The Law Firm Visibility Checklist
42 points Google needs to rank your firm on Google Maps.
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The Law Firm Visibility Checklist
42 points Google needs to rank your firm on Google Maps — lawfirmgrowth.agency
Section 01
Google Business Profile
Your profile is what Google reads first when someone searches for an attorney in your city.
- Profile claimed and verified in the firm's own Google account.
- Primary category set to the closest legal match (e.g. "Divorce lawyer", not just "Lawyer").
- Secondary categories added for every real practice area you serve.
- Firm name matches your signage and letterhead exactly — no keyword stuffing.
- Physical address consistent with your website, letterhead and directory listings.
- Service areas set to the towns and suburbs you actually take instructions from.
- Opening hours accurate, with public holiday hours updated.
- A tracked local phone number that rings a person during business hours.
- Website link points to a relevant page, not a broken or redirected URL.
- Appointment or enquiry link enabled so clients can act without calling.
- Business description written for clients, mentioning practice areas and city.
- Services list populated with each matter type and a short plain-English description.
Section 02
Website
Google needs a page it can point to for every service and every place you serve.
- A dedicated page for every practice area — not one "Services" page listing all of them.
- A dedicated page for every office location.
- One clear H1 per page that names the service and the city.
- Unique page title and meta description on every page, written to earn the click.
- Name, address and phone number visible in the footer of every page.
- Contact page with an embedded map, parking notes and directions.
- Attorney bio pages with qualifications, admissions and practice areas.
- Internal links from practice area pages to the matching location pages.
- A visible enquiry path above the fold on every page — call, WhatsApp or form.
Section 03
Citations and Listings
Consistency across the web is how Google confirms your firm is real and where it says it is.
- Identical name, address and phone number across every listing.
- Listed on the primary sources: Google, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect.
- Listed on South African directories your clients and Google both read.
- Legal-specific and professional directory listings claimed where available.
- Old listings from a previous address or suite number removed or corrected.
- Duplicate listings merged so review authority isn't split.
- Listing categories and descriptions match your Google profile.
- Listings audited monthly — directories change data without telling you.
Section 04
Reviews
Reviews influence both where you rank and whether the person clicking actually calls.
- A repeatable request process that runs at the end of every matter.
- At least 25 Google reviews, growing steadily rather than in bursts.
- Average rating of 4.5 or higher.
- Every review answered — positive and negative — within a few days.
- Responses written in the firm's voice, with no client detail disclosed.
- A quiet process for handling an unfair review before it costs you clients.
Section 05
Technical and AI Visibility
The plumbing that decides whether Google and AI assistants can read and recommend you.
- LegalService or Attorney schema on practice area pages.
- LocalBusiness schema on location pages, matching your Google profile data.
- Loads in under three seconds on a mobile connection.
- Passes mobile usability — tappable buttons, readable text, no sideways scroll.
- Indexed in Google Search Console, with no coverage errors on key pages.
- Geo-grid rank tracking in place so you know where you rank across the city.
- Your firm appears when you ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google AI Overviews who to hire.
Want us to check all 42 for you?
We'll run the full audit on your firm and send you exactly where you stand — including a geo-grid rank map of your city.