Local SEO for law firms: the Google Business Profile and map pack guide

Legal search is local. Someone looking for a personal injury, family or criminal defense lawyer almost always wants one nearby, and Google answers with a map pack of three firms before any organic result. Advertisers pay some of the highest click prices on Google for these searches, which is exactly why ranking for them organically is worth the effort.

This guide covers local SEO for law firms in the order that produces results, with the rules that apply specifically to lawyers.

1. Get the Google Business Profile structure right

Law firms have an option most businesses don't: separate profiles for the firm and for individual attorneys. Google's guidelines cover this directly.

• Firm profile: one per staffed office location, under the firm's real name.
• Attorney profiles: where several public-facing practitioners work at one location, the firm should have its own profile, separate from the practitioners'. Each attorney's profile title should include only the attorney's name, not the firm's.
• No profiles for support staff. Google's guidelines say support staff shouldn't create their own profiles.
• A solo attorney can usually use one profile that combines their name and the firm.

Get the categories right too. "Personal injury attorney", "Family law attorney" and "Criminal justice attorney" are more specific than "Lawyer" and match how people search.

2. Don't put keywords in the firm name

"Smith Law | Best Car Accident Lawyer Houston" may lift rankings briefly, but Google's guidelines don't allow unnecessary information in the business name, and competitors report these listings. A suspended profile in a legal market can cost months of calls. Use the name on your letterhead and signage.

3. Build one page per practice area

Google needs a page that matches the search. A firm that handles car accidents, truck accidents and workplace injuries should have a page for each, not one "Personal Injury" page trying to rank for all three. Each page should explain:

• Which cases you take and which you refer out
• How the process works and how long it usually takes
• How fees work (for example, contingency terms)
• Who at the firm handles these matters, with credentials
• Answers to the questions clients ask at consultations

Legal topics fall under what Google's quality raters call "Your Money or Your Life" content, which is held to a higher standard. Named attorney authors, bar admissions and accurate, up-to-date information all matter.

4. Location pages only for real offices

A location page for each staffed office, with its address, directions, attorneys at that office and local court information, helps both users and Google. Pages for cities where you have no office are risky: they rarely rank in the map pack and can read as misleading to a prospective client.

5. Reviews, within your bar's rules

Reviews are a strong local ranking signal and, for most clients, the deciding factor between two firms. BrightLocal's 2025 survey found only 4% of consumers never read online reviews. But lawyers face rules other businesses don't:

• Rule 7.1 of the ABA Model Rules, adopted in some form by every state, bars false or misleading communications about a lawyer's services. Check your own state's version before quoting results or testimonials on your site.
• Don't offer anything of value in exchange for reviews.
• Be careful replying to reviews. Confirming someone was a client, or discussing their matter, can raise confidentiality problems. Keep replies general.

The simplest compliant approach is to ask every satisfied client at the close of their matter, with a direct link, and reply to every review politely and without case details.

6. Citations and legal directories

Consistent name, address and phone number across the web supports local rankings. Beyond Bing Places and Apple Business Connect, law firms should claim profiles on Avvo, Justia, FindLaw, Martindale-Hubbell, Super Lawyers (if selected) and the state and local bar association directories. These pages also tend to rank for the firm's name and are sources AI assistants draw on.

7. Add LegalService schema

Structured data helps search engines read the firm's details without guessing. Mark up the firm with LocalBusiness or its more specific type, including address, phone, opening hours and the attorneys who work there, and validate it with Google's Rich Results Test.

What to track

• Calls and form submissions from the Google Business Profile and from organic search, tracked separately
• Map pack positions for each practice area in each office's area
• Consultations booked from organic leads, which is the number that matters to the partners

Need help with local SEO for your firm?

See my law firm SEO services for how this is run for firms, or local SEO services for the map-pack work on its own. The local SEO checklist has every item in one list.