Rewriting the rules of engagement

A recent Harvard Business Review article suggested thought leadership is dying, overwhelmed by the deluge of AI-generated faux expertise. Meanwhile, the fact that GenAI citations rely largely on journalistic content has repositioned earned media (publicity or exposure gained through unpaid, organic means rather than paid advertising) at the centre of the legal marketing mix. But professional services are predicated on expertise based on knowledge and experience, which have long been showcased by thought leadership. How are firms making sure that their unique expertise is recognised in an AI-first digital environment? 

Emma Maule, digital director at MD Communications, observes: ‘The new premium status of earned media is creating a commercial feedback loop: firms featured in credible media are more likely to surface in AI responses, driving visibility, enquiries, and further coverage.’ A lawyer who is quoted in reputable media outlets is more likely to appear in a GenAI model’s response to a potential law firm client than one whose expertise is featured on their firm’s website. 

For many years, law firm websites were at the top of the legal marketing funnel, driving competitive advantage through thought leadership and client case studies. This was supplemented by directory rankings and earned media. Legal tech vendors also relied heavily on their websites, and additional promotion from conferences and events, as well as earned and sponsored media. Applying search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques to website content would help to keep the firm/enterprise on the first page of Google results. 

From clicks to influence

GenAI, however, is upending the legal marketing mix. Generative engine optimisation (GEO) has emerged as a discipline in its own right, with large language models (LLMs) playing a growing role in how potential clients and hires access information and expertise. Media monitoring and analytics company PublicRelay drew a clear distinction between SEO as visibility through links and GEO as visibility through language, adding that ‘GEO shifts the goal from clicks to influence’. 

Laura Klysz is global head of marketing and communications at Simmons & Simmons, which uses AI to adapt content for multiple channels rather than generate it in the first place. ‘The content we generate is always human-led,’ she says. ‘We use AI for editing, but we make sure that it doesn’t erode the original author’s authenticity. We have developed tone-of-voice guidelines to make our content clear, conversational and commercially minded. It’s almost as if we are redefining the syllabus of writing digestible content for different channels – thought leadership, marketing and PR.’

Klysz is reluctant to draw a line between SEO and GEO. ‘A lot of people still use Google, particularly the AI overview, as well as LLMs,’ she explains. There are also challenges with writing for GEO. ‘You might spend time poring over a thought-leadership article, but you then lose control over how it’s extracted and reshaped by an LLM. If you search with Google, you get a list of links to original content. GenAI is more conversational, so our message has to be clear and consistent across all channels – including social media platforms like LinkedIn, where we have to make sure that everyone in the firm is on message. Having said that, we encourage our teams to build authentic personal brands and profiles, without relying on AI.’

A human + bot approach

Brand visibility platform Semrush claims that potential customers who search with LLMs are 4.4 times more likely to convert than those using search engines, with AI-generated results projected to overtake organic search traffic by 2028. 

'You will rank higher in results if you have consistent messaging across multiple trusted sources that’s validated by third parties, which is where media citations come in'

Briana McCrory, Bighand

Briana McCrory is chief marketing officer and EMEA revenue officer at Bighand, which provides business intelligence and productivity software to the legal sector. While GenAI has upended the marketing funnel, she considers human touch more important than ever. ‘Previously, our website was our front door. Now, enquiries are coming in further down the funnel, so we are seeing less traffic but higher conversion.’ Like Klysz, McCrory sees people consulting GenAI and Google. ‘They use LLMs for one-click search and then validate responses on Google. So when they get to our website, they have already done their research.’ 

Bighand’s website is being redesigned. ‘People don’t need top-of-the-funnel information anymore. However, for us to appear in LLM responses, we still need top-of-the-funnel information,’ McCrory explains. ‘The wider digital ecosystem is hugely important, because LLMs are not just pulling information from our website, they’re looking for consistency across the digital environment. You will rank higher in results if you have consistent messaging across multiple trusted sources that’s validated by third parties, which is where media citations come in. Where previously we would look for backlinks, as LLMs pull from multiple sources, it’s important for us to widen our [external] citations. So a website needs a human + bot approach. It needs information for people who visit the site having already consulted an LLM, and it still needs top-of-the-funnel information to feed the LLMs. The bots look for more structured content, while the humans look for the trust element. And you have to find a balance between what you are producing for humans and what you are producing for bots.’ 

Journalistic content is integral to GenAI

Rohit Grover, head of digital media, PR and communications UKIME at Dentons, considers earned media to be more about credibility than performance. ‘Quality media coverage sends an authority signal. It says that this lawyer from this law firm is regarded… as an expert in their field. It’s a very effective way of engaging senior decision-makers, but… there are better ways to optimise search performance – whether that’s SEO or AI-driven,’ he says. ‘I hear the argument that AI models appear to favour “high-authority media”, which implies that if a firm generates a higher volume of quality media coverage it will appear more often in AI searches, but the reality is this would more likely be as a source to the main answer rather than within the main answer to a prompt – which very few people get past.’ 

A 2025 report from Generative Pulse by Muck Rack found journalistic content is integral to GenAI output. It analysed more than a million GenAI citations and found that more than 27% were from journalistic content. When questions implied a level of recency, the percentage increased to 49%. High domain authority publications, industry-specific media and expert commentary carried exponentially more weight than owned content, although the type of question also influenced the citation source. 

This perhaps goes some way towards explaining why recognised media outlets, including broadcasters, broadsheets and specialist press publications like the Gazette, are seeing an uptick of interest from law firm public relations departments and PR agencies.

Thought leadership still a differentiator

Grover believes thought leadership is still king. ‘If AI visibility is your goal, it’s far better to invest in reimagining your owned content – how information is structured on your website, how you present thought leadership reports and so on. The value of a quote in the FT is in the association with the FT brand, not its searchability.’ 

Klysz agrees: ‘Thought leadership is still crucial to the marketing mix, but it is an overused term that professional services firms use for general content generation. True thought leadership needs a unique perspective. And when you start a thought leadership piece, you make sure that you’ve identified a white space, a gap in the dialogue. And then it needs to align with your strategy and what you want the firm to be known for. GenAI can help brainstorm ideas and it can help with research. But the human perspective – the real, lived experiences of different types of work – is still really powerful.’

PR perspective

PR is central to digital visibility. ‘I’ve always put great emphasis on PR,’ says Klysz. ‘And thought leadership is in the loop too, because you need something interesting to say to build credibility with journalists. We are investing in media training. Our lawyers are keen to be quoted in reputable publications that their clients read, as it validates their expertise and may well bring in further instructions.’ Simmons is broadening its pool of spokespeople. ‘Whereas before [media training] would have been for top leadership, now we’re keen for people across the business to have a voice. Some early-career lawyers are probably more AI-literate. Adding their perspective into the mix is a compelling opportunity, so we are introducing media training much earlier.’ 

PR agencies are also focusing on credibility rather than volume when it comes to media coverage. ‘It’s less about how much you land, and more about whether you’re showing up in the places that shape opinion,’ says Maule. ‘Importantly, agencies may also be switching their focus to the places AI tools generate results from. Social media is a big part of that. Coverage on its own has a short shelf life; how it’s amplified and engaged with on social media extends its impact and visibility in an AI-driven landscape.’

Maule agrees that thought leadership still has a part to play, but it needs to be amplified on social media. ‘At the same time, social can be a powerful tool for positioning lawyers as credible, visible experts, making them more likely to be picked up by trusted publications. It’s about developing a symbiotic relationship where each channel strengthens the others,’ she says.