Google continues to shake up the search landscape. While not unusually disruptive compared to past core updates, Google’s March 2025 Core Update—which rolled out between March 13 and March 27—still brought noticeable changes for sites relying on organic visibility. But that’s not all. At the same time, we’re seeing a quiet but powerful evolution of how search results appear—thanks to the growing dominance of AI Overviews.
These changes are impacting everything from organic rankings to paid search visibility, especially for competitive industries like law.
What Changed in the March 2025 Core Update?
According to Search Engine Land, this core update focused heavily on content quality and spam reduction, targeting low-quality, unhelpful, and AI-generated pages that added little value to users. The update was broader and more comprehensive than usual, resulting in significant ranking volatility across industries.
Many sites experienced sudden drops, while others saw noticeable gains—especially those with original, authoritative content.
The Rise of AI Overviews
Meanwhile, Google’s AI Overviews (formerly known as Search Generative Experience or SGE) have been quietly expanding. These AI-generated summaries now appear at the top of many search results, pushing traditional organic listings and even paid ads further down the page.
As The Verge and Reuters report, Google has even been testing an AI-only version of its search engine—highlighting the company’s long-term commitment to this new search experience.
Why Does This Matter for Law Firms?
For law firms, this means your visibility on the first page of Google is no longer just about your rank—it’s about where and how your content shows up.
With AI Overviews, users often get answers to their questions directly in the summary. If your site content is not included in that summary, you risk being skipped over entirely.
To appear in AI Overviews and continue ranking well post-core update, content quality, structure, and credibility are more critical than ever.
How Big Voodoo Is Preparing Clients for the AI Search Era
At Big Voodoo, we’ve been preparing for these changes for some time. We’ve long known that Google’s evolution toward AI-driven search would reward websites that focus on:
- High-quality, original content
- Clear structure and markup
- Credibility through external partnerships and citations
Our partnership with Law.com has been a game-changer, allowing us to produce expert-authored legal articles that not only rank well but are now appearing in AI Overviews across multiple searches.
We also focus on technical SEO best practices and structured data to ensure our clients’ sites are optimized for both human readers and Google’s AI systems.
What Should Law Firms Do Next?
- Audit your content: If it’s outdated, thin, or duplicated, it’s time to refresh.
- Focus on expertise: Google is rewarding content written by or sourced from professionals.
- Use structured data: This helps AI understand and use your content in summaries.
- Partner strategically: External authority sources like Law.com can boost your site’s trust and credibility.
Want to know if your site is ready for the AI era?
Contact us for a free content audit or SEO evaluation—and see how your firm stacks up in the new search landscape.