Someone searching for a criminal defence firm usually wants to hire now. That's why ranking your website for those high-intent searches converts so well: we don't attract browsers, we attract customers who have all but decided.
Nobody searches for a job title: they search for the problem — a letter from the tax office, whether an expense is deductible, how long an appeal takes. Those queries carry little volume and enormous intent, and the page that answers them plainly is the one that gets the call.
On those searches your competitor is not the firm down the road, it is the big national portals. You beat them on the two things they do not have: the local angle, and an answer written by somebody who actually does the work.
Expect the first movement on the long questions within three to four months, and nothing at all on the head term for a year. The honest early signal is impressions on questions nobody else answers, not positions.
Position is the wrong number to watch here. What tells you it is working is enquiries that arrive already knowing the answer to the first question, because they read it on the page before writing.
The way people search is shifting from ten blue links to direct AI answers. We make sure your criminal defence firm is described clearly and factually, so when an answer engine responds, it can confidently recommend you.