Many people no longer type their question into the search bar, but ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity directly: “Can you recommend an employment lawyer in Vienna?” The answer usually names only a few firms. Test here which details get your firm into that answer.
How AI chatbots choose firms
A question like “Which notary in Linz speaks English?” is usually not answered by ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot or Perplexity from memory alone. They search the web, evaluate firm websites, business profiles, reviews and professional directories and put together a recommendation from them. The AI Overviews in Google Search come about in a similar way.
The result is not a list of hits but a short selection. Whether your firm appears in it depends on how clearly the AI can classify it: areas of law or services, location, target group, languages of advice, the way to a first appointment. Unclear or contradictory details are a reason to name a different firm.
Which details your firm needs for AI answers
Name your areas of law and services: ideally with a separate page for each focus area, such as employment law, payroll or company formation. Write in such a way that each sentence makes sense on its own, for example “We advise employees and businesses on notice and summary dismissal, in English too.” Sentences like this can be taken over directly into an answer.
Explain the initial consultation and your fees clearly: how does the first meeting work, how long does it take, what does it cost, and is billing afterwards by time, at a flat rate or according to a fee scale? These are exactly the questions clients often ask chatbots, and a clear answer on your website has a good chance of being quoted.
Keep your chamber and register entries up to date: the ÖRAK lawyer search, the BRAK lawyer directory, the KSW member directory, the BStBK tax adviser directory, the WPK professional register, the Notariatsfinder, the Notarsuche or the list of mediators at the Ministry of Justice count as reliable sources. Make sure your firm name, address and phone number are written there exactly as on your website and in your Google Business Profile, right down to hyphens and door numbers.
Use structured data: schema.org types such as LegalService for law firms, Notary for notaries’ offices or AccountingService for tax advisory and accounting describe address, office hours, areas of practice and languages in a fixed format that search engines and AI systems can evaluate directly. On our websites, this markup is built in for every language.
Look after reviews and mentions: new reviews with short, discreet replies, articles in chamber journals or trade media, talks and memberships in professional associations provide independent evidence of what your firm stands for.
Technology: making content readable for AI crawlers
Anything an AI crawler cannot read does not make it into any answer. Many of these programs only load a page’s HTML and ignore JavaScript; texts that only appear via script are then missing for them. Also take a look at your robots.txt: if it blocks OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot or Bingbot, your content remains invisible to these services. Fast loading times help too.
There is a lot of talk about the llms.txt file. So far, there is no solid evidence that ChatGPT, Gemini and co. actually use it. It costs little, but it does not spare you the work on clear content.
Factual information convinces machines too
Whether § 43b BRAO and § 57a StBerG in Germany or § 47 RL-BA 2015 for the Austrian legal profession: firms may inform about their work in their advertising, but may not engage in loud self-promotion. What is permissible under professional rules is at the same time good material for AI answers. Areas of law, languages, availability and fee models can be checked and quoted, self-praise cannot.
