The Challenge
Problem: Despite strong traditional SEO rankings, the firm was invisible when potential clients asked AI assistants for personal injury attorney recommendations. Competitors with weaker overall web presence were being recommended instead.
The firm had invested heavily in SEO over the past decade and ranked well for traditional search terms. However, as more potential clients began using ChatGPT and Perplexity to find attorneys, the firm's inquiries plateaued despite continued SEO investment.
Initial AI visibility testing revealed concerning results:
- ChatGPT mentioned the firm in 0% of relevant queries
- Perplexity cited competitors 4x more frequently
- Google AI Overviews rarely included their content
- The firm had no Wikipedia presence despite 30 years in business
The Solution
Strategy: Comprehensive GEO optimization focusing on entity recognition, authority building, content restructuring, and multi-platform optimization.
Phase 1: Entity Recognition (Months 1-2)
We identified that AI systems didn't recognize the firm as a distinct entity. The solution involved building presence in knowledge graphs through Wikipedia article development, Wikidata entry creation, legal directory optimization, and structured data implementation across all web properties.
Phase 2: Authority Building (Months 2-4)
We launched a systematic campaign to build the citation signals AI systems use for authority assessment. This included securing features in legal publications, contributing expert commentary to news outlets, publishing research that would be cited by other sources, and accumulating and responding to client reviews across platforms.
Phase 3: Content Optimization (Months 3-6)
We restructured existing content for AI extraction. Key changes included rewriting practice area pages with direct answers and clear structure, creating comprehensive FAQ content matching common AI queries, adding specific case results and statistics AI systems could cite, and implementing thorough schema markup for legal services.
Phase 4: Multi-Platform Optimization (Months 4-8)
We optimized specifically for each major AI platform. For ChatGPT, we ensured GPTBot access and built training-data-relevant presence. For Perplexity, we optimized for search rankings and citable snippets. For Google AI Overviews, we targeted featured snippet capture and enhanced E-E-A-T signals.
Timeline and Results
"We'd spent years building our SEO presence, but watching competitors get AI recommendations while we were invisible was frustrating. The GEO strategy changed that completely—now we're the firm AI recommends first."
Key Takeaways
Entity recognition is foundational. Without established entity presence, AI systems couldn't recommend the firm even when their content was relevant. Building knowledge graph presence unlocked all subsequent improvements.
Authority signals compound. Each citation and mention built on previous ones. The Wikipedia article made news features easier to secure, which made further citations more likely.
Platform-specific optimization matters. Different AI platforms retrieve information differently. Strategies that worked for ChatGPT visibility required different approaches for Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.
Traditional SEO isn't enough. Strong Google rankings didn't automatically translate to AI visibility. GEO requires specific optimization beyond traditional search.
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