When it comes to law firm PR, it’s not just SEO that matters. As AI-powered tools are rising, legal public relations is facing a dramatic shift. Today, if you think that a well-crafted website or paid ads alone could define reputation, you’re wrong.
Earned media coverage helps establish credibility and trust. These sources include items such as media articles about the firm, interviews, commentary in third-party outlets, guest articles, quotes, and podcast appearances. AI chatbots, generative search engines, and summary algorithms draw heavily on earned media as proof of credibility. Read on and learn how earned media can make you discoverable, trusted, and relevant.
How AI Is Changing Legal Discovery & Reputation
Legal discovery and reputation are redefined in the era of AI. The rapid evolution of AI-driven search tools and content generators has led them to pull content based on credibility rather than the publisher. So, your website content is not as relevant as some third-party commentary. Here are some supporting stats.
These aspects state that law firms are no longer competing only on website rankings and ad spend. They must compete for space in the source pools that AI systems scan, such as news outlets, expert commentary, and trade media. Absence from these sources risks being invisible in AI-assisted discovery.
What Earned Media Means for Law Firms
Unlike owned media, such as your law firm website, blogs, and social channels, or paid media like advertising and sponsored content, earned media is seen as more credible. Why?
- Earned media implies third-party validation. For example, someone else judged your insights, expertise, or story as newsworthy.
- For clients, earned media builds trust better than self-promotion.
- For AI models & generative search, these third-party signals act as markers of authority and reliability.
Here are several aspects from the law firm, Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers, which earned media should include:
- News coverage, such as feature stories and case wins.
- Expert quotes in legal, business, or trade press.
- Op-eds or bylined articles in reputable publications.
- Podcast appearances, webinars & panel discussions.
- Valuable mentions by journalists, bloggers, or industry analysts.
The “Share of Model” Idea
The Share of Model is a metric in AI-powered search that measures how visible your law firm is to AI models and LLM-based tools.
Instead of just tracking how often you show up in Google results, it asks, “When people ask an AI model about legal topics in your practice area or region, how often does it mention or cite your firm?”
This shift has practical consequences. For instance, being mentioned in legal journalism, featured in expert roundups, or cited in third-party analyses increases the chance your firm appears in AI-generated answers or summaries that many users see even before they click through.
Actionable PR Tactics and Strategies For Law Firms
These days, users are not just Googling stuff and believing that it is true. They are also authenticating whether the information they got is legitimate or not. Therefore, law firms need to revamp and align their PR tactics and strategies to the AI era. Here is how!
Proactive Newsroom Outreach and Media Relationships
Newsroom outreach and healthy media relationships are at the core of law firms. You must build relationships with reporters, editors, and trade publications to ensure a good brand presence.
“Monitor breaking legal/regulatory trends and pitch timely stories after proper vetting from your lawyers,” said Jeff Benton, Founder of Benton Accident & Injury Lawyers. “These outreaches and stories must not just happen when there is big news (a litigation win, a successful transaction, etc.), but now and then.”
Pro tip: Work with former journalists and translate technical/legal topics into compelling narratives that the media find hard to ignore.
Create Journalist-Friendly Thought Leadership
The next thing a PR firm should do is produce focused messaging about the firm and its lawyers. It is best to produce short, quotable expert commentary, factsheets or whitepapers with clear takeaways. Focusing on punchy, data-informed commentary can help gain AI citation. Furthermore, while producing content, make sure you optimize for queries, like
- What clauses should be in a vendor contract?
- What should a business owner consider before a new acquisition?
- What are the prerequisites for a merger?
Use Op-eds, Bylines, Podcast Appearances, and Trade Press
Target multiple types of content and media. For example, you can use opinion-based articles (op-eds) written by a guest contributor, a byline (line in a newspaper, magazine, or online article), or trade press content to expand your network of third-party citations.
There are several service providers out there who provide bylined article placement and speaking engagements precisely to build the online footprint for AI citation.
Monitor AI Visibility
Besides all this, it is necessary for law firms to keep an eye on the results of earned media. As AI models keep on learning and evolving and AI relies on data recency, monitoring results can help you further retune your strategies, and using AI tools for law firms can help. This also helps add fresh content to keep your law firm in the loop, which AI relies on.
Note: Keep track of the outlets where your law firm is cited and adjust outreach accordingly.
Risks & Editorial/Ethical Guardrails
While AI can help improve your brand visibility, it can hallucinate sometimes. According to a study by Stanford, AI tools can be hallucinating on 17-33% of the queries. To avoid this issue,
To avoid these pitfalls, implement the following.
- Always verify AI-suggested citations in official legal databases.
- Don’t rely solely on AI for legal advice or strategy. Also have a human in the loop.
- Clearly attribute sources and avoid vague, ambiguous content.
- Maintain a process of ethical/practice review to ensure accuracy and integrity.
Conclusion
As the role of AI in online visibility is becoming prominent, it has become necessary for law firms to revamp their content strategies. Law firms need to provide accurate and transparent information and collaborate with journalists and publishers to create authentic, trustworthy content. Business leaders must prioritize industry articles and interviews on a well-known podcast over blog content to establish their brand in AI conversations. Lastly, keeping a check on what’s working for your law business and monitoring AI visibility is also crucial.
