Every fall I sit down with clients to plan the year ahead, and this year the conversations sounded different. A few years ago the question was whether to post on LinkedIn. Now it’s “why didn’t ChatGPT mention us?” Here’s what I saw change in 2026 for professional services firms, and what I’m planning for in 2027, with notes for each industry I work in.
What changed in 2026
The short version: AI answers became part of how clients choose a firm, and the basics of good marketing mattered more because of it.
- Clients started asking AI tools for recommendations. BrightLocal found 45% of consumers used AI for local recommendations in 2026, up from 6% the year before.
- Google’s AI Overviews now sit at the top of most searches. Google has said they run on the same ranking systems as regular search, so the firms that rank well are the ones most likely to be cited.
- Listings outside Google started to count. Yelp licensed its reviews and business information to OpenAI for ChatGPT’s local recommendations, and in November ChatGPT began letting businesses claim and verify their own profiles.
- Google’s 2026 core and spam updates kept rewarding original, first-hand content and kept hitting sites that publish AI-written posts in bulk.
- Measurement caught up a little. Google Search Console added reports on AI impressions, and Bing Webmaster Tools now shows when Copilot cites your pages.
- Social moved further toward real people. Instagram began limiting reach for reposted content, and on LinkedIn, posts from partners’ own profiles kept outperforming company pages.
What I’m planning for in 2027
Most of this isn’t new tactics. It’s doing the fundamentals in more places.
- AI visibility as part of SEO. I test the same 10 to 20 prospect questions in ChatGPT, Google, Perplexity and Copilot every month and track which firms come up. One test tells you very little because the answers change constantly. A monthly pattern tells you a lot.
- Listings everywhere AI tools look. Google Business Profile, plus Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, your ChatGPT profile and your industry directories, all with the same name, address, phone and services.
- Partners on camera. Short videos of your own people answering one client question do more for trust than anything else I’ve tested, and they double as content AI tools can find.
- Owned audiences. With AI answering more questions directly, each search sends fewer clicks. A newsletter to past clients and referral partners is the channel you control.
- Fewer, better pages. One strong page per service or specialty beats a stack of thin blog posts.
- Privacy and AI rules. If your firm uses AI tools to help make significant decisions about people, like hiring, lending, housing or health care, talk to counsel about California’s automated decision-making rules, which take effect January 1, 2027 for businesses covered by the CCPA.
What it means by industry
CPA and accounting firms
AI tools answer specific questions, so “CPA for construction companies in Orange County” needs a page about exactly that. Build pages for the two or three industries you most want to grow, keep your CalCPA and CPAverify listings current, and plan tax season content now so it’s live before clients start searching in January. A newsletter is still the easiest way to tell existing clients about advisory services they don’t know you offer.
Law firms
Legal directories show up in a large share of AI answers about local attorneys, so your Avvo, Justia and Super Lawyers profiles matter as much as your own site. Attorney bios with bar admissions and practice areas are what search and AI tools look for. Anything about results needs context and the right disclaimers under California’s Rule 7.1.
Financial advisors
Make sure your BrokerCheck or IAPD record matches your website and your listings. The SEC Marketing Rule allows testimonials with the right disclosures, and sharing a review can make your firm responsible for it, so check before you feature one. Short explainer videos from the advisor work well here, especially on YouTube with a transcript.
Real estate and property management
City pages only work when you have real local proof, like properties you manage, a local office or local clients. Reviews carry a lot of weight in the map results. If you use software to screen tenants or applicants, the California automated decision-making rules above are worth a conversation with counsel.
Healthcare practices
Patient privacy comes first. No tracking pixels on patient-facing pages without legal review, no patient stories without written authorization, and never a reply that confirms a reviewer is a patient. Keep Healthgrades, Zocdoc and insurer directories accurate, and put your doctors on camera. Patients choose a person.
Where I’d start
If you only do three things before January, ask ChatGPT and Google the questions your best prospects would ask and see who comes up, fix your listings outside Google, and pick the two or three specialties you want to be known for in 2027 and give each one a real page.
If you want help building your 2027 plan, read How to build your 2027 marketing plan or email me at lauren@lhoandco.com.