2025 Law Firm Marketing Trends, Ideas & Tips

Want to have an impressive marketing campaign in 2025? Want to get results for your firm? Here are 12 trends that you need to be aware of that can make your brand better and get more leads:

1. GEO, AEO, and Search GPT
2. Intake & Conversions of Leads
3. Reviews, Reviews, Reviews
4. AI for Automation
5. SEO is Still King, Especially Local SEO
6. Paid Ads are a Must
7. Video Marketing with Video Shorts
8. Social Media to Amplify Your Marketing
9. Networking & Referrals
10. Revamping Your Brand to Stand Out and Be Consistent
11. Chatbots to Automate Intake
12. Mobile-First Design: Making Your Mobile Site the Best

Let’s discuss what each means for your law firm below.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and Search GPT/ChatGPT

Wow, that is a lot of acronyms. Don’t worry about what to call the new AI search results; just note that search will absolutely change use and format in 2025. 

First, ChatGPT/SearchGPT use will rise. Users will continue to use SearchGPT to answer questions directly, thus replacing their default search engine, Google (and Bing). This means fewer searches at Google. This does not mean that Google will go away. They will still be the monopoly in search, but the use of AI and GPT will continue to chip away at their market share. 

Next, Bing and Google have already incorporated AI results into their search results at the top. This is a format change that means that above the search results, you will see summarized answers and, soon, more ads. 

What does this mean for your firm? It means that your content must be indexed and relevant to the predictive results of the GPTs and AI of Google, Bing, and OpenAI. Your content needs to be easily indexed, authoritative, good quality, have citations and statistics, and be well written. 

Your firm needs to be positioned so that you are not only listed in the organic search results but also cited in the Microsoft CoPilot text and the Google AI Overview. Your firm needs to make sure that your content is indexed properly by OpenAI, Bing, Google, and all other GPTs.

Intake & Conversions of Leads

Every firm wants more leads. However, only the best firms know the process of taking a lead and turning it into a client. In 2025, getting leads is just one part of the process. The key questions with your firm are:

1. How quickly do you get back to the leads? 1 minute? 5 minutes? 1 hour? 24 hours? Those that are lower on the time spectrum will have signing rates.
2. In what manner do you speak with the leads? Do you email? Text? Call? In-person? Let the client choose the path that they want to speak with you. The firms that put the client first in how they want to communicate will succeed. 
3. What is your message and branding? The key point is that there are a lot of lawyers from which the client can choose. What separates your firm? What are your strengths that you can promote to the client? Is your overall firm brand consistent across all touchpoints with the client? If you have not already, you should read our article on branding. 
4. What is your process? Do you have a formally documented process that everyone at the firm knows about, which includes information such as when to contact and who will contact, what to ask, what materials will be provided, what your message and key selling points are, when you will follow up, and what documents to be signed?

Overall, your intake process needs to be seamless and geared toward selling your firm to the client.

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews

You absolutely must get reviews for your law firm. Clients will research your firm prior to selecting it. If you are not monitoring your reviews and actively getting new ones that are 5 stars, you are simply doing it wrong. 

Your firm should request a review from every successful case outcome. Your firm should request reviews from prior clients. We helped many clients with this, so much so that we created a side service, AttorneyReview.me, to help (sorry, shameless plug).

Whether you use our service or someone else’s, start getting reviews. You will see an overall higher signing rate. You will see higher search results. You will be able to better manage your reputation in case you happen to get a 1-star review.

AI for Automation

Every article you read about marketing trends in 2025 will mention AI. We believe AI is important, though it will not replace all the marketing tasks you do daily. 

AI should absolutely be used to automate your firm’s routine tasks. It should be used to help brainstorm ideas. It should be used to help simplify your firm’s processes. 

AI should NOT be used to replace quality content. AI should NOT be used to replace any legal advice. 

Here are good ways to use AI:

1. Generate topic ideas for content
2. Enhanced visual for images and designs
3. Sorting and data manipulation
4. Chatbots

Odd uses for AI:

1. AI Videos – Sorry, it is not quite there yet. It doesn’t seem authentic. 
2. AI Content – Full 100% AI content should not be used. 

If you have not already, start using AI as part of your workflow in 2025 (and no, this article is not written by AI).

SEO is Still King, Especially Local SEO

Search results will still produce a massive amount of leads for the firms that are worthy of being in the top three places. Does your firm have what it takes? You will still need to follow the best practices for content, authority/links, and technical on-page optimization. You will also need to get reviews, citations, and update your website for better on-page time and lower bounce rates. You can check out our full article on law firm SEO. 

The key to 2025 is also local SEO. You want to be on the maps. You can do this in two ways: organic map listing that is based on your citations, reviews, distance to city center (and other factors) and also paid ads. I recommend you do at least one of those and get into the map pack.

Paid Ads Are a Must

Google absolutely prioritizes ads over search results. While the search layout changes throughout the year, it is almost always one full page scroll on a desktop before you see organic search results. It is almost two page scrolls before you see organic search results on mobile. What takes up the first page?  Ads.

The ads can come in all varieties. Local Service Ads. Sponsored Ads. Map Ads. But the bottom line is that the top of search results is absolutely ads.

The good news is that ads work. Yes, it costs your firm money per click or call. But you can get leads from them if you have a good paid ad team managing them. The key is monitoring the performance of the campaigns, testing ads, modifying bids, and setting up appropriate ad groups and keywords. If you want to know more, we have a full law firm PPC guide on this topic.

Video Marketing with Video Shorts

Video shorts now dominate YouTube. It is the default when loading the mobile player. Shorts have increased in views over the past year, and this trend will continue. 

If you have created videos, then we recommend splitting them up into shorts. If you have not created videos, we have seen successful channels become shorts-only.

Social Media to Amplify Your Marketing

Social media should not be your primary vehicle for marketing. However, it can absolutely amplify your overall marketing. You can use social on Facebook, X, Google My Business, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn to boost your overall activity and get new leads. Law firms not only attract followers and potential clients on social media, but active social media engagement also acts as a vote in the firm’s favor. In addition to social media channels, you should also consider increasing the use of podcasts, LinkedIn marketing, newsletters, and blogs.

Networking & Referrals

One of the best ways to get new cases is still referrals. Clients consistently tell us that some of their best clients and leads come from referrals. Building a referral network takes time. It takes building trust. But you should absolutely be hustling and meeting people daily.

Revamping Your Brand to Stand Out and Be Consistent

Design trends are always changing. If you have not visited your brand in the last few years, then we recommend that you update in 2025. Some trends in design are simplified designs, micro animations, and a lot of imagery via data visualizations.

Chatbots to Automate Intake

You can also automate simple questions and intakes via a Chatbot. There are three levels to chatbots. The first is monitored with a live agent. The second is monitored with your own staff. The third is monitored by an AI agent and then usually backed up by a live agent. There are pros and cons to each, but we have seen inquiries pick up once a chatbot is installed on a client’s website.

Mobile-First Design: Making Your Mobile Site the Best

What does your website look like on mobile? Have you even checked all the pages on mobile? Most law firms will heavily scrutinize the desktop design of a website. It is easy to open all pages on a desktop and make comments during design/development. However, for mobile, most firms gloss over the mobile review. That is a mistake. For most consumer-oriented law firms (injury, criminal, family, immigration, etc), your mobile use will be at least 50%, if not more. For most business-oriented firms, it will be less, but it should not be ignored. Make sure your mobile website is perfect. In fact, for some firms, we recommend starting with a mobile design first and amping up to the desktop.