From No Searches at All to First in 14 of 18: AI Search for a Family Law Partner

A family law partner at a London firm, invisible in AI search. Eight weeks later: first in 14 of the 18 searches we tracked, in the top four for every one, and first on Google for their own name.

The partner and the firm asked us not to name them, so we haven’t. Every figure below comes from the reports we shared with them during the work.

At a glance

• 0 tracked searches mentioned the partner when we started, on 22 September 2025
• 14 of 18 tracked searches ranked them first by 13 November 2025
• Top 4 in all 18 searches
• #1 on Google for their name, with their profile page on the firm’s website

The problem: a strong reputation that AI could not see

The partner was well regarded in their field: high net worth divorce, complex financial cases, private equity and business valuations, and children matters. None of that showed up where more and more clients now start.

When someone asks ChatGPT “who is the best family lawyer in London?”, the answer names a handful of people and stops. When we first tracked the searches their future clients use, the partner did not appear in any AI answer or blended Google and ChatGPT result. Not one.

That matters because a client who never sees your name never calls. The reputation was real; the visibility was not.

What we tracked

We set up a list of searches to track: the questions a person going through a divorce, or a parent in a dispute over children, actually types. Some were short, such as “best family lawyer London”. Others were longer and more personal, such as “If I hire a divorce solicitor, who is most likely to get me a good deal?”

We checked the answers regularly and recorded where the partner appeared, if at all.

How we approached it

Research first. Before changing anything, we researched the partner’s existing presence online in depth: how they appeared across Google and AI tools, what was already written about them, and where the gaps were. Everything that followed was based on that research.

From there, our AI search work follows the same steps for every client: the technical basics that let search engines and AI tools read a page properly, making it clear who someone is and what they specialise in, content that answers the questions people ask, trusted mentions elsewhere on the web, and then monitoring and improving. You can read more about it on our SEO and AI search page.

For a solicitor, much of this centres on the partner’s profile: the page a client lands on after hearing a name, and one of the places AI tools look when they decide who to recommend.

The results

Two weeks in (13 October 2025). From nothing, the partner appeared in every search we tracked, mostly in the top three, and first for “best divorce lawyer private business valuations” and for parental alienation cases among individual solicitors. On Google, their profile page on the firm’s website reached first place for their name, and a search pairing their name with family law climbed more than 40 places. The profile became one of the most visible and searched-for pages on the firm’s whole website, just behind the home page. People were seeing the name in AI answers, then searching for it on Google to find out more.

Five weeks in (29 October 2025). Six searches ranked them first, and every tracked search was in the top four. The biggest gains were in children law and in private equity and business valuation work: “Top 10 best children lawyer London” moved from ninth to first.

Eight weeks in (13 November 2025). On a wider set of 18 searches, the partner ranked first in 14 and in the top four for all 18. These included:

• “Best family lawyer London”: #1
• “Best international family solicitor London”: #1
• “Best divorce lawyer high net worth”: #1
• “Best divorce lawyer private equity”: #1
• “If I hire a divorce solicitor, who is most likely to get me a good deal? Show me top 5.”: #1
• “Who is the most expensive divorce solicitor in the UK?”: #2
• “Best children lawyer London”: #3
• “Who is the best divorce solicitor in the UK? Give me the top 10 individuals.”: #4

A note on AI answers

AI answers are not fixed. They vary between people, between tools and from one day to the next, and nobody can promise a place in them. What we can do is make sure the right information is there to be found, track the questions that matter and keep improving. The rankings above are from ChatGPT answers we tracked between 22 September and 13 November 2025.

Is your firm in the answer?

If your partners are well known in your field but don’t appear when clients ask AI who to instruct, the gap is usually fixable. See what we do for law firms, or get in touch and someone senior will reply within one working day.