Google’s local pack rankings for law firms are driven by relevance, distance, and prominence. Distance is largely constrained by where the searcher is. Relevance and prominence are where marketing work concentrates: categories, on-site signals, reviews, links, and brand mentions.
Relevance
Does Google believe you offer what the query asks? Categories, services, website practice pages, and on-profile content all contribute. A personal injury query will not favor a pure estate-planning profile no matter how many reviews you have.
Distance
You cannot teleport the office. Service-area businesses and multi-location setups have rules; gaming them with fake addresses is a suspension risk. Strategy should accept geography and compete inside it.
Prominence
Reviews, links, brand searches, and overall reputation. This is why “just get citations” without reviews or a real site usually underperforms.
2026 wrinkle: local AI answers
Local generative answers pull from many of the same sources as the pack. Clean NAP, strong service pages, and cite-ready explanations help both. See local SEO for law firms and AI search optimization.