Google Business Profile for lawyers: how to rank on Maps the right way

Get the basics exactly right

Most ranking problems start with the basics. Google’s Business Profile guidelines are strict, and law firms break them more often than most businesses.

• Name: your real firm name, the same as on your sign, letterhead and website. No keywords, no city names, no “best”. Google says “including unnecessary information in your business name isn’t permitted.”
• Address: a real office where clients can meet you. Google doesn’t allow virtual offices, and a shared office only counts if it has your sign and your staff are there during business hours.
• Category: pick the main category that matches your main practice, for example “Personal injury attorney”. Add a few more only if they are real.
• Hours: if you work by appointment only, Google asks you not to list hours.
• Phone and website: a local number that is answered, and a link to the matching page on your site.

Profiles for each attorney

Google treats lawyers as “individual practitioners”. A lawyer who meets clients and can be reached at the office may have their own profile, next to the firm’s profile.

• If several attorneys work at one office, the firm has one profile for the location, and each attorney’s profile shows only their name. A title like “Esq.” is allowed.
• If you are a solo attorney under a firm brand, Google wants one shared profile named like “Your Firm: Your Name”.
• One profile per person. Google says a practitioner “shouldn’t have multiple Business Profiles to cover all of their specializations.”
• Staff, paralegals and intake teams should not have their own profiles.

Photos, posts and questions

A profile with real photos and recent posts simply looks more alive. Add photos of your office entrance, the reception area and your attorneys. Post short updates now and then: a new attorney, a change in the law, a community event. Answer common questions in plain words, without giving legal advice in public.

Reviews: how to get more, the right way

Reviews matter a lot, both for ranking and for the person deciding who to call. But Google’s review rules are strict:

• No incentives of any kind: no gift cards, no discounts, no fee reductions.
• Don’t “selectively solicit positive reviews”. If you ask, ask every client the same way, not just the happy ones. This is often called review gating, and Google doesn’t allow it.
• No reviews from employees, family or other firms, and no review swaps.
• Don’t discourage or try to block negative reviews.

What works: ask at the right moment, usually when the case ends well, with a short text that has a direct link. Make it a normal step in your closing process so every client gets the same message.

Replying to reviews without breaking confidentiality

This is where lawyers are different from every other business. California lawyers have a strict duty to keep client information confidential. Even saying “we handled your case” can reveal that someone was a client.

The American Bar Association looked at this in Formal Opinion 496. Its advice for negative reviews is careful:

• Seriously consider not responding at all.
• If you respond, don’t share any client information.
• A simple reply can be: “Professional obligations do not allow me to respond as I would wish.”
• You can also invite the person to call you to talk it through.

For positive reviews, a short “Thank you for your kind words” is enough. Don’t mention the case, the result or anything else about the person.

Keep your details the same everywhere

Google checks whether your firm name, address and phone match across the web. Make them identical on your website, Avvo, Justia, Yelp, Super Lawyers, bar association listings and your State Bar profile. Small differences, like “Suite 650” on one site and “#650” on another, are fine. Old addresses and old phone numbers are not.

What not to do

• Rent a virtual office to appear in another city
• Add keywords to your firm name
• Buy reviews or trade them with other firms
• Create several profiles for the same attorney

Each of these can get your profile suspended, and getting it back can take weeks.

Written by Sevag Boghossian

Sevag is the founder of araRank and a web developer with 6 years in law firm marketing and SEO. He builds every site we make, from Los Angeles.

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