Legal SEO & AI Search Consultant
Your marketing should sign cases, not just get clicks.
I’m Michael O’Grady. I’ve worked in SEO for more than 20 years, 15+ of them in legal marketing. I help law firms get found on Google and in ChatGPT, then turn that attention into calls and signed cases. I work with firms directly, as a consultant or a fractional CMO.
Start a conversationSee the case studiesFounder, Verdict Digital Marketing
Questions lawyers ask me
Start with the one that sounds like your firm.
These come up in almost every first conversation.
Why do we get calls but not signed cases?
Where intake, tracking and lead quality leak.
Read more →Is my agency actually doing enough?
An independent read on what you’re paying for.
Read more →Why do competitors show up in ChatGPT and we don’t?
How AI engines decide which firms to name.
Read more →Do we need a CMO, or just someone who owns marketing?
Senior leadership without the full-time cost.
Read more →Who I partner with
Built for firms that want more than page one.
I’d rather be direct about who gets the most from working with me. The firms I help most have usually already tried SEO, hired an agency or two, and still can’t point to what’s working. If that sounds familiar, here’s how to tell whether we’re a fit.
This is for you if
- Your SEO has plateaued, or you want more from your SEO program and website content.
- You want your firm to show up in ChatGPT and other AI platforms.
- You want a top legal SEO and AI search specialist with 15+ years in legal marketing leading your account, not a team that learned law firms recently.
- You don’t know what all your vendors are doing.
- You’re paying an agency and can’t tell whether it’s doing enough.
- You want to turn more of your calls into good cases.
It’s probably not a fit if
- You want a guarantee you’ll be number one by Friday.
- You’re looking for the lowest-priced option.
- You like a monthly report that says “impressions are up” and nothing else.
- You’re comfortable with mediocre SEO and a vendor who’s “working on it.”
- You’d rather hear everything is going great than what’s actually working.
What I do
Six things I build for law firms
Marketing that signs cases
Tracking, intake and call handling, so you can see which marketing turns into cases.
How I build it →Legal SEO and technical SEO
Site structure, speed, content and links that earn page-one rankings for the cases you want.
How I build it →Local SEO and the Map Pack
Business profiles, citations and location pages that win your market, office by office.
How I build it →AI search visibility
GEO and AEO work so ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI name your firm, checked by hand.
How I build it →Paid search and conversion
PPC and landing pages that bring in calls worth answering, and intake that follows through.
How I build it →Fractional CMO
One senior owner for strategy, budget and every vendor, without a full-time salary.
How I build it →
Meet Michael O’Grady
The person doing the work is the person you hire.
I started in SEO more than 20 years ago and have spent the last 15+ focused on law firms. I worked inside LexisNexis, Martindale-Hubbell and Martindale-Avvo, where I saw how thousands of lawyers market themselves and which approaches hold up. Today I work independently, and I founded Verdict Digital Marketing for firms that want a team to carry out the work.
I’ll tell you what’s working, what isn’t and what I’d do next, even when the answer is “leave that alone.”
- 20+ years in SEO
- 15+ years in legal marketing
- Founder, Verdict Digital Marketing
Previously at LexisNexis, Martindale-Hubbell and Martindale-Avvo.
Why Michael
Early to what works, not to what’s trendy.
Three times in my career, search changed and legal marketing was slow to follow. Each time I moved first and tested before recommending.
SEO, before firms accepted it
I was recommending SEO to law firms at a time when many still saw it as unnecessary.
Search intent and semantic SEO
I moved from keyword lists to how people actually search and how Google understands topics and entities.
AI search, early
I started using ChatGPT and other AI chatbots in my own work while much of legal marketing was still deciding what to do with them.
How I use AI in my work
AI does the manual hunting I used to do by eye. I do the judgment. It helps me find what a human reviewer tends to miss:
- Hidden content gaps on your site and against competitors
- Missing entity and semantic terms
- Backlink profile analysis
- Missed opportunities across your rankings and pages
- Research for the content each page needs
- Content recommendations based on what’s already working
How it works
Three steps, no mystery.
A conversation
We talk through where your marketing stands, what you’re paying for and what you want to change.
An audit
I look at your search, AI visibility, tracking and vendors, and show you where cases are being lost.
A plan, then the work
You get a prioritized plan. From there I guide it as your consultant or fractional CMO, or Verdict carries it out.
Proof
Real numbers, with the caveats left in.
Each case study shows what moved, what didn’t and what I’d test next. Client details are anonymized unless the client has approved naming them.
Multi-office firm
Three offices, one search strategy
Read the case study →Personal injury
Search was up. Phones were down.
Read the case study →AI visibility
Checking AI visibility by hand
Read the case study →Personal injury, Florida
+314% traffic
Frankel Injury Law
Read the case study →Published work
- 5 Reasons Your Website Is Not Ranking in GoogleMartindale-Avvo, July 2023
- Want to Increase Your Business? Claim These Local Profiles TodayMartindale-Avvo, May 2020
- How to Maximize Your Paid Search Ad Budget During COVID-19Martindale-Avvo, April 2020
- Why You Need to Update Your Google My Business Profile NowMartindale-Avvo, March 2020
Working together
Two ways to work with me
Fractional CMO
You get a senior marketing leader who owns strategy, budget, vendors and reporting, a few hours a week at a fraction of a full-time hire.
See Fractional CMOLegal SEO & AI search consulting
A focused engagement to audit what you have, find the leaks and fix the search, AI visibility and conversion problems holding your firm back.
See consultingIf you want an agency
I can recommend one, and I’ll tell you why.
Some firms want a consultant to guide the work. Others want a team to carry it out. If you’d like a new agency, I recommend Verdict Digital Marketing, the agency I founded. It runs on the same strategy you’d get from me.
You don’t have to hire Verdict to work with me. I’ll give you the same honest assessment either way.
About Verdict Digital MarketingQuestions
Before you reach out
What’s the difference between hiring you and hiring an agency?
With me, a senior specialist with 20+ years in SEO does the strategic work personally. An agency typically assigns an account manager and a rotating team. If you want a team to carry out the work, I recommend Verdict Digital Marketing, the agency I founded.
How much does it cost?
It depends on scope. After a short conversation I’ll give you a clear range before you commit to anything.
How long until I see results?
Tracking and technical fixes can show up within weeks. Rankings and AI visibility usually take months. I’ll tell you what to expect in each area, and I don’t guarantee rankings or cases.
Can I keep my current agency?
Yes. Often I audit what your agency is doing first, then work alongside them or advise you on whether a change makes sense.
Do you only work with law firms?
This site is for law firms. Verdict Digital Marketing, the agency I founded, also takes clients outside of legal.
What’s the difference between a fractional CMO and consulting?
A fractional CMO owns your marketing strategy, budget, vendors and reporting on an ongoing basis. Consulting is a focused engagement to audit, find problems and fix them.
If your traffic is up and your phones aren’t, let’s find out why.
A short conversation is enough to tell whether I can help.
Start a conversationRead the case studies