Most professional services firms grow on referrals, and that isn’t going to change. A client tells a colleague, “Call our accountant,” and a new relationship starts. What has changed is what happens in between. Before that colleague calls, they look you up.
They search the firm’s name. They open the website, skim the practice pages, and read a partner bio or two. More and more, they also ask ChatGPT or Google’s AI something like “Who are the best employment law firms in Atlanta?” and see whether your name comes up. By the time they call, the referral has either been confirmed or quietly undone.
I call this the referral test. Every firm is taking it, whether it knows it or not. Here’s what prospects check, and how to make sure the firm they find matches the firm they were told about.
1. What shows up when they search your name
The first thing a referred prospect does is type your firm’s name into Google. What they see in the first five seconds matters more than anything on your homepage.
- Does your website come up first, with a clear description of what you do?
- Does a Google Business Profile show up with current hours, a phone number and reviews?
- Are there old directory listings with a former address or phone number?
- Does anything confusing appear, like a firm with a similar name, or a news story about a name partner who left years ago?
What to do: Search your own firm’s name on a phone, signed out, and write down exactly what appears. Fix the listings you control first: your Google Business Profile, LinkedIn company page and the major directories in your field. Make sure every one uses the same name, address and phone number.
2. Whether your site says what you actually do
Many firm websites describe the firm in terms only an insider would use. “Full-service.” “Client-focused solutions.” “Trusted advisors.” None of that helps a prospect who was told, “They’re great with family-owned manufacturers going through a sale.”
A referred prospect arrives with a specific need. The site should let them confirm, quickly, that you handle it.
What to do: Give each core service its own page, written in the words a client would use. Say who it’s for, what the work involves, what the engagement looks like and what the client should expect in the first 90 days. A page titled “Outsourced CFO services for growing companies” beats a paragraph buried under “Advisory.”
3. Whether the people look like people
Professional services are bought from people, so partner and team bios are some of the most-read pages on a firm’s site. Most read like a résumé: school, admissions, memberships, awards.
Credentials matter, but they don’t answer the questions a prospect is really asking. Do they work with companies like mine? Will they explain things plainly? Will I actually talk to them, or to someone junior?
What to do: Rewrite bios to lead with who the person helps and how, then list the credentials. Add a current photo, a line on the kinds of matters or clients they handle most, and one or two articles they’ve written. If a partner is quoted in the press or speaks at events, link to it.
4. Whether you look current
A blog that stopped in 2021 sends a quiet signal. So does a copyright year that hasn’t changed, or a “News” page whose last item is a holiday closing notice. Prospects don’t think “they’ve been busy.” They wonder whether the firm is still growing, or whether the partner they were referred to is still there.
What to do: Publish something useful on a steady schedule, even if it’s twice a month. The best topics are the questions clients ask in first meetings: what a process costs, how long it takes, what to have ready, and what mistakes to avoid. Those articles do double duty. They show you’re current, and they give search engines and AI tools something specific to cite.
5. What AI tools say about you
This is the newest part of the test and the one most firms haven’t looked at. When someone asks an AI tool for recommendations in your specialty and city, the answer usually names a few firms and describes each one. Your firm might be named. A competitor might be named instead. Or the tool might describe your firm using an old practice area or a partner who left.
These tools build their picture from what they can read: your website, your listings, reviews, directories and articles that mention you. Clear, specific pages and consistent listings make it more likely you’re named, and described correctly.
What to do: Ask ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode the questions a prospect would ask, such as “Which Atlanta CPA firms work with manufacturers?” Note who gets named and how you’re described. Then fix the sources those answers draw on, starting with your own site.
6. Whether other clients vouch for you
Referred prospects already have one recommendation. They look for a second. Reviews on Google, ratings on directories in your field, and client stories on your site all help confirm what they heard.
What to do: Ask satisfied clients for a Google review when a matter or engagement wraps up, and make it easy with a direct link. Check your profession’s rules on testimonials and advertising first; some fields restrict what you can publish. Where client stories are allowed, describe the situation, what you did and the outcome, without naming the client if confidentiality requires it.
A 15-minute referral test you can run today
- On your phone, signed out, search your firm’s name. Is everything you see accurate?
- Open your site and find the page for your most profitable service. Could a stranger tell who it’s for?
- Read one partner bio as a prospect. Does it say who they help, or only where they studied?
- Find your most recent article. When was it published?
- Ask an AI tool to recommend firms like yours in Atlanta. Are you named?
Every “no” is a referral that might not turn into a call. If you’d rather go through it together, that’s what a free Teardown is for. You can also see how we approach marketing for professional services firms.
Frequently asked questions
Do professional services firms still grow mainly through referrals?
For most firms, yes. What’s changed is that referred prospects research the firm before they call, so the website, listings and reviews decide whether the referral turns into a meeting.
What should a partner bio include?
Who the partner helps and how, the kinds of clients or matters they handle most, a current photo, credentials, and links to anything they’ve written or presented.
How can a firm show up in ChatGPT and Google AI answers?
Publish clear, specific pages for each service, keep listings consistent across Google and directories, earn reviews, and publish articles that answer the questions clients ask. AI tools draw on those sources when they recommend firms.
How often should a firm publish articles?
A steady schedule matters more than volume. Two useful articles a month, kept up all year, does more than a burst of posts followed by silence.
Marketing Engine Scorecard
How does your marketing score?
Ten questions, three minutes. You get your score and the three fixes that matter most, plus occasional articles on generating more leads.