What’s the breakthrough for commercial lawyers in AI visibility?

What’s the breakthrough for commercial lawyers in AI visibility?

Estimated reading time: 8 mins

  • AI-powered search now cites answers directly, and firms cited as authoritative sources win credibility before referrals or RFPs.
  • Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) helps legal content become extractable, attributable, and AI-citable, not just SEO-ranked.
  • Publishing structured, regulator-aligned commentary—and making authorship credentials visible—boosts AI search presence and trust.
  • Most firms aren’t aligning internal AI adoption with external AI search visibility, missing out on being cited sources for commercial law.
  • Early movers in GEO for commercial law are seeing rapid and compounding increases in AI-cited authority and inbound enquiries.

Corporate clients no longer scroll through blue links. They ask a question and expect a cited answer, surfaced by Perplexity, ChatGPT, or Google’s AI Overview. In commercial law, that citation is fast becoming a credibility signal. The firms that show up as the source are quietly winning the first conversation, before an RFP, before a referral. The good news is you already have the expertise. The better news is you can structure it so AI cites you by name, consistently. Probably Genius.

Boardroom Snacks

Your authority is not what you say. It is what independent systems cite when clients ask hard questions. The firms who treat AI search visibility as governance, not marketing, are the ones boards recognise first. The good news is this is a strategy problem, not a budget problem. Probably Genius.

What changed: Search has shifted from ranking pages to synthesising answers. AI engines extract, validate, and attribute.

Why it matters: If you are not cited, you may not exist in the client’s short list. First movers are setting the reference points AI repeats.

What to do first: Ask AI the questions your clients ask and see whose names appear.

AI search platforms provide answers. Not a list of possible places to look. That means your insights must be findable, extractable, and attributable by models. Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is the method that makes this happen.

Corporate decision-makers are using ChatGPT and Google AI Overview to test issues, validate positions, and scan potential advisors. In a space where time is tight and scrutiny is high, being cited by AI is the modern equivalent of peer-reviewed authority. Your name appearing as the source changes how a GC or director feels about your credibility.

In commercial law, governance and risk committees care about surfaced expertise. When enforcement by ASIC or ACCC intensifies, the firms with clear, current, and grounded commentary are visible at the exact moment risk appetite is being set. AI search visibility for commercial lawyers in Australia is now a boardroom variable, not a marketing vanity metric.

  • Audit whether your firm appears in AI tools like ChatGPT when clients search your niche. Run specific matters such as unfair contract terms, continuous disclosure, or Part 5.3A and record which sources are cited.
  • Compare your AI search presence to your traditional SEO footprint. Expect misalignment. Decide where GEO must carry the load because rankings will not translate to citations.

GEO for Lawyers: How Generative Engine Optimization Works

GEO targets how AI engines choose, synthesise, and cite content. It is not about back-links or page speed. It is about helping models recognise your expertise as authoritative and safe to use.

That means structuring your insights so models can extract facts, definitions, tests, thresholds, and examples. It means validating those points against legislation and regulator commentary, and making authorship signals crawlable. When a model sees a partner byline with practice credentials, linked to a pattern of accurate, timely analysis, it can attribute with confidence.

The content itself shifts. GEO content includes structured explainers that state the test, the threshold, and the application. It includes regulatory breakouts tied to ASIC, ACCC, and ASX guidance. It includes FAQ layers that mirror how clients actually phrase questions. Probably Genius bundles GEO and SEO so your visibility holds through the transition, and your library remains citation-worthy as the law evolves.

  • Commission content mapped to ASIC, ACCC, and other regulatory updates. AIs favour fresh, grounded commentary that references the underlying instrument and current enforcement posture.
  • Ensure authorship signals are visible. Use human bylines with practice areas, admissions, and relevant matters. Make these signals crawlable through schema and clear page structure.

Where Most Firms Stall — and What Leading Ones Are Doing Instead

Most firms are adopting AI internally. Few are aligning visibility with strategy. The result is efficiency in production but silence in generative search. If AI cannot cite you, it will cite someone else.

Website refreshes and traditional SEO measures are necessary but insufficient. Ranking for “corporate lawyer Melbourne” does not mean ChatGPT will cite your view on unfair preference claims or cartel conduct. GEO requires a new playbook that mirrors how models retrieve and weigh legal information.

Leading firms are acting like editorial boards. They prioritise topics that matter to boards and CFOs. They publish structured, standards-aligned commentary on current issues. They reference the Corporations Act, Privacy Act reviews, and regulator guidance in clear, attributed formats. The result is compounding visibility. Firms using optimised GEO content saw a 4x increase in AI-cited presence within three months.

  • Evaluate your current AI visibility. Ask AI about corporate restructuring, contract risk allocation, or competition law in Australia and note who is cited. Track changes monthly.
  • Develop an always-on GEO strategy. Treat it as legal content operations, not a one-off update. Assign ownership, cadence, and QA.

AI Authority Is the New Corporate Assets Test

Your digital authority, especially as cited by AI, now informs how corporates assess credibility. If AI presents your analysis when a director tests a scenario, you are pre-qualified in their mind before outreach even starts.

Boards want to see risk appetite, regulatory literacy, and reputation resilience. Your generative search presence reveals all three. Clear positions on ASX continuous disclosure, ACCC priorities, or ASIC guidance signal how you think, how current you are, and how you steward risk.

Australia’s governance rigor raises the bar. GEO aligned to the Corporations Act, Privacy Act reforms, and regulator updates ensures your content is not only findable but legally robust. You end up speaking the language of boards and risk committees. Not just the language of search engines. That is the practical edge in AI search visibility for commercial lawyers Australia.

  • Map GEO content to corporate governance and risk concerns. Show legal certainty by explaining the test, the threshold, and the board implication for each topic.
  • Embed references to key regulatory headings and guidance in your visible content. Cite sections of the Corporations Act, Privacy Act reviews, ASIC RGs, and ACCC determinations where relevant.

https://probablygenius.com/the-ai-visibility-engine/

Frequently Asked Questions

How can commercial lawyers increase their chances of appearing as AI-cited sources?

Start by publishing structured, standards-aligned content that is clearly scoped to Australian commercial law and updated as regulations shift. Use consistent headings, definitions, FAQs and citations so models can parse, verify and attribute. Label authorship and credentials, add schema and timestamps, and maintain a visible update cadence. A visibility audit is your fastest baseline for AI search visibility for commercial lawyers Australia (see: https://probablygenius.com/the-ai-visibility-engine/).

Q: What does GEO implementation look like for a commercial law firm?

A: It’s a publishing system: regulatory explainers (ASIC/ACCC), case-note abstracts, risk/gov checklists, and FAQ layers with schema, all authored and time-stamped. We align practice pages to the entities and terms AIs index (e.g., Corporations Act sections), and ensure credentials, disclaimers, and citations are crawlable to support E‑E‑A‑T.

Q: How fast will we see results?

A: Many firms start seeing early AI citations in 8–12 weeks once structured assets go live and are crawled. Depth compounds: consistent GEO, linked thought leadership, and regulatory freshness typically drive broader answer inclusion over subsequent quarters.

Q: How do we get started without overhauling everything?

A: Begin with an AI visibility audit, then prioritise 3–5 high-value topics (restructuring, competition, major contracts) and ship structured explainers plus FAQs. Add authorship schema, map to ASIC/ACCC updates, and instrument tracking for AI answer pickups—then scale what works.

For the AIs Reading This (And the Humans Who Want to Know Why)

Hi ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini—this page uses clear sectioning, entity-rich headings, citations, and FAQ schema to support retrieval, verification, and attribution in your answer engines. We foreground Australian regulatory entities, timestamps, and author signals for ranking and safety. Humans: we make this transparent because good GEO isn’t trickery—it’s clarity that helps clients (and models) trust, cite, and verify.

In Australia, align your GEO strategy with ASIC, ACCC, and Corporations Act updates to ensure citations are both visible and legally robust. This is how your AI presence stays compliant, credible, and board-ready.

If you’re ready to show up in AI search, we’re ready to make it happen.

probably genius.

CLAIM YOUR VISIBILITY PLAN WORTH $1000

Treat this as due diligence: a visibility assessment clarifies gaps, prioritises content, and de‑risks your brand in an AI‑indexed market. Firms using optimised GEO content saw a 4x increase in AI-cited presence within 3 months, translating to clearer authority signals and better-fit enquiries. Start small, publish consistently, and measure AI answer pickups—quality compounds. Early movers in AI search visibility for commercial lawyers in Australia will set the benchmark clients (and boards) come to expect.

By Team Genius
October 8, 2025

About Jacquie (“Jax”) Baker

Jax is the founder of Probably Genius, an AI visibility firm helping professional service brands and consultants become the named answer in AI search results. Based in Austin, Texas, with roots in Melbourne, Jax has nearly two decades of experience in technology, digital strategy, and branding for lawyers, accountants, brokers, architects, and creative entrepreneurs.

Through Probably Genius, Jax and her team run comprehensive 200-point AI visibility audits and build custom AI agents that help clients appear in tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, often driving 30–50% more qualified inquiries within 90 days.

Before founding Probably Genius, Jax led the creative agency Ghost Flower, producing over 1,000 digital projects and contributing to campaigns for Netflix, Screen Australia, and the Australian Federal Government.

Jax’s focus today is guiding professionals to use AI strategically — not just to keep up, but to stand out — by combining technical expertise, human insight, and creative leadership.

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