Today, Google announced plans to introduce algorithmic updates to reviews in rich results. Their stated purpose is to make review rich results more helpful.
Review snippet spam has been a big problem for some time. This has been a particularly thorny issue in legal SEO. While I welcome changes that make reviews more helpful and meaningful, I'm not sure that this update will make much of a difference.
According to the announcement, Google will limit the pool of schema types that can potentially trigger review rich results. For our purposes, their list does include local business and organization schema, as well as, their sub-types. This would include LegalService schema which is a sub-type of LocalBusiness.
Google says that reviews for LocalBusiness and Organization that can be perceived as "self-serving" aren't allowed:
We call reviews โself-servingโ when a review about entity A is placed on the website of entity A - either directly in their markup or via an embedded 3rd party widget. Thatโs why, with this change, weโre not going to display review rich results anymore for the schema types LocalBusiness and Organization (and their subtypes) in cases when the entity being reviewed controls the reviews themselves.
I read this to mean that Google intends to cease showing rich review snippets for law firm websites that host their own reviews, regardless of whether they are first-party or third-party reviews.
At the time of writing, I am still seeing most "self-serving" reviews showing snippets. For example:
This is a tough one.
First, to my knowledge, the penalty for violating this guideline is that Google won't show rich snippets for these reviews. In other words, as penalties go, this is a "meh." Also, it's worth noting that Google is talking "algorithmic" update, not manual action. That might indicate that this means snippet removal only, as opposed to, rankings impact.
If true, it's probably worth rolling the dice and leaving the markup in place. However, if Google gets serious about combating these "self-serving" reviews, they may decide to take harsher action in the future. Who wants to be the guinea pig?
In my view, at the time of writing this, it's probably still worth the risk to keep the markup.
But don't rely solely on my opinion, follow along on the Google's New Announcement About Review Schema thread at Local Search Forum.
Instead of removing all the markup, I encourage you to consider adjusting your online review acquisition strategy. The short version is to prioritize earning reviews on platforms on which Google is currently showing review rich snippets. Further, prioritize those that appear prominently for searches on your name / firm name. Also, prioritize those that appear prominently for relevant category searches (i.e. practice are + city). Finally, I might abandon trying to obtain first-party reviews altogether. After all, you can syndicate third-party reviews on your site, just don't mark them up with review schema. So, if you use a review platform, like Gatherup, you might configure it to only encourage third-party reviews.
Anyway, this is a new announcement, so keep in mind that things may change. We'll work to stay on top of this situation. Have questions? Don't hesitate to ask!
UPDATE: Here's some audio if this post was confusing.
Many years ago, when AttorneySync started working with lawyers on intake, something I hadn't (but should have) considered was that many law firms weren't great at delivering exceptional service to potential clients during that crucial first call. Even firms with great reputations for delivering exceptional ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฆwould lose potential clients because of their poor ๐๐ซ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐๐ on […]
If you own or market a personal injury law firm, this question should guide every marketing decision you make. Ideally, it's based on actual data. How have your past clients found you? What do you know about their journeys? Unfortunately, many law firms don't do a great job at collecting this data. If you don't […]
Here's a recent Google SERP for "๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ." Ads? โLSAs? โLocal Pack? โLinks? โ ๐ท AI Overview? โ 6 firms listed. Only one tiny ๐. Click the ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ button? ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐: Here's a more detailed look at some of these firms: THE PEARCE LAW FIRM, P.C.Edith Pearce, […]
On April 22, 2025, Google sent an email updating Local Services Ads Additional Terms for Providers: Subject: Action required: important updates to Local Service Ads Additional Terms Many people are arguing that lawyers cannot participate in Local Services Ads, as this would constitute a per se violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct related to […]
Conrad and I recently joined Zack at Lawyerist to record a conversation about AI and marketing. You might think that we spend the whole time on how lawyers can use AI to publish content. You'd be wrong. While AI can certainly support publishing, there are many more interesting ways to use it in legal marketing. […]
As more legal services consumers turn to ChatGPT for local law firm recommendations, a fascinating intersection between AI, search, and maps unfolds. While Google remains the undisputed leader in local business data, ChatGPT is increasingly becoming an entry point for searchers seeking legal representation. But hereโs the kicker: instead of keeping users within its ecosystem, […]
When law firms contact us, they usually want to talk: โข PPC Ads โข SEO Rankings โข Lead Generation Very few want to talk: โข Brand โข Trust & Recognition โข Emotional Connection Admittedly, much of this concerns that AttorneySync is known for lead generation across those common digital channels. But even when we start […]
According to an October 2024 study by SE Ranking: "The legal niche triggers the highest percentage of AIOs (77.67%). The average number of links matched between the AI Overview resources and the top 20 search results was 6.49 for legal topics. AI Overviews for legal topics most frequently link to NYCourts.gov (114 links), YouTube.com (48 […]
I'm grateful for my friend, Charley Mann of Law firm Alchemy. If you're a lawyer, subscribe to his Free Email List. In a recent email, Charley calls out bad guru advice on hiring: "Trying to execute a major SEO improvement? You need to find people who will help you, instead of trying to DIY it […]
