Amid the surge in AI-induced web traffic, the good news for legal marketers is that the fundamentals haven’t changed. High-quality, timely, relevant legal thought leadership still cuts through.
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A recent Economist article sounded the alarm over the AI-induced implosion of web traffic. According to its sources, monthly visits from search engines are down 15%, leaving the internet’s great business model — “build it and they will click” — looking more like build it and they’ll just skim the AI summary instead.
It’s an excellent piece, but here’s the twist: While traffic across news, reference and health sites might flatline faster than your average ChatGPT server under load, traffic to legal content on Passle, my company’s thought leadership platform, has soared by 59% in the same period.
We’re not talking about distribution platforms or republished blurbs. This is direct traffic, from real readers, to real thought leadership created by actual human lawyers (yes, still a thing). So while the rest of the internet is heading for a “tragedy of the commons” moment, many in the legal sector are quietly enjoying a small Renaissance.
So, what’s going on?
Content Quality Trumps Quantity, Again
First, lawyers aren’t writing content for clicks. Lawyers are writing to be useful. A partner at a top-tier law firm doesn’t need 100,000 views from curious undergrads. She needs the general counsel of a multinational to read her insights on cross-border data transfer before the client gets fined by regulators in three jurisdictions.
In other words, this content has consequences, and readers know it.
Here’s an example. AI can summarize the GDPR in under 0.2 seconds, but when the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issues guidance on Tuesday at 4 p.m., it won’t show up in a chatbot’s answer on Wednesday. Not unless someone writes about it first.
AI thrives on yesterday’s internet. Lawyers who are winning the content game write about tomorrow’s legal risk.
The web’s not dying, just the junk food bit
The problem isn’t AI. It’s the business model that mistook attention for value. A page full of affiliate links under a barely relevant how-to article isn’t content, it’s SEO dressed up as insight. No wonder AI killed it. Legal thought leadership, however, was never playing that game. It’s slow-cooked. It’s authored. It’s timely, tailored and carries reputational weight.
So while The Economist’s worries are valid, they might consider this: The bits of the internet that are most at risk are also the least likely to be missed.
AI Doesn’t Kill Thought Leadership, It Filters It
If anything, AI has made good legal content more valuable. People now expect clear, digestible answers. Successful models are about turning expertise into insight — quickly, clearly and in context.
When AI summarizes “the internet,” it goes so with the taste of a search engine and the memory of a goldfish.
It can point you in the right direction, but you still need a grown-up in the room when it comes to making decisions that carry risk, cost or regulatory wrath. (Read “A Lot of Legal Content Is Now AI Garbage — Here’s How to Avoid It.”)
Legal marketing leaders will increasingly need to think about ways firms can not just create thought leadership but surface it at the right time, in the right channels, with the right narrative.
How Legal Marketing Leaders Can Respond
The good news for legal marketers is that the fundamentals haven’t changed — high-quality, timely, relevant thought leadership still cuts through. What has changed is the environment in which that content is discovered, consumed and acted upon.
Here are some practical steps to keep lawyers winning the content game.
Build a content culture, not a campaign
Sustainable success comes from embedding thought leadership into the way your lawyers work, not treating it as a one-off marketing push. Recognize and reward those who contribute regularly and effectively. Train lawyers to think of content as an engagement dialogue and an opportunity to follow up with readers and clients; the best content sparks conversations.
Double down on speed-to-market
Clients value timely guidance, especially when laws, regulations or enforcement priorities change. Build agile publishing processes that allow lawyers to respond within hours, not days, to significant developments. Track engagement from target clients, inbound inquiries and opportunities tied to content to show business impact.
Make niche expertise visible
Broad overviews are easy for AI to replicate. Niche, sector-specific insights — grounded in the lawyer’s unique client experience — are harder to copy and more valuable to decision-makers. For visibility, targeting is also key: Focus promotion efforts on the platforms, channels and communities where your audience actually spends their time.
By focusing on speed, specificity and smart distribution, legal marketing leaders can ensure their firm’s expertise remains not just visible but indispensable — even as AI changes the way people find information online.
Related reading: “How to Build a Thought Leadership Strategy for Your Law Firm”
What Now? Keep Thought Leadership at the Core
AI is here to stay. But so is the need for authentic, up-to-date, accountable expertise. Clients will still want the analysis, commentary and credibility that only real people with real experience can offer.
In other words, AI hasn’t killed legal content. It has simply cleared the stage for the work that truly matters. The noise is fading. The opportunity is growing. And the lawyers who treat thought leadership as a core part of their client service will continue to own the spotlight.
Image © iStockPhoto.com.
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