Ep 60 AI Changed Search; Your Marketing Must Too

We map how AI and zero-click search are changing legal marketing, and we show a clear path from traditional SEO to answer engine optimization. We share practical steps to build Q&A content, apply FAQ schema, and earn citations that turn AI answers into paying clients.

• why zero-click answers reduce site traffic
• how answer engine optimization differs from SEO
• building question-first content that AI can quote
• using real client questions from workshops and intake
• applying FAQ schema for structured clarity
• earning citations with guest posts and partnerships
• writing specific, decision-focused queries and answers
• tools to find high-value questions and measure impact

Please subscribe. Please go to the website, theelderlawcoach.com. There's a lot of good information there and a way that you can can schedule a time to talk to me.

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Chapters

• 0:02 Welcome And Why Marketing Matters
• 1:31 The Rise Of Zero-Click Answers
• 3:40 From SEO To AEO Basics
• 5:06 Build Q&A Content AI Can Lift
• 8:21 FAQ Schema And Citations
• 10:28 Use Real Questions From Clients

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:02

You're tuning in to the Elder Law Coach Podcast, the definitive resource for attorneys delving into the world of elder law. With your host, Todd Watley, a certified Elder Law attorney, past president of the National Elder Law Foundation, and renowned coach with a quarter century of specialized experience. Whether you're an established attorney looking to refine your expertise, or an emerging lawyer seeking a successful foray into elder law, this is your masterclass. Now, let's get started with the Luminary in the field. Here's Todd Watley.

SPEAKER_00: 0:40

Hey there, my name's Todd Watley, certified elder law attorney and the Elder Law coach. My last two last few episodes have been on marketing. And I, you know, I I love talking about content and you know things directly related to Elder Law. And hopefully you've got quite a bit of that from me. But if you can't get people in your door, you're not going to stay in business long. And so I've I've focused the last few episodes on how to get people in the door. Okay, what what sort of things to do? And if you miss those, I encourage you to go back. If you'll subscribe, you'll be notified every time a new episode comes out. And um it also helps us know who all is out there, what's going on, and I like to know which topics you really like. So please comment and and please subscribe. Now, AI. Okay. We're talking today about how AI searches are affecting the traditional online SEO marketing that you know just a few years ago was like, hey, everybody's doing SEO. You've got to show up on Google searches. Where are you ranking? So people can click on your ranking and go to your website. Well, there's this thing now called zero-click searches. All right. People are now going into AI, Chat GPT, the different Google, Apple, different types of AI, and they are putting their inquiry there, and what comes out is just an answer. There's nothing really to click on. And so that's why it's now called zero click. Because people aren't clicking on stuff, and you've got to be able to be what the AI bot is looking for in order to show up. Now, many times they will link where they got this information from, and that's where you can get a click, but so many people, like with a traditional Google search, you get a list of things you have to click on it to really get the information. And I know Google is now doing a summary at the top and then clicking. So you're almost getting to a zero click with a Google search. So this becomes even more important. How do you get in there? And yes, they can answer the question, but then who can do this for you? That's where you've got to rank and be the go-to resource for AI to say, hey, we got this information from this website. Go here and they can help you. How do you do that? Okay. Number one, I really think you need a professional, but I will give you some ideas if you are a do-it-yourself person, but I will give you some ideas that you can do for your blog post and for things that you're doing on your website. If you don't want to turn that over and let someone else just do it, here's some things that you can do on your website that will help increase the chance that you show up on those AI searches. You have to shift, number one, you have to shift from a traditional SEO to answer engine optimization. AEO. That's the new thing. It's not SEO, it's AEO, answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization. Yes, I am reading this. I don't have this memorized, but traditional SEO, and I remember during COVID, I learned how to build a website and I studied SEO, and that was just the big thing. You know, the search engine optimization is putting out keywords that when someone puts that keyword into the search, it grabbed your keyword and said, Oh, this is where you should go to get this information. That's not so big anymore. It's looking not just at terms, but a lot more things. AI is way more capable and way more powerful to do what it does. And it is now focusing on providing clear, concise answers quickly. It is using structured content and semantic clarity. Okay. It's looking for not just a keyword, but an answer. It's they it is wanting to answer this inquiry's question, and so they are looking for full done-for-them answers. And so you have to put out an answer. And one of the things I'll talk about, you do the question, and if you can match their question and provide the answer, AI is gonna be like, I don't have to think about that. Here's the question, here's their answer. And honestly, AI doesn't care if it's correct or not, they're just looking for some kind of answer to put on this inquiry. And so you do need to focus, number two, is focus on question and answer content. You have to do, and if a queue page, your your blog posts need to be filled with questions and answers so that the AI bot can go in there and find it. Very common questions. And like I mentioned on a past video, one of my best marketing tools is a coffee with the pro. It's questions. I don't go with slides, I don't go with handouts, I show up and I answer questions. Periodically, I will have a staff member go with me and say, look, your job is to write down every question that is asked. And that way, if they're asking it in that meeting, they're probably asking it online, they're probably going to AI and and simply asking that question. And so if you can ask that question and answer it on your website, you're there. Okay. AI is going to pull that and say, Hey, this is where we we got this information from. Okay, so just very common questions. How does how does medica aid Medicaid planning protect my house? Can I protect my house from Medicaid? Um, what powers are granted by the healthcare power of attorney? Why do I need a financial power of attorney? Those types of questions. You can't just say you need a power of attorney because you have to ask the question. You have to put it on a platter for AI to say, here's what they just ask, here's the answer. All right. So format, format this information as FAQs with points, tables, direct answers, whatever you can do to do that. And I know my website guy has created a page of FAQs and it's embedded in my website somehow. You can't go and see this FAQs, I don't think. It's just there so that the AI bots can see it and quote from it. Okay. So apply an FAQ schema. Okay. Put it on your website, have it there so that it does the work for the AI bot. Okay. And if you can earn guest articles with someone else, if AI sees that you were brought in to answer some questions, it's going to say, There's the question, here's this person's answer, and they will quote that and direct that person to you. So this says what I'm reading here says AI tools often pull responses from cited, trusted sources. Build those relationships now, get with other people, get onto other people's website, and that's always been a great SEO tool, but AI is also doing it so that they can answer those questions. And you've got to be very creative. And there are tools out there, there are websites out there that will help you figure out what keywords, what things to ask. You can't just do elder law attorney in your city. You've got to be more than that. You've got to say, hey, how does a Medicaid asset protection trust compare to spin down? Which one should I choose? Should I choose this or that? And then there's the answer. That's what the AI bot is looking for. Okay. What how do I get care for my special needs child? People are asking that out there, and if you can duplicate that with a great answer, you're going to show up. Use what people tell you. Take notes in your office. If they're asking those questions in your office at those events, put that in there, okay? Leverage that information from people to say, here's what people are asking. We know this stuff. We know it it makes total sense to us. It's like, okay, I know all these answers. But to get that into AI and get AI to pull from it and say, here's the answer to that. You've got to do it for it. Okay. So just a quick action plan for this. Here's some tools. I don't know what these are, but I'm just telling you, here's what I have found in my research to help you do this. It's Simrush, Bright Edge, SEO monitored. Okay. They are able to go out there and find things that are being asked, being answered, what's showing up, and then help you be able to put that on to yours so that it shows up very, very easily. Okay. So you've got to market where people are going to see you. And people are now using AI so much more because it's just easy. And they made Google very easy also, but AI is doing some incredible things that will answer people's questions in a much longer format and go, I think, into more depth. But then people, once they get that information, like how do I go get someone to help me do this? And that's where the links at the end of each paragraph are you know, they'll say, here's where we got that information, and you want to be on that list. So I hope this helps. It's a new world, it's changing very quickly, but hopefully this will help you show up when people, and it's probably going to be the kids of your clients doing this, but you you want to get in front of them, you want them to find you and come see you. All right. I hope this helps. Please subscribe. Please go to the website, theelderlawcoach.com. There's a lot of good information there and a way that you can can schedule a time to talk to me. Let's talk, figure out where you are, figure out where you want to go so that you can do the best job in the world. Okay? Thank you, and I will see you next time.

SPEAKER_01: 10:53

Thank you for joining this episode of the Elder Law Coach Podcast. For those eager to take their elder law practice to new heights and are interested in Todd's acclaimed coaching program, visit www.theelderlawcoach.com. With Todd Watley by your side, the journey to becoming an elder law authority has never been more achievable. Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and stay passionate about elder law.