Cracking the 3-Pack: A Review & Authority Strategy for a PI Lawyer
Client: A personal injury law firm in a hyper-competitive city.
Challenges We Faced
The client was “stuck” just outside the 3-Pack and couldn’t break in, despite having a good website
No “Map Pack” Ranking
They had a GMB, but were completely absent from critical medical directories like Healthgrades, Vitals, and Zocdoc.
Stuck at #5
They were stuck in position #5-7 in the google local map pack for their #1 keyword, “car accident lawyer [city].”
Weak On-Page Signals
Their website’s “Car Accident” page was generic and didn’t provide strong, location-specific authority to support their GMB.
Losing the “Review War”
The top 3 competitors all had 100+ reviews, while the client had only 22.
No Niche Citations
Their Local Citation Building & Cleanup was limited to GMB and Yelp, and they were missing from key legal directories.
Rank in a Competitive Market
“Stuck outside the 3-Pack? Our local map SEO service builds the authority and reviews you need to outrank your competitors.”
Our Approach – How We Solved These Challenges
Reputation & Review Management
This was our top priority. We implemented a Review Management Platform (like Birdeye) to ethically request reviews from satisfied, closed cases.
Local On-Page & Website SEO
We rebuilt their “Car Accident” service page into a 3,000-word, authoritative “pillar page,” complete with FAQs, local statistics, and clear E-E-A-T signals.
We also created new, specific pages for “Truck Accidents” and “Motorcycle Accidents.”
Local Citation Building & Cleanup
We built new, optimized profiles on high-authority legal directories (Avvo, Justia, FindLaw) and linked them to the new on-page content.
GMB Profile Optimization
We added all specific practice areas as GMB “Services” and pre-filled the GMB Q&A section with common client questions.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Map Pack” Ranking (“car accident lawyer”) | Position #6 | Position #2 | +4 spots |
| “Click-to-Call” Leads (from GMB) | 20/mo | 95/mo | +375% |
| Total Google Reviews | 22 (4.1 Stars) | 110 (4.8 Stars) | +400% |
Free Competitor Map Analysis
“Not sure why your competitors are outranking you? Book a Free Map Pack Analysis and let us build your winning strategy!”
Advice for Marketers & Brand Owners
- Reviews are a direct ranking factor. In a competitive niche, the firm with the most high-quality, recent reviews often wins the maps pack ranking.
- Your website supports your GMB. A strong Local On-Page & Website SEO strategy is what gives your GMB the “authority” it needs to rank.
- Build niche citations. For YMYL (Your Money Your Life) professions like law, links from sites like Avvo and FindLaw build more trust than 100 generic directories.
Extra Factors That Made It Work
- The aggressive (but ethical) review generation campaign was the primary driver that broke the “stalemate.”
- The new, authoritative on-page content provided the “relevance” signal Google needed to see them as an expert.
- Using Local Rank Tracking from specific zip codes helped us identify weaknesses in their GMB’s service area.
