In search marketing, local citations for law firms are the listings of your firm's name, address and phone number on websites and apps you don't own, or on profiles of your own. They have nothing to do with citing a case. We'd correct the listings your firm already has before adding more. That includes each lawyer's own listings, because lawyers join and leave.
Which listings your law firm has
Your firm's Google Business Profile is the listing for the practice. A lawyer can also have a profile of their own, and that one describes the lawyer.
That comes from Google's guidelines, which count lawyers as individual practitioners. Where several practitioners share a location, the guidelines say, "The organization should create a Business Profile for this location, separate from that of the practitioner." So a firm with several lawyers may have more than one profile to keep correct.
Your firm can also be listed on other maps and search engines, such as Apple Maps and Bing, and on legal directories. Justia, Martindale, FindLaw, Avvo and Lawyers.com are examples. You may hear listings on legal directories called "niche citations."
Your contact page and footer carry the same details, and they have to match too. Those two have to agree with each other first. If the footer still names the former partnership and the contact page has the new firm name, settle that before you ask any other publisher for a correction.
The record your listings have to match
It helps to have the firm's details written down in one place and approved by whoever runs the firm's administration. That includes how the partners' names appear in the firm name.
| Detail | What belongs in the record |
|---|---|
| Firm name | The current name, as it appears on the door |
| Office address | The street address, with the suite written one way |
| Main phone number | The current main number for that office |
| Website address | The firm's website, or the page for that office |
| Hours | The current hours for that office |
| Practice areas | The matters the firm takes now |
| Each lawyer's name | The lawyer's current name and office |
If your firm has offices in more than one county, each office gets its own details. The office and practice areas on a lawyer's profile should be the ones that lawyer has now.
On phone numbers, Google's guidelines say, "The phone number must be under the direct control of the business." If your firm takes urgent matters, the number on a listing is the one someone dials right after an arrest.
The record should include practice areas as well as contact details. If your website says estate planning and probate and a listing says only "lawyer," the listing leaves out what you handle.
What throws a law firm's listings off
Each change at the firm can leave a different detail out of date. When a lawyer leaves, for example, that lawyer's own profile and directory pages may still show your office and number.
| What changed at the firm | What to review | Where to correct it first on your website |
|---|---|---|
| The office moved, or the suite changed | The address for that office and its lawyers | The contact page and footer |
| A partner joined or left and the firm name changed | The old firm name | Every page that carries the firm name |
| The main number changed | The phone number for the office and its lawyers | The contact page and footer |
| A lawyer joined | The lawyer's connection to the firm and the office | The lawyer's page |
| A lawyer left | The lawyer's own profile and directory pages, which may still show your office and number | Every page that names the lawyer |
| Another office opened | The address, number, hours and lawyers for the new office | The page for that office |
For an office move, Google's help for Business Profiles says, "If you move your business to a new address after it's verified, you must verify your business again." For a firm name change, it says, "If you change your business name after it's verified, you might need to verify your business again."
How to find the wrong listings and get them corrected
If you search for a former partnership name, an old address or an old phone number, you can turn up listings that a search for the current name might miss. The same goes for each lawyer's name.
You'll want a list of the listings that are wrong. For each one, write down the page, whether it describes the firm or a lawyer, what needs to change and who can edit it. You start with your website, then the profiles you control, then the publishers you have to ask.
Start with the firm's website
On your website, correct the contact page and footer, and after a name change, every page that still shows the old name. A lawyer's page may still show their former office and need updating.
Then the profiles the firm controls
For a profile the firm has claimed, what matters is who holds the login. A lawyer's own profile may need that lawyer to make the change.
If you find what looks like a duplicate, work out who each profile represents before you ask for one to be removed. A firm profile and a lawyer's profile at the same address may both be appropriate under Google's practitioner guidance.
Then the publishers you have to ask
Where the firm can't edit a listing, the publisher needs a link to the page and the exact correction. For a lawyer who has left, tell the publisher that the lawyer is no longer at the firm. The listing is corrected once you've seen the change on the published page, so note the request and the correction separately.
For a Google profile, Google's help pages say, "If you believe a profile is inaccurate or should be removed, you can suggest an edit or flag it for removal."
When we do this for a firm, we review its name, services, locations and contact details across the website and the relevant profiles. We correct outdated information where the firm has control, and we request changes from other publishers where needed. How much there is to do depends on how many offices and lawyers the firm has, how many old addresses and numbers are still in circulation, and who holds the logins.
Your law firm may not need more listings
More listings can wait until the ones your firm has match the record. When you do add one, decide which office or lawyer it will help a prospective client find, and who will keep it accurate when the firm changes.
When we do this work, we start with the places that already list your firm, and we don't buy listings or build networks of them. For a lawyer's profile, Google says, "A practitioner shouldn't have multiple Business Profiles to cover all of their specializations."
A listing on a directory is separate from paying that directory
Keeping your firm's details right on a legal directory and paying that directory for placement or leads are separate decisions. Our law firm marketing page compares a directory or lead service with the other ways law firms get marketed.
What correct local citations for law firms can and can't do
Correct listings give prospective clients the right office details and phone number. The practice areas on the listing tell them whether you handle their matter. None of that guarantees a position in search.
About the information in your Business Profile, Google's page on local ranking says, "Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results." It doesn't say that being listed on a directory moves your firm up. Our guide to SEO for lawyers covers profile categories, reviews and where the firm comes up on the map.
In our experience, when several independent places agree on a firm's name and practice areas, AI assistants trust those facts more. An AI answer can also quote a directory listing instead of your own site. We work on getting those details to agree as part of our AI search service. No one can guarantee your firm appears in AI answers.
When to check your law firm's listings again
Check the listings again after an office move, a firm name change, or a lawyer joining or leaving. A firm administrator can put the listing review on the same list as the new letterhead and signage when a partner's name changes.
For the firms whose SEO we manage, we work on the Google Business Profile every month, and each update and check is dated in our monthly SEO report. We keep the profile current for the locations the firm serves, and we keep categories, services and listings consistent everywhere Google checks. Our SEO page explains what the monthly work includes.
See where your firm comes up in search
Our free visibility report shows where your firm ranks on Google for your practice areas across your county, and whether it appears in the Google Maps pack. It also shows whether AI answers mention your firm or a competitor, and how your reviews and profile compare locally.
Where you rank on Google for the searches that matter
We audit your site and your search results first. The work and the price come to you in writing.
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