The Local SEO Playbook Behind a Law Firm Doing $100M in 6 Months | Matt Hammerton

E1135: Matt Hammerton joins me to break down the local SEO system he uses across personal injury law and home services. Matt has been doing SEO since 2009, manages more than 100 Google Business Profiles, owns stakes in multiple home service companies, and currently works with OneLaw, a law group that did $100 million in the first six months of this year. We get into the work behind those numbers: Google Business Profiles, reviews, locations, links, press releases, keyword research, AI search, and the systems Matt has built to manage it all at scale. We cover: Why Matt believes reviews are the biggest factor in Google Business Profile rankings and Local SEO How removing just four negative reviews caused one law firm location to jump in local rankings Why average star rating can matter even when a business already has thousands of reviews How often Matt runs local ranking scans and why he checks them every few days instead of once a month How he sets up new Google Business Profiles How he uses DBAs to put target keywords into legitimate business names His approach to categories, service areas, descriptions, city pages, and additional locations Why he has seen GBPs rank without even having a website attached How he approaches review generation for home service companies and law firms Why reviews on Yelp, Facebook, Thumbtack, Avvo, and other third-party sites matter for AI search Why 1,000 Google reviews alone may not be enough to win recommendations from LLMs How he builds links directly to directory profiles so those profiles rank for branded searches How controlling page one for "[brand] reviews" affects both searchers and AI systems How Matt uses Google Ads conversion data to decide which SEO keywords are actually worth targeting How he combines Search Console data, existing page content, and AI to update pages How personal injury SEO can be worth so much more per ranking than home services The client journey after someone finds a personal injury lawyer through search Why Matt publishes three to five press releases per week for law firms How he republishes old wins, settlements, awards, and company news to keep them visible How he uses EIN Newswire and why some press releases stay indexed for a year or longer Why he puts NAP information in press releases for local SEO How he uses Manus to research links, write content, prepare submissions, and check published placements Why he still manually reviews AI-generated content before anything goes live How he queries multiple LLMs across dozens of keywords to find the directories and sources influencing their recommendations Why his biggest advice to SEOs is simple: build the system yourself, implement it, test it, and only then hand it off This is a detailed look at how an aggressive local SEO operator manages Google Maps, organic search, reputation, links, PR, and AI search across businesses where a single lead can be worth thousands of dollars. ⭐️ Matt Hammerton's Agency - https://www.brainspikemarketing.com/ ⭐️ Matt Hammerton on LinkedIn - LinkedIn: matthammertonaktaktion ⭐️ Matt Hammerton on Facebook - Facebook: MattHammerton ⭐️ Matt Hammerton on Instagram - Instagram: aktaktion ⭐️ Matt Hammerton on YouTube - onlydreamers ⭐️ Matt Hammerton's Label - https://www.onlydreamersmusic.com/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Meet Matt 01:04 100M SEO Impact 01:57 Scaling 100 Plus GBPs 04:02 Why Personal Injury Pays 08:05 GBP Rankings Are Reviews 10:23 Removing Bad Reviews 12:32 Getting More Reviews 14:33 Launching New GBPs 17:02 DBA Keyword Names 22:32 Categories and Setup 25:03 Review Funnel Tactics 27:49 Website vs GBP Power 30:31 Stop Automating Support 32:58 Reviews Drive LLM Rankings 34:07 Rank Directory Listings 35:24 Link Building With AI 36:52 Own Brand Review SERPs 39:53 Keyword Research Workflow 43:06 Conversion Keyword Patterns 44:51 Personal Injury SEO Value 47:09 Client Journey And Reviews 49:50 Press Releases For SEO 54:34 AI Drafting And QA 57:44 Agency Vs Solo SEO 01:00:24 Press Release Indexing 01:01:52 NAP Citations in Releases 01:03:09 AI Written Press Releases 01:04:31 Aggressive SEO 01:05:23 Link Building Sources and Vetting 01:08:08 Anchor Text Balance and Penguin Lessons 01:10:38 Pre AI Spinning and PBN Blasts 01:12:58 Future Updates and Long Term Growth 01:14:50 Music Marketing Success Story 01:21:14 Viral Stunts and SEO Parallels 01:26:08 Reviews and Entity Visibility 01:27:46 LLM Research and Execution Mindset 01:29:51 Wrap Up and Where to Find Him The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #localseo #legalseo #searchengineoptimization