In 4 of 6 family situations, Google's AI named no firm
We put six family situations to Google's AI and ChatGPT, one in each of six Australian markets. ChatGPT named firms for 4 of the 6.²
Your clients read the reviews and price the kits before they ring you
Fractional CMO for your law firm: in-house marketing without the overhead. I build pages for each step of the process under Australian law, make your credentials and reviews easy to find, and follow every click to the matters your firm takes on.
back in estimated case value⁴
One of our US client firmsResults from the system
About 75 times its ad spend
Line: back in estimated case value⁴
I'm Joshua David Little. I've run my own consulting firm since 2004, I've helped lawyers prepare complex cases for trial, and I ran the first family-law ad on ChatGPT, before the platform allowed legal-services ads. For an Australian family firm, I build that work around your state, your court, and the way your clients compare their options.
/ What Australian family-law owners are up against
Google's AI names a few firms or none, and a kit is always one click away
Most Australian practices are sole practices: about 4 in 5.¹ Their clients search the steps of the process, read the reviews, and weigh a firm's estimate against a kit or a fixed fee before they make the call.
In Adelaide, Google's AI told a couple a lawyer isn't required
Binding financial agreement is searched about 2,400 times a month and consent orders about 1,900.³ For an Adelaide couple splitting after six years, Google's AI answered: "You are not legally required to hire a lawyer to file for Consent Orders." It still called advice "strongly recommended."² Your page has to show what that advice is worth.
In some regional markets, top bids run about three times the national top bid
Top-of-page bids for family lawyer climb well past the national range in parts of Queensland. On the Sunshine Coast the top bid is about three times the national top bid, and in Townsville more than double.³ At those prices, a firm needs to know which clicks become clients.
/ What Australian family clients search
The words of the process, and the whole story in an AI chat
On Google
Family lawyer 9,900 a month · family lawyer brisbane 3,600 · binding financial agreement 2,400 · consent orders 1,900 · family dispute resolution 1,600 · property settlement lawyers 1,000 · recovery order 590 · de facto separation 140. Free help is searched heavily too: legal aid nsw gets about 14,800, avo about 8,100, and intervention order about 2,900.³
In an AI chat
- Sydney, property settlement with a house and two children. Google's AI listed five firms. It put first a firm with 18 reviews at 3.0, described as "Tier 1" with "multiple Accredited Specialists," ahead of three firms rated 4.9 with 155 to 561 reviews. In that answer, the credential came before the reviews.
- Melbourne, an ex relocating to Queensland with the child. Google's AI named three firms, each from its relocation page.
- Perth, the cost of a parenting matter. ChatGPT named one firm, for the fees it publishes.
- Brisbane, a husband hiding assets. Google showed no AI answer. ChatGPT named two firms beside Women's Legal Service Queensland and Legal Aid Queensland.
/ What the named firms had
A page for every step of the process, with your credentials and reviews where people look
Several of the firms named in these answers had something specific for the AI to point at: a relocation page, a credential, a published fee, a ranking. So I build every page around something specific a client, or an AI answer, can point to.
A page for each process and situation
Consent orders, binding financial agreements, property settlement, relocation, recovery orders, and the two-year limit for de facto couples. Each page is written for the person at that step, in Australian terms, naming the right court. A Western Australian firm's pages name the Family Court of Western Australia.
Your credentials, said where they apply
If your firm has an accredited family law specialist or a ranking, say so on the page about that work. In Sydney, a firm described with accredited specialists was listed ahead of firms with far more reviews.
Reviews on Google and ProductReview.com.au
Australian clients compare firms on Google and on ProductReview.com.au, where family firms sit beside divorce kits. A steady habit of asking happy clients for a review, on both, is part of the work.
Pages that are unmistakably Australian
Name the state, the court, and the legislation, so a client and an AI answer can both see the page is written for Australian law.
/ Paid search and the agencies that run it
At these prices, someone has to follow each click to the client
When a click costs this much, its price tells you very little. What counts is what each new matter costs, by search and by campaign. We follow every source through to the first meeting and the engaged client, and move the budget towards what brings in matters.
Plenty of family firms have been through more than one agency and still can't say what a new client costs them. As your Fractional CMO, I lead whoever runs your ads and search, and hold them to what each new matter costs.
/ What to offer the person who isn't ready yet
A guide for the person months from calling, and a page for the person whose kit didn't work
A guide where the ad lands
On the first screen of Facebook ads for property settlement, we found six family firms, and one offering a free guide: a property-settlement e-book. A process guide that asks for an email address gives someone preparing for a settlement a reason to stay in touch with your firm until they're ready.
When the kit isn't enough
Do-it-yourself kits handle simple matters, and some buyers learn the hard way that theirs wasn't one. A page on when a kit isn't enough meets them when they come looking for a lawyer.
/ The 5 core marketing optimisations most firms are missing
How The Client Magnet System™ systematically optimises and unifies your marketing
Instead of trying to convert visitors directly into clients, we strategically capture their information first so we can follow up and nurture the relationship.
Valuable resources
Create guides, toolkits, and webinars that help prospects understand their legal situation – positioning you as the expert before they ever call.
Strategic capture
Get contact information and permission to follow up by offering something genuinely helpful, not just a consultation request.
Systematic follow-up
Automated emails that continue providing value while keeping your firm top-of-mind during their decision process.
Testing and improvement
Continuously refine what's working through data – not guesswork – so your results keep getting better.
Clear tracking and ROI
Know exactly which marketing activities generate clients and how much each client costs to acquire so we know which platforms to amplify and which need more optimisation.
How each step looks for an Australian family firm: A guide built for your firm on one step of the process, such as property settlement or consent orders; a way to sign up on every page and every ad; email that keeps helping while the person decides; testing that keeps what works; and tracking that follows each enquiry to the engaged client.
Stories, referrals, and care
Client stories that protect the client
Proof on an Australian family firm's site comes from reviews and from anonymous, non-identifying accounts of the kinds of matters the firm handles. We write every story that way.
Referral partners
Women's legal services and counsellors can be the first stop for a spouse whose partner controls the money. Mediators and family dispute resolution practitioners meet couples who want to settle. Useful material for each of them, and a clear way to refer, builds relationships that send the right people.
Family-violence work
Information pages written with care, and relationships with the services people are referred to, come before any ad.
Where your firm is now
A sole practitioner who wants to grow
Most Australian practices are sole practices. I work with the principals who want to build a firm, starting with a steady flow of the right matters.
A regional firm, or a city firm serving regional families
Regional firms live on relationships and local search. City firms that take on families from the regions need pages and offers built for people who travel to see them.
A founder whose name could carry the firm
A principal who shows up on LinkedIn and in video builds trust before the first call, and that work gets measured like any other channel. If staff handle the marketing day to day, I'll train them and lead the work.
/ Results from the system
What this work has produced in the US
One client firm
About 75 times its ad spend back in estimated case value.⁴
Another client firm
About 11 times its ad spend back in estimated case value.⁴
FAQ
Will this work for my practice area?
The system is based on best practices that work across industries, so it adapts to any practice area with customised resources and messaging for your specific clients.
Do you work with Australian firms?
Yes. I work with firms in Australia, the US, the UK, and Canada.
Our clicks are expensive. How do we know which ones pay?
By following each click to the engaged client. We track every search, ad, and page through to the first meeting and the new matter, so you can see what each client costs from each source and move the budget accordingly.
How do we get named by ChatGPT and Google's AI?
We put your clients' own questions to both, in your city, see which firms come back and why, and build what the named firms had: a page for each step of the process, your credentials where they apply, and reviews where clients read them.
We don't have an accredited specialist. Can we still compete?
Yes. Situation pages, real reviews, and clear information about how your firm handles each step give the AI and the client plenty to go on.
Can we run ChatGPT ads in Australia?
Legal-services ads on ChatGPT are allowed only in the US. I ran the first family-law ad on ChatGPT, before the platform allowed legal-services ads, by offering a free workbook. An ad for an Australian firm offers legal education the same way. Where it fits your plan, it runs beside your other channels, measured the same way.
Can you help with intake?
Yes, through consulting and training. I find where the enquiries you've already paid for are lost on the way to a first meeting, and train your intake and sales team to turn more of the right ones into matters.
You're based in the US. How does working together run?
On video. The assessment and our strategy calls all happen by video call, so being in Australia doesn't change the work.
What's the commitment?
There's no long-term lock-in, and I don't want your money unless the work is helping your firm.
What does it cost?
It turns on two things: what your firm needs, and how much of the work my team takes on. We work out the scope together after your assessment.
¹ Law Society of NSW, 2024 National Profile of Solicitors, private practices excluding the ACT.
² Aquila's research: Google's AI and ChatGPT, logged out, one family situation in each of six Australian markets.
³ Google Ads Keyword Planner, Australia, average monthly searches and top-of-page bid estimates.
⁴ Case value estimated from average case value.