How Law Firms Can Get More Traffic From Google Top Stories

Google is still one of the biggest sources of high-intent traffic for law firms — but it’s also getting harder to earn clicks, even when you rank.

AI Overviews, featured snippets, map packs, ads… more searches are being answered inside Google, meaning fewer people ever reach your website.

That’s why law firms need to stop relying solely on traditional “rank for [city] personal injury lawyer” SEO strategies and start expanding into opportunities Google is actively rewarding — including Top Stories.

Google recently published new documentation on its Preferred Sources program, which helps certain sites appear more frequently in the Top Stories feature. While it’s aimed at publishers, the underlying takeaway is significant for attorneys: fresh, credible, well-structured content is more likely to gain visibility during breaking news moments.

At The Legal Marketing Company, we help law firms use this type of search behavior to win more traffic, build authority faster, and convert readers into signed cases.

Let’s break down what’s happening, why it matters, and how law firms can benefit. If you are ready to build your authority and get found online, call our team. We are ready to build a strategy that gets results. 

What Is Google Top Stories?

Google Top Stories is the news carousel that often appears at the top of the search results page when Google detects a topic is trending or time-sensitive.

Top Stories shows up most commonly for searches involving:

• Breaking local incidents
• Major accidents
• Developing crime stories
• Lawsuits tied to current events
• High-interest community safety issues

In other words: exactly the kinds of moments that create legal need.

If a multi-vehicle crash shuts down an interstate, searches spike immediately. If a hotel fire happens, people start searching for liability. If a local business is under investigation, searches increase for topics such as employee rights, wrongful termination, and more.

Law firms that publish fast, accurate, helpful content in these moments can gain attention before the rest of the market even reacts.

Google’s Update: Preferred Sources + Top Stories Visibility

Google added documentation to Search Central explaining how publishers can influence visibility through its Preferred Sources program.

Here’s the simplified version of what matters most:

Google’s Top Stories results prioritize freshness and relevance. You don’t have to be a massive national publication to show up — but you do need content that aligns with how Top Stories works.

Google also clarified a few technical points:

• Freshness may influence rankings, since Top Stories is designed for breaking news
• Schema structured data is not required, but the Article schema can help Google understand the page
• Carousel ItemList schema does not impact Top Stories, so don’t waste effort there
• If your site is eligible for Preferred Sources, you can deep-link users directly to your listing in Google’s tool

That last one is especially interesting because it introduces a marketing lever: you can drive followers to “prefer” your site (where eligible), increasing the odds of repeat exposure.

Why This Matters for Law Firm SEO

Here’s the blunt truth: traditional law firm SEO is getting crowded and expensive.

Yes, you still need to rank for core practice keywords like “car accident lawyer [city]” or “criminal defense attorney near me.” Those terms are the foundation.

But those SERPs are also dominated by:

• Giant firms with huge link profiles
• Legal directories like Avvo, Justia, FindLaw
• Lead generation websites with aggressive SEO budgets
• Google itself (ads + maps + AI summaries)

So even if you “rank,” you may not get the clicks you used to.

Top Stories gives law firms a different lane — and it’s one that can be less competitive if you do it correctly.

This is where news SEO for law firms becomes a major advantage: you’re meeting people in the exact moment they’re paying attention.

And for legal marketing, timing is everything.

The Big Opportunity: Breaking News Creates High-Intent Searches

When something happens in a community — an accident, investigation, building collapse, public hazard — people don’t just read the news.

They search.

And those searches often include legal intent, even if they don’t realize it yet.

Examples:

• Someone sees a story about a rideshare crash. They search “who is liable in an Uber accident.”
• Someone hears about a fire at an apartment complex. They search “Can I sue the landlord for unsafe conditions?”
• Someone is injured in a store incident. They search “slip and fall settlement timeline.”

This is what most law firms miss: breaking news creates a short window where search volume spikes. If you publish during that window, your firm can capture traffic, earn links, and build authority far faster than slow, evergreen posting alone.

And unlike paid ads, that traffic doesn’t stop the moment you stop paying.

How Law Firms Can Earn More Visibility in Top Stories

To be clear: Top Stories isn’t guaranteed. Google decides what qualifies, and it’s largely built for publishers.

But law firms can still benefit from the same ranking signals and search behaviors—especially if they publish content with a news-style structure and strong SEO fundamentals.

Here’s what we recommend.

1) Publish “legal explainer” content tied to real events

You are not trying to be a news outlet. You’re doing something more valuable: explaining what the news means legally.

A strong example structure looks like this:

• What happened (short summary)
• What victims should do immediately
• Who could be legally responsible
• What compensation may be available
• What deadlines apply (statute of limitations)

This type of content builds trust fast because it feels relevant and urgent — but it’s also evergreen enough to keep ranking after the news cycle ends.

2) Create a dedicated legal news section

Instead of dumping everything into a generic blog, many firms benefit from a clearer structure, like:

• /legal-news/
• /community-updates/
• /local-accident-news/

This helps Google understand that the content is timely, categorized, and consistently published — not random blog filler.

It also helps users navigate, increasing engagement signals (time on page, pages per session) and supporting SEO.

3) Add Article schema (but don’t overcomplicate it)

Google confirmed schema isn’t required, but the Article schema helps.

For law firms, we typically implement:

• Article or NewsArticle schema
• Author schema
• Publish date + modified date
• Organization schema (firm info)

This is the kind of behind-the-scenes optimization that improves eligibility and clarity without turning your site into a technical mess.

4) Make E-E-A-T obvious

Legal content is “Your Money or Your Life” content. That means credibility isn’t optional.

Google wants to see real expertise, real authority, and real trust signals. For law firms, that means:

• Attorney attribution (not “admin”)
• Attorney bio pages connected to the content
• Clear disclaimers
• Accurate legal language
• Location signals that match your service area

This is where most cheap content falls apart — and why some firms never break into page one, no matter how much they post.

5) Promote the content like a publisher would

This is where TLMC helps firms get ahead: you don’t just publish and pray.

If your firm publishes a breaking-news legal explainer, we treat it like a mini campaign:

• Share it across social channels
• Send it to your email list
• Pitch it to local media if appropriate
• Build internal links from relevant practice pages

If the site is eligible for Preferred Sources, we can use Google’s deep link method to direct users directly to “prefer” your source.

How The Legal Marketing Company Helps Law Firms Do This (The Right Way)

Many firms try to produce “news content,” but it backfires because it comes off as exploitative or sloppy.

We don’t do that.

Our process is built to create content that’s fast, ethical, credible, and conversion-focused.

We help law firms with:

• A publishing plan tied to local + seasonal news trends
• Attorney-reviewed content writing that protects credibility
• SEO optimization for both evergreen and trending searches
• Structured internal linking to practice pages (so traffic converts)
• Conversion elements that drive calls and consultations

Most importantly, we build content that sounds like a professional law firm — not a spammy SEO site.

Bottom Line: Google Is Still Sending Traffic: Just Not the Old Way

Google isn’t “dead.” SEO isn’t “dead.”

But lazy SEO is dead.

Law firms that want to win in 2026 and beyond need to play smarter — and Top Stories-adjacent content is one of the most overlooked opportunities available right now.

If your firm can publish credible legal explainers quickly, you can capture:

• Spikes of high-intent traffic
• Increased local brand awareness
• Backlinks and authority growth
• More calls from people searching in urgent moments

At The Legal Marketing Company, we build these systems for law firms so they can stop chasing clicks and start owning their market.

Want To Capture More Breaking-News Search Traffic?

If you want help building a law firm SEO strategy that combines evergreen rankings with trending-event visibility, TLMC can help.

We create attorney-reviewed content designed to rank, convert, and build authority long-term