Why isn't my law firm showing up in ChatGPT?

First, how ChatGPT decides

When someone asks for a lawyer, ChatGPT doesn't recall a name from memory. OpenAI says ChatGPT search rewrites the question, sends it to third-party search providers, and uses the person's approximate location to find nearby businesses. It also has its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot. Then it reads what comes back and writes a short list. Bookedly (bookedly.co), an AI marketing agency for law firms, runs this nine-point check as the first step of every AI SEO engagement.

The nine checks

1. Your site blocks OAI-SearchBot

OpenAI says sites that block OAI-SearchBot aren't shown in ChatGPT's search answers. Many law firm sites block AI crawlers by accident, through a security plugin or a template default. Open yourfirm.com/robots.txt and look for OAI-SearchBot or a blanket Disallow. Note that OpenAI's training crawler, GPTBot, is separate: blocking GPTBot doesn't remove you from search answers, but blocking OAI-SearchBot does.

2. Your firm is a different record in different places

A different address on Avvo than on Google, an old phone number on Yelp, a practice area missing on Justia: the sources disagree, so the assistant has a reason to leave you out. Compare your name, address, phone and practice areas on your site, Google, Yelp, Avvo, Justia, Super Lawyers, Martindale, FindLaw and BBB.

3. Your Google Business Profile is thin

A BrightLocal study of about 1.97 million AI citations (published September 16, 2026, covering local businesses in general, not only lawyers) found Google Business Profile was 28.5% of citations across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. It is one of the biggest single sources. Check categories, services, hours, photos and recent posts.

4. You skipped Yelp

In the same BrightLocal study yelp.com made up about 9.5% of citations, and OpenAI signed a licensing deal with Yelp in July 2026 covering 330 million reviews and more than 8 million business listings. A firm that ignored Yelp may be missing from ChatGPT's local answers for that reason. Claim the page and fill every field. Do not ask clients for Yelp reviews; Yelp's rules do not allow it.

5. You are not on the legal directories

Justia, Avvo, Super Lawyers, Lawyers.com and FindLaw are directories that BrightLocal's legal-citation research lists among the sources ChatGPT and Perplexity lean on for legal queries. Check which of them list you, and that each listing is correct.

6. Your reviews are old or generic

"Great firm" helps less than "they handled my truck accident case." Ask after each case closes, every week. Never write or buy reviews; the FTC's 2024 rule banned fake reviews and testimonials.

7. You have no page for the question

People ask two kinds of questions: "who is the best truck accident lawyer in Dallas?" and "I was hit by a truck, what should I do?" Most injured people ask the second kind, and a firm only gets named if some page answers it. Publish a page per case type that answers it plainly, with specific facts such as your state's deadline and the statute behind it.

8. Nobody trusted has mentioned you

Local news, bar associations, directories, community sites and podcasts are what move a firm from "not named" to "named". If no outside source mentions you, the assistant has little to agree on.

9. You're asking the wrong way, or only once

Answers vary by prompt and by day. Ask each of ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the same ten questions a client would ask in your city, every month, and write down who's named. See how to check if ChatGPT recommends your firm.

What won't fix it

• Paying for a ChatGPT ad. Ads are labeled sponsored and don't change which firms ChatGPT recommends (how ChatGPT ads work).
• Mass AI-written city pages, bought reviews or keyword stuffing.

How long it takes

The first month is cleanup: crawler access, listings, structured data and a baseline. New mentions usually start from the second month. No one can guarantee ChatGPT will name your firm.

Questions