Why AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) now?

User behavior is shifting. Gartner forecasts traditional search engine volume will drop ~25% by 2026 as users turn to AI chatbots and virtual agents—meaning more discovery happens inside AI tools.
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The share is already moving. As of mid-2025, AI search tools captured ~5.6% of U.S. desktop search traffic, more than double YoY, and rising.  
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Expect compounding impact. Gartner also estimates many brands will see 50%+ declines in organic traffic by 2028 as gen-AI search expands.

Even Google is changing. AI Overviews keep users on Google longer—shrinking clicks to websites. Your content must be structured to be quoted and trusted by AI summaries.

‍Bottom line: If your firm’s information isn’t machine-readable, verifiable, and trustworthy, AI systems will cite competitors who are.

Part I — Foundations (Do these first)

1) Publish an AI Profile (and link it in your footer)

An AI Profile is a dedicated page on your website that acts as your firm’s official “source of truth” for AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

It combines clear, human-readable information—such as your firm’s name, services, attorney bios, service areas, and reviews—with structured data (JSON-LD) that machines can easily understand.

By consolidating everything in one place and linking it in your footer, you make it simple for AI systems to find, verify, and cite you accurately.

This helps prevent mix-ups with other firms and increases the chances of being recommended when someone asks an AI for the best Elder Law or Estate Planning attorneys in your area. Including social proof like Google reviews and links to authoritative profiles (Avvo, LinkedIn, NAELA) adds credibility that AI systems weigh heavily.

Much like SEO once helped Google recognize and elevate websites, AI Profiles are the next evolution for getting discovered online.  

In short, an AI Profile ensures your firm is visible, trustworthy, and top-of-mind when prospects turn to AI for answers.

Where: yourdomain.com/ai-profile and footer link “AI Profile” on every page.

What to include (human section):

• Firm name, NAP (name/address/phone), main emails, hours
• Practice focus (Elder Law, Estate Planning), top services (e.g., Medicaid planning, Special Needs Trusts, Probate, VA benefits)
• Service area (cities, counties)
• Attorney bios (credentials, bar #, jurisdictions)
• Pricing cues or fee models (if you publish them), consult process, scheduling link
• Social proof: review highlights (with sources), media mentions, associations (NAELA, state bar sections)
• Source links (Avvo, Google Business Profile, Yelp, LinkedIn, State Bar, news features)

Why this matters: AI agents need unambiguous, consolidated facts. The AI Profile becomes
the canonical source AIs can “quote,” improving accuracy and odds of being mentioned.

Want to see an example? Visit our AI Profile here.

2) Mark up FAQs as a dedicated FAQPage

FAQs are one of the most powerful tools for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) because they give AI systems exactly what they’re looking for: clear, direct answers to real questions. When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity about Medicaid look-back rules, probate, or trusts, those tools scan the web for content written in a Q&A format—and structured FAQs stand out as the most reliable match.

In short: FAQs give you more surface area for discovery, improve your authority and credibility in AI search results, and directly capture the high-intent questions prospects are already asking. They are your firm’s way of showing up as the “go-to expert” right at the moment families are seeking help.

‍What to include: Real, detailed Q&A written like a clear answer (not a teaser). Prioritize “money questions” adult children and seniors actually ask.

High-ROI Elder Law & EP topics (starter list):

• “How does Medicaid look-back work in Oregon?”
• “Will a revocable living trust avoid probate here?”
• “What is a spend-down and how do I do it legally?”
• “How do VA Aid & Attendance benefits interact with Medicaid?”
• “What’s the difference between guardianship and conservatorship?”
• “How do we protect the family home from nursing-home costs?”
• "What documents do I need if I’m caring for a parent with dementia?”

3) Capture and mark up Reviews & Testimonials

Capturing and marking up Reviews & Testimonials is critical for AEO because AI systems, just like human prospects, look for trust signals when deciding which sources to surface. Reviews act as digital word-of-mouth—when they’re visible on your site and structured with Review or AggregateRating schema, they become machine-readable proof that real clients trust and value your firm.

This makes it far more likely that AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini will cite your practice when answering “best elder law attorney near me” or “top estate planning lawyers in [city].”

What to do:

• Prioritize Google Business Profile reviews (primary AI signal), plus Avvo and Yelp.
• Add a Reviews page with representative quotes, source links, and a short disclaimer.
• Mark up aggregate rating and individual Review snippets in JSON-LD.‍

‍4) Strengthen your Google Business Profile (GBP)

GBP is a high-trust entity record many AI systems use to validate your firm’s identity and location—feeding confidence into both local search and AI answers.

• Pick the right primary category (“Elder law attorney” or “Estate planning attorney”), add services with descriptions, and service areas.
• Add Q&A inside GBP (seed your own Q&A with clear answers).
• Post monthly Updates (workshops, guides).
• Ensure NAP consistency across citations.

5) Technical hygiene so AIs can crawl & cite you

Technical hygiene—especially using JSON-LD structured data—is essential for AIs to crawl and understand your website because it gives machines a clear, unambiguous map of who you are and what you do. While humans can read paragraphs and infer meaning, AI systems need structured signals to accurately identify your firm’s name, services, attorneys, reviews, and service area. JSON-LD acts like a translation layer, turning your website into data that AI agents can ingest, verify, and reuse confidently.

• XML sitemaps (submit in Search Console/Bing Webmaster)
• Robots/meta: allow key pages; block thin/duplicate content
• Canonical tags; clean internal linking; fast mobile performance
• Author boxes on articles (attorney bios + credentials), and Organization JSON-LD site-wide

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Part II — Content That AIs Love to Quote

6) Create Service Hubs with jurisdiction clarity

AIs prefer well-scoped, well-sourced pages with clear jurisdictional context. Linking to authorities increases credibility and reduces hallucination.

For each high-value service, publish a hub page containing:

• Plain-English explainer, eligibility/limits, and state-specific nuances
• Process steps you follow, with “What we do / What you do”
• Links to statutes/regulators (e.g., Oregon DHS, VA) and reputable sources

7) Publish Short Guides for adult children

Publishing Short Guides for adult children is important because, in Elder Law and Estate Planning, they’re often the decision makers or key influencers when a parent needs help with Medicaid, long-term care, or estate planning.

These guides meet them right where they are—overwhelmed, searching for quick clarity, and asking AI tools very practical, urgent questions like “What to do when mom is hospitalized?” or “How do we protect the family home from nursing home costs?”

Examples of guides you can create:

• “Emergency checklist when mom is hospitalized”
• “Medicaid planning timeline (90 days → filing)”
• “Trust vs. will for blended families—quick matrix”

These guides match high-intent scenarios that AIs frequently field. They also make perfect snippets for chat answers.

8) Annotate Attorney Bios for trust

Annotating Attorney Bios is important because trust and credibility are the biggest factors AI tools weigh when deciding which sources to cite. For Elder Law and Estate Planning especially, families want to know they’re hearing from a qualified professional, not a generic website.

By including details like bar numbers, jurisdictions, associations (NAELA, State Bar sections), publications, and speaking events—and marking them up with Person schema—you give AI systems clear, verifiable proof of expertise.

Add details such as:

• Bar #, jurisdictions, court admissions, associations (NAELA, state bar section), publications, speaking events
• Add Person JSON-LD with knowsAbout topics matching your services.

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Part III — Community Signals Beyond Your Site

9) Be findable on Reddit & forums (ethically)

High-signal communities are heavily referenced across the web. When your firm is the original source linked in helpful answers, AIs are more likely to pick up and cite you.

• Contribute helpful, non-solicitous answers in relevant threads (e.g., r/personalfinance, r/caregiving, local subreddits) where allowed by subreddit rules.
• Disclose jurisdiction and include citations (link to your on-site guide, state resources).
• Do not give specific legal advice; offer general education + referral to consult.

10) Publish Workshops & Webinars as durable assets

You’re creating cite-able artifacts AIs can reference—not just ephemeral events.

• Host monthly (library/community center), then post recap + slides on your site
• Embed the recording, add a summary transcript, and mark up as VideoObject/Article.

Part IV — Step-by-Step Setup Checklists

A) 7-Day Quick-Start

Day 1–2:

• Publish AI Profile page + footer link
• Add Organization/LocalBusiness JSON-LD site-wide

Day 3–4:

• Build FAQPage with 6–12 Q&As and JSON-LD
• Update GBP (categories, services, Q&A, posts)

Day 5–6:

• Create 2 Service Hubs (e.g., Medicaid planning, Probate) with outbound citations
• Add Review aggregate snippet to Reviews page

Day 7:

• Add “How did you hear about us?” to intake (include: Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Referral)
• Capture baseline metrics (see tracking below)