Checklist · 3 min read
A Technical Readiness Checklist for Law Firm Sites in AI Search
A short list of technical checks, based on what Google, OpenAI, Perplexity and Microsoft document, that a law firm's web team can complete in a day.
Short answer
Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet to appear as a supporting link in its AI features, with no extra technical requirements. The checklist: confirm indexing, snippet settings, crawl access for search bots, key content in HTML text, an accurate sitemap, internal links, matching structured data and working measurement.
Key takeaways
- The only documented technical requirement for Google's AI features is an indexed page that is eligible to show a snippet.
- Preview controls such as nosnippet and max-snippet limit what Google can show.
- Keep important content in HTML text and link your pages internally.
- Submit an accurate sitemap and verify your site in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Set up measurement before you change anything so you can see what moved.
How to use this checklist
Work from the top. The first three items decide whether anything else matters, because a page that is not indexed or not allowed to be crawled cannot be a supporting link in an AI answer. Mark each item pass, fail or unknown, and keep the notes with dates.
1. Indexing and snippet eligibility
- Search for
site:yourfirm.exampleand check that your key pages appear. Better, use the Pages report in Google Search Console. - Confirm that important pages do not carry a noindex tag by mistake.
- Check preview controls. Google lists nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex as the controls that limit what it can show. If a page is not eligible to show a snippet, Google says it is not eligible to be a supporting link in its AI features.
2. Crawl access
- Open your robots.txt file and read it line by line. See AI crawlers and robots.txt.
- Make sure Googlebot and Bingbot are allowed, along with the search crawlers you decided to allow: OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Claude-SearchBot.
- Check that your CDN, firewall and security plugin do not block those bots. OpenAI and Perplexity both recommend allowing their published IP ranges.
- Remember that robots.txt is not a tool for keeping a page out of Google. Use noindex or password protection for that.
3. Page content in text
- View the page with scripts disabled, or view the source. The answer, headings and bios should appear in the HTML text.
- Do not put key content only in images, PDFs or interactive widgets.
- Google also recommends a good page experience, so check mobile layout and speed.
4. Sitemap
- Publish an XML sitemap that lists the pages you want indexed and nothing else. Google's limits are 50 MB or 50,000 URLs per file.
- Include lastmod only if it is consistently and verifiably accurate. Google says it ignores priority and changefreq.
- Submit the sitemap in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and add a Sitemap line to robots.txt. A sitemap is a hint, not a guarantee.
5. Internal links
- Every important page should be reachable through normal links from your home page or navigation.
- Link related pages with descriptive anchor text. Google's AI guidance lists internal links among the things that help.
- Fix broken links and redirect chains.
6. Structured data
- If you use markup, make sure it matches the visible text. See structured data for law firms.
- Do not rely on FAQPage markup for Google rich results. They stopped appearing on May 7, 2026.
7. Identity details
- Check that your firm name, address, phone number and the responsible lawyer appear on every page or in the footer, consistent with your outside profiles. See attorney bios and firm identity.
8. Measurement setup
- Verify your site in Google Search Console, as Google recommends. AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic is counted in the Web search type, with no separate line.
- Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools and check whether the AI Performance report (public preview) is available. It shows citations, not clicks or placement.
- Set up the GA4 channel group described in how to track AI referral traffic in GA4 before you start changing pages.
9. Run a baseline audit
Before you make changes, run the AI answer audit and save the results. Without a baseline you cannot tell what helped. Repeat it monthly.
Common questions
How long does this checklist take?
For a small firm site, a competent web person can usually check each item in a day. Fixing what you find can take longer, depending on your platform and host. These times are our estimates, not measured figures.
Do I need to fix everything before I publish new content?
No, but indexing and crawl access come first, because content that cannot be indexed cannot be cited. Everything else can be done in parallel with content work.
Who should own this list?
Whoever manages your site, with a lawyer reviewing anything that states facts about the firm. If your site is built on a platform that limits control of robots.txt or meta tags, ask the platform or consider a different setup.
Sources
Informational only. This article is general education about search and AI visibility. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and we do not guarantee that any statement in it is accurate, complete or current. No one can guarantee that an AI tool will name your firm. Lawyer advertising rules differ by state, so check your state bar's rules and talk to a qualified attorney before you publish claims about your firm. The update date above shows when we last checked.