The Real Estate Method · Free checklist

47-Point AEO Checklist for Law Firms

How to make sure ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity recommend your firm when prospective clients ask AI for legal counsel in your specialty.

Built for: Attorneys, advocates, advisers, mid-market firms — sole practitioners through 50-attorney firms.

By the author

Kabelo More

AI Visibility Consultant · Pretoria · 8 years local SEO

Published 31 May 2026 · Updates as methodology evolves

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Heads up — this checklist is SA-tuned. It references South African platforms (HelloPeter, BBBEE Verification, CSD, HPCSA, LSSA, etc.) that don't apply outside South Africa. The 7-property structure works globally — but the specific platforms don't. UK and US versions ship Q1 2027.

47 checks across 7 properties · last updated May 2026

How to read this checklist

Effort tags

Quick = under an hour, mostly setup
1-3 days = needs focused work
Ongoing = compounding monthly work

Impact tiers

Foundation = required to be findable at all
Growth = compounds visibility over weeks
Authority = compounds for years; market-leadership work

Property 1 of 7

Website + Schema

Your owned property. The first thing AI engines and search engines read.

1
Title tag includes practice area + city (e.g. 'Commercial Attorney in Johannesburg — X Inc')
Quick· Foundation ·
AI engines pattern-match queries to title tags. Generic titles miss specialty queries.
2
Meta description 140-160 chars: practice area + outcome focus (not 'we provide quality legal services')
Quick· Foundation ·
Outcome-led descriptions get cited 3-5× more by AI engines. Service-led ones get filtered.
3
LegalService or ProfessionalService schema deployed
1-3 days· Foundation ·Google Rich Results Test
Tells AI what you are. Most law firms have no schema — quick win.
4
Each practice area listed as separate Service schema with its own URL
1-3 days· Growth ·
Granular URLs let AI recommend you for specific matters, not just brand searches.
5
Person schema for each principal attorney with admission year, qualifications, courts of practice
1-3 days· Foundation ·
Court-of-practice + admission year are highest-trust legal verification signals.
6
FAQ schema for common client questions (cost, timelines, process, fees) — 10+ questions
Quick· Growth ·
AI engines pull FAQ schema directly into answers. Owned questions = owned answers.
7
/llms.txt file added with firm description, practice areas, attorney credentials
Quick· Authority ·
Almost no SA law firm has this. 15-min effort, 30-day citation lift.
8
Mobile responsiveness ≥ 90 (Lighthouse mobile score)
1-3 days· Foundation ·
Procurement counsel + in-house teams browse on mobile. Slow mobile = filtered out.
9
Page speed ≥ 80 (Lighthouse performance score)
1-3 days· Growth ·
Slow pages don't get crawled deeply by AI training pipelines.
10
Each practice area + each attorney has its own URL
1-3 days· Growth ·
Granular structure = granular AI citations. 'Best commercial attorney at X Inc' becomes a citable entity.

Property 2 of 7

Google Business Profile

Underweighted by law firms. Massive trust signal for local clients.

1
Primary category: most specific (e.g. 'Commercial Attorney' not 'Lawyer' or 'Legal Services')
Quick· Foundation ·
Specificity drives AI matching. Generic categories get filtered out for specialty queries.
2
Secondary categories: covering all practice areas you actively practice
Quick· Foundation ·
Each category = a query you can rank for. Free real estate.
3
Court of practice listed in description (Northern Gauteng High Court, Constitutional Court, etc.)
Quick· Growth ·
Court mentions are high-trust legal verification. AI engines weight them heavily.
4
LSSA reference + admission date in description
Quick· Foundation ·
Trust signal. Verified credentials get cited above unverified claims.
5
20+ photos: office, attorney headshots, team, court appearances (where allowed)
1-3 days· Growth ·
Photo count is GBP ranking factor. Especially under-done by law firms.
6
Bi-weekly GBP posts: legal commentary, case wins (with permission), regulatory updates
Ongoing· Growth ·
Stale GBPs lose ranking. Active firms signal credibility to AI engines.
7
Q&A section: 10+ common questions answered (fees, processes, what to expect)
Quick· Growth ·
Practice-authored Q&A = practice-controlled narrative. AI weights it higher than random Q&A.
8
Consultation booking link integrated
1-3 days· Growth ·
Removes friction. GBPs with booking links get higher feature priority.

Property 3 of 7

LinkedIn (firm + principal attorney)

Where mid-market clients (especially in-house counsel) shortlist you.

1
Firm company page complete: industry, size, practice areas tagged
Quick· Foundation ·
Tagged company pages get cited by Perplexity and ChatGPT for B2B legal queries.
2
Principal attorney personal page: headline includes admission + specialty (e.g. 'Commercial Attorney admitted 2014, focused on M&A')
Quick· Foundation ·
Headline is most-cited LinkedIn field by AI engines. Be specific.
3
About section: notable matters, case wins (with permission), thought leadership
1-3 days· Growth ·
AI engines pull narrative. Bullet credentials get ignored — case stories get cited.
4
Posting cadence: 1+ post/week, commentary on legal developments, regulatory analysis
Ongoing· Authority ·
Active LinkedIn = AI authority signal. Industry commentary compounds for years.
5
Bar memberships + professional bodies visible (LSSA, Pan-African Bar, regional society)
Quick· Growth ·
Verified-via-tag credentials are AI's gold standard. Plain-text credentials get less weight.

Property 4 of 7

Legal industry citations + directories

The single most under-invested area for SA mid-market law firms.

1
Law Society of SA (LSSA) public profile complete
Quick· Foundation ·
Highest-trust legal citation in SA. AI engines cross-reference LSSA before recommending.
2
Provincial Law Society listing (Cape, Natal, Free State, Northern Provinces)
Quick· Foundation ·
Regional trust signal. AI engines surface provincial citations for regional queries.
3
Saflii author profile (if you publish case commentary or articles)
1-3 days· Authority ·
Saflii is heavily indexed by AI engines for SA legal content. Author profiles compound.
4
LegalCity directory listing
Quick· Foundation ·
SA-specific legal directory. Cheap, foundation-tier citation.
5
Specialist body listings — Society of Construction Lawyers, IPLA, MLBA, ALSA, CCMA Practitioner Roll (for labour law firms), etc.
1-3 days· Growth ·
Specialty-specific = highest-trust citation for specialty queries. CCMA Practitioner Roll is particularly under-claimed by SA labour law firms — direct buyer-intent platform.
6
International rankings: Chambers, Legal500, Best Lawyers (if at that level)
Ongoing· Authority ·
Global high-trust citations. Cited heavily by AI engines for international queries.
7
Brabys + Yellow Pages SA basic listings
Quick· Foundation ·
Foundation-tier citation density. Cheap, baseline trust signal.
8
Court roll or appearance listings (where firms publicly mention)
Ongoing· Growth ·
Court mentions are high-trust legal verification.

Property 5 of 7

Reviews + testimonials

POPI-compliant social proof. Scarce but high-impact.

1
Google reviews: 15+ with average ≥ 4.5 stars (legal review counts run lower than retail)
Ongoing· Foundation ·
Below 15 = AI treats as unverified. Above 15 + 4.5★ = trustworthy.
2
HelloPeter profile claimed and responsive
Quick· Growth ·
Critical for SA. AI engines harvest HelloPeter heavily for SA business reputation.
3
Sector-specific platforms: Avvo (US clients), Lawyers.com, Yell (UK clients), Chambers
1-3 days· Growth ·
Specialty-specific review platforms cited above general ones for legal queries.
4
Response rate: ≥ 80% of reviews responded to within 7 days, professionally
Ongoing· Growth ·
Engagement signal. AI engines penalise firms that ignore reviews — even neutral ones.
5
Client testimonial workflow: mandatory request at matter close, POPI-compliant (explicit consent for naming + matter-type disclosure)
1-3 days· Authority ·
Testimonials don't happen organically. Workflow = 5-10× testimonial volume. POPI requires explicit, written consent before using a client's name or matter details in testimonials — bake this into your engagement letter clauses to stay compliant from day one.

Property 6 of 7

AI engines (test + monitor)

The output layer. Measure or you're guessing.

1
Test 'Best [practice area] attorney in [city]' across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity (Apple Intelligence + Copilot tracking added Q1 2027)
Quick· Foundation ·Free AI Visibility Scan at kabelomore.com/scan
The headline test. If you're not in the answer, nothing else compounds. Apple Intelligence will be how iPhone-using in-house counsel research firms — must optimize for it once tracking is live.
2
Test 'Top commercial law firm for [client type]' (e.g. SaaS startups, mining companies)
Quick· Foundation ·
B2B buyer-intent query. Need to appear specifically for your client type.
3
Test 'Reviews for [firm name]' — accurate info returned?
Quick· Foundation ·
Branded query during in-house counsel due diligence. Inaccurate AI info kills credibility.
4
Branded search: AI knows admission year, qualifications, notable matters, court of practice?
Quick· Growth ·
AI composes your firm's introduction during shortlisting. Make sure facts are right.
5
Daily AI monitoring tool deployed (tracks visibility across 4 engines)
1-3 days· Authority ·Local Growth Lite from R2,950/mo
AI engines update weekly. Need awareness of visibility shifts before clients do.
6
Quarterly re-scan with documented before/after
Ongoing· Growth ·
Improvement = measurement. Catches drift + validates retainer ROI.

Property 7 of 7

Competitive intelligence

Where the real gap is — vs where you assume it is.

1
Identified the 3 firms AI engines recommend INSTEAD of you
Quick· Foundation ·
Your real digital competitors are who AI surfaces — not who you see at CPDs.
2
Documented gap analysis: their schema vs yours, citations vs yours, LinkedIn cadence vs yours
1-3 days· Growth ·
Objective comparison. Closes 'we're better' delusion.
3
Counsel relationships: are competitors visibly tied to leading counsel chambers?
Quick· Growth ·
Counsel co-citation = high-trust legal visibility. AI weights chamber affiliations.
4
Press / commentary: are competitors quoted more in legal media (De Rebus, BizCommunity Legal, Engineering News legal section)?
Ongoing· Authority ·
Press citations are high-trust. Compounds for years.
5
Specialist body engagement: are competitors more active at conferences, papers, CPD sessions?
Ongoing· Authority ·
Conference talks + papers = high-trust citations. Build authority at compounding cost.

What happens when you complete it

If you complete all 47, your firm will be in the top 5% of SA mid-market law firms on AI visibility. Most firms score 6-12 out of 47. Getting to 35+ shows up within 60-90 days as inbound inquiries from 'I asked ChatGPT for [practice area] firms and your name came up.' For B2B legal, even 1-2 such inquiries per quarter at average matter value pays for the entire programme.

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