In a recent Office Hours webinar conversation, I sat down with the 9sail team — Joe Giovannoli (Founder & CEO), Robyn Addis (Chief Revenue Officer), and Jordana Kalkhof (Director of Client Success) — to talk about the fast-changing reality of online visibility.
In short: AI agents/bots are increasingly answering questions directly, and that shift is changing how prospective clients and referral sources discover firms and evaluate expertise.
Here are a handful of actionable takeaways from the session for law firm marketers and attorney-authors who want to stay visible — not just on Google, but in the AI-driven discovery layer that’s becoming part of the research process.
1. What’s changing: the journey, not the need for search
One of my favorite lines from the conversation: “Stop freaking out.” Because it’s true — the fundamentals haven’t disappeared. People still have questions, still need trustworthy answers, and still want to find experts. But the path to expertise is evolving.
Joe put it plainly: generative engines have accelerated “zero-click” behavior — meaning someone can ask a question, get a synthesized answer, and move on without ever visiting a website.
What we’re seeing more often now looks like this:
- AI chat first (to understand the issue quickly and get oriented)
- Then Google (to validate, compare, and search by firm/attorney name)
- Then direct outreach (when intent is high)
So yes — your overall site traffic may decline, but your best opportunities can still be there… and sometimes even stronger than before.
Takeaway: Don’t panic at the traffic chart. Pair it with signals of intent.
2. Why traffic dropping doesn’t automatically mean visibility is down
Robyn shared something many marketers have seen: even when website traffic falls, leads and conversions don’t always follow.
That’s a critical reframe for internal stakeholders:
- In the “old” world, clicks were proof of visibility.
- In the “AI chat/agent” world, your content can be used as a source without sending a visitor to your website — but they may show up later as a branded search (“firm name + topic” or “attorney name + topic”).
Joe noted that many firms are seeing branded search activity rise even as overall traffic declines. That’s consistent with a research pattern where AI agents do the first pass, and then Google becomes the “trust but verify” moment.
Do this next: If you’re reporting on performance, make sure you’re also tracking:
- Branded search trends (firm + attorney names)
- Consultation requests / inquiries
- High-intent engagement (time on page, deeper navigation paths, repeat visits)
3. GEO vs. SEO: the content rules are converging — but the writing needs to “flip”
Jordana offered one of the most practical content tips of the whole session: structure matters more than ever.
Some best practices haven’t changed (clear headings, readability, internal linking), but AI agents tend to reward content that answers questions quickly and clearly.
Her guidance for attorney-authors:
- Answer the question early — in a concise way.
- Then elaborate, add context, nuance, and human judgment.
Robyn added a helpful writing analogy: Journalists lead with the point, then support it. Lawyers are often trained to build evidence and reveal the point at the end.
For discovery today, that legal writing instinct works against you.
A simple rule to share with attorneys:
If your best paragraph is at the bottom, move it to the top.
4. Write for client questions — and for client blind spots
A standout moment came from Robyn’s example of how a general counsel uses AI tools: not necessarily to replace counsel, but to get “good enough to be dangerous,” understand the ramifications of an issue, and pressure-test whether current counsel is on top of it.
That’s why content rooted in real client questions still works — and why it needs to go one step further.
The opportunity isn’t just answering:
- “What changed?”
- “What does this mean?”
…it’s also addressing:
- “Here’s what you may not realize is now a risk.”
- “Here’s what most teams miss after X happens.”
Content planning tip: Build a regular loop with your attorneys and intake team:
- The questions clients ask repeatedly
- The misconceptions you keep correcting
- The “you should be thinking about…” moments
Those are your most reliable prompts — and increasingly, they mirror how people query AI agents.
5. “Who is the best attorney for X?” — why bylines and named expertise matter more
Joe flagged a shift that marketers should not ignore: prompts are increasingly phrased as “who is the best attorney for [topic]?” — including in B2B. And AI agents don’t just look at firm-level authority. They look for individual credibility signals:
- Attorney bylines on substantive content
- Repeated mentions of the attorney’s name in relevant contexts
- Trusted third-party sources (directories, reputable lists, publications)
In other words: if your firm shows up, great. If your attorney shows up too, that’s a second at-bat in the same search journey.
Do this next:
- Make attorney bylines standard for thought leadership where appropriate
- Strengthen bios so they clearly map to the questions people actually ask
- Ensure the attorney has a consistent topical footprint (same phrases, same focus areas, repeated over time)
6. Reverse-engineer your visibility: make the engines show you what they trust
If there’s one habit Jordana recommended that any marketing team can start immediately, it’s reverse engineering.
Run the searches your clients run — in both Google and AI tools — and look at:
- Which sources get cited
- Which formats keep showing up
- Which competitors appear repeatedly
- Which third-party sites seem to carry outsized influence
This isn’t theoretical. It’s a practical way to prioritize:
- What to write next
- What to refresh
- Where you may need to build credibility (bios, directory profiles, third-party mentions)
A light weekly workflow (30 minutes):
- Pick three client questions
- Run them in two AI tools + Google from an incognito window
- Capture who/what is cited
- Turn that into:
- A new content idea
- An existing page to refresh
- One credibility gap to close
7. Consistency is the strategy: visibility is built in the spaces in between
During the call, I shared a line that stuck with me from Jordana’s thinking about client service: Client experience isn’t built in big moments — it’s built in the spaces in between them.
The same is true for content.
One post rarely creates a business result by itself. What does create results is consistent, focused publishing paired with periodic optimization and smart distribution.
Robyn brought in a helpful concept for setting attorney expectations: the value often shows up through multi-touch attribution — lots of small touches that compound into trust and, eventually, outreach.
Joe echoed this from his own experience building visibility: it takes time to see consistent return — but AI discovery also creates an “equalizer” moment because no one fully owns the AI landscape yet.
A Quick “Share This With Attorneys” Checklist
If you want to boil this down into guidance you can forward internally, consider:
- Lead with the answer (two sentences at the top)
- Use question-style subheads when possible
- Write for real client questions and client blind spots
- Keep bylines and bios strong — names matter in AI discovery
- Build clusters and link between related content
- Publish consistently (don’t dump and disappear)
- Reverse-engineer what AI engines cite, and close the gaps
A Closing Thought
This shift from “traditional” search to AI discovery can feel disruptive — but it’s also an opportunity. The firms and practice groups that publish clearly, consistently, and credibly have a real chance to stand out while the new discovery habits are still forming.
Thanks again to Joe, Robyn, and Jordana for bringing both clarity and practical guidance to a topic that can otherwise feel like moving ground.
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[JD Supra clients: log into your account dashboard to watch a video recording of the complete conversation. Look for the Office Hours prompt in your account homepage and click for the archive of all previous conversations.]
Paul Ryplewski is VP of Client Services at JD Supra. Connect with him on LinkedIn. Follow his latest writings on JD Supra.
