, so check. And think hard before replying in anger. The reply stays public, and "she never paid her bill" is a client confidence with your name on it.
The real protection against one bad review is having plenty of honest ones. Which is another reason to ask every client, not only the happy ones.
What your website has to back up
Your Business Profile and site work together. Google's relevance check is helped by complete and detailed business information, and your site is where a searcher goes to check you out. So make sure each office has its own page with its address, phone number and directions, and that those details match your profile exactly. Say which courts you appear in. Show the attorneys who actually work there.
Directories help because they're another place people look and another place that links to you. The Rule 7.2 comment allows paying for online directory listings, and says listings by practice area, without more, aren't an impermissible recommendation. Take the free profiles at the main legal directories and your state or local bar, and fill them in fully. Be skeptical of any paid listing that can't show you calls.
For the rest of the site, our law firm SEO playbook covers practice area pages and attorney bios. If injury cases are your focus, read SEO for personal injury lawyers. Or if you're a solo trying to decide what comes first, try small law firm marketing.
Local Services Ads sit right above all this
You'll often see paid listings above the map. Those are Local Services Ads, and they're worth understanding even if you never buy one. You pay for valid leads such as calls and messages, not clicks. To qualify, Google's US requirements for lawyers include business owner identity verification, professional liability insurance where local law applies, and state bar license checks for each lawyer in the relevant category.
Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads as a Performance Max campaign type that keeps the pay-per-lead model, with remaining categories moving through 2027 as of November 2026. If you run them, watch for the change.
Where Sojig fits
Sojig is our product. It works on the website side of this: it drafts pages for searches your site misses, fixes technical problems like titles and structured data, and tracks your rankings on Google and Bing. An attorney approves everything before it goes live.
If what you need is a block-by-block view of your Maps rankings across a city, a dedicated local rank tool is the better pick. And no software can get you reviews. That part is you, asking.