Google packed a lot into early December:
- A new core update
- Confirmation that it quietly runs smaller updates all the time
- New AI Mode link behavior
- An expansion of Web Guide
- New research on Local Pack ranking signals
- Fresh data showing how people actually use AI assistants
At the same time, Ahrefs published its most extensive study yet on how frequently AI Overviews change — and the answer is way more than anyone expected.
Here’s what law-firm owners should take from all of this.
A New Google Core Update Is Rolling Out, And It’s Not the Only One
Google launched the December 2025 Core Update, its third core update of the year. As usual, Google says it could take up to three weeks to finish rolling out, and you may see ranking turbulence in the meantime.
More importantly, Google updated its documentation to confirm something SEO experts have suspected for years: Google also routinely runs smaller, unannounced core updates.
Why this matters for law firms:
- You can see ranking movement between major updates, meaning minor site improvements can pay off sooner than expected.
- If rankings dip, it doesn’t necessarily mean you “did something wrong.” Core updates often reshuffle the deck to surface more relevant or satisfying content.
- Google’s guidance remains the same: helpful, people-first, locally relevant content wins in the long term.
The takeaway:
Treat core updates as part of a larger pattern. Google is now in constant recalibration mode, and stability is no longer the norm. Strategy outweighs reacting to every dip.
Google Is Actively Trying to Drive More Clicks in AI Mode
Google updated its AI Mode by adding:
- More inline links
- Clearer context around why a link is worth clicking
- A refreshed link-card design
At the same time, Google is expanding Web Guide, an AI-assisted feature that surfaces grouped, deeply relevant links. It’s now available in the main “All” tab for users who opt in. Web Guide uses Gemini to map themes and run “fan-out” searches behind the scenes.
Why this matters:
Google knows publishers are worried that AI answers reduce clicks, so these UI updates are intentional. If Google makes the links more prominent and useful, more people may actually click through.
For law firms, this reinforces a bigger shift. It’s no longer enough to be “a link” in Google. You need to be the most helpful link for the topic cluster.
Web Guide groups links by topic, while AI Mode gives contextual intros. If your firm’s content isn’t clearly aligned to search intent, it’s less likely to be pulled into these groupings.
New Data Shows Google’s Local Pack Rewards “Signal-Fit,” Not Generic SEO
Yext analyzed 8.7 million Google Business Profiles across multiple industries, and the results cut against the usual local SEO checklist mentality.
Key finding:
Google rewards the listing that best matches what local consumers expect in that moment.
Not the one with the biggest ad budget, the most photos, or the one that follows a generic SEO checklist.
This “signal-fit” differs dramatically by industry:
- Healthcare: Reviews, accuracy, trust signals > imagery
- Legal (similar to financial and healthcare categories): Credibility, consistency, accuracy, and review freshness matter more than polish
- Restaurants: Review freshness and owner engagement drive visibility
- Hospitality: Clear facts (hours, parking, amenities) outweigh photo volume
Why this matters:
Law firms should not copy strategies from restaurants, retailers, or even other PI firms in different cities. Your signals must match what your local customers expect and what competitors in your market are doing.
Practical takeaway:
- Keep hours accurate (holidays matter).
- Maintain a steady, authentic review cadence.
- Ensure your categories and descriptions align with what your actual market searches for.
- Respond to reviews like a real human.
65% of AI Chats Show No Commercial Intent
A massive analysis of AI assistant usage revealed something the industry has been missing:
Most AI usage is not people shopping. It’s people thinking.
- Median chat length: 2 turns
- Most popular intents: Brainstorming, planning, analysis, summaries
- Only 35.4% of chats had any commercial intent, and most of that was early funnel
- Post-purchase support ranked higher than transactional queries
What this means for law firms:
People don’t use AI assistants the same way they use search engines.
They come with:
- Half-formed problems
- Clarifying questions
- Requests for simple explanations
- Comparisons (“Should I…?”)
- Emotional support (“What do I do if…?”)
The opportunity:
Law firms that create clear, educational, emotionally grounded content will naturally become “training data” for AI answers and, therefore, more likely to surface in AI-driven experiences.
So, don’t optimize for keywords. Optimize for how people think.
Ahrefs Study: AI Overviews Change Every 2 Days, But Their Meaning Stays the Same
Ahrefs’ new study of 43,000+ keywords revealed the weirdest paradox of AI Overviews yet:
- 70% of AI Overviews changed between observations
- 45.5% of citations changed every time
- 46% of entities swapped out
- No correlation between keyword volume and stability
- Semantic similarity score: 0.95/1.0
- Meaning: the phrasing changes constantly.
- But the meaning stays nearly identical.
This tells us:
AI Overviews don’t usually change their mind. They just rephrase answers.
Your citation could vanish today and reappear tomorrow.
Why this matters for law firms:
- You cannot “win” a specific prompt.
- You can only win the themes associated with your specialties.
- Success looks like recurring, not stable, visibility.
Ahrefs calls this measuring “AI Share of Voice,” and it measures how often your brand appears across many versions of many related queries.
Stop worrying about:
- “How do we rank for this exact AI Overview?”
Start focusing on:
- Becoming the most authoritative, consistent source on the topic cluster.
This aligns perfectly with Google’s broader ranking philosophy.
What This All Adds Up To
Across all five stories, one message is loud and clear: Search is splintering into micro-surfaces, and authority now comes from being the most helpful, most consistent, most human resource on your topic.
For law firms, the strategy is becoming unmistakable:
Create trustworthy content:
- Strengthen your local signals.
- Build theme-level authority.
- Respond to reviews.
- Keep your information accurate.
- Answer real questions in real language.
And above all, stop chasing hacks and start building signals that match how real people search.
