I tested the ChatGPT shopping experience, not the “instant checkout” feature, per se, by asking it to find me a good family law lawyer on Capitol Hill in Seattle.
Sure enough, it quickly gave me a list of lawyers to call. What it didn’t give me was the instant checkout option—where I could “order up” an appointment with one of those firms. And more importantly, it didn’t give me any authority as to why I should pick those particular lawyers.
That’s what scares me. We’ve already watched Google become the giant yellow pages for lawyers. It pulled in lawyers who once got their work through reputation and relationships, and instead had them chasing Google rankings, hoping visibility would save their practice.
Now, with ChatGPT, we’re at the edge of something bigger, or maybe more disappointing. An AI solution equipped to measure real authority while simply sifting through content marketing without caring about the actual reputation, expertise, and authenticity of the lawyer behind the words.
So what happens when ChatGPT positions itself as an “instant shopper” for lawyers? Will consumers just click to buy a lawyer like a product? Or will they be wise enough to use ChatGPT for conversations to get information about their legal issue and then look for the lawyers who are actually publishing thoughtful commentary in their locale or jurisdiction?
That’s the real hope. That consumers recognize the value in authentic legal publishing and blogging. Lawyers sharing real insight, experience, and care through blogging and commentary that will be listed as a source for AI shared info.
Because otherwise, I can see the flood of money that once went into SEO—$30,000, $40,000, even $50,000 a month—being thrown at ChatGPT by lawyers. Lawyers will pay just to show up in its find me a lawyer as I shop for anything else, hoping that’s where clients are making purchasing decisions.
The one good thing? The vast majority of people still don’t find a lawyer through random searches or ads.
They turn to someone they know—a friend, colleague, or acquaintance—who can give them the name of a trusted lawyer. That’s how most good lawyers still get their work. By referral, not by advertising, whether on Google or through some instant checkout feature on ChatGPT.
After such a referral, these folks will turn to ChatGPT and AI to validate the lawyer as a an authority as evidenced by the lawyer’s publishing and citations to the lawyer which AI will display.