Google Rank Tracking Changes 2025: What Law Firms Must Know

If you noticed unusual drops in impressions or confusing ranking data in September 2025, you are not alone. Google’s latest changes unsettled the SEO world and left many wondering whether their websites truly lost visibility or if the numbers are simply misleading. This article explains what happened, how it affects your business, and what steps you can take to adapt.

Worried about your rankings? Schedule A Free Consultation to review your SEO strategy and protect your firm’s visibility.

What Exactly Changed In Google Rank Tracking?

In mid-September 2025, Google quietly retired the &num=100 parameter. For years, SEO tools used this setting to force Google to show 100 results per page for tracking rankings. With infinite scroll now the standard, this option is gone.

The ripple effect was immediate: many impressions that were tied to positions 20–100 simply disappeared. Your average position may look “better” (since only higher-ranking impressions remain), but your impressions chart probably fell off a cliff. This doesn’t necessarily indicate a loss of visibility; it’s primarily a reporting shift.

Why Did Google Make This Change?

Google’s move away from fixed pagination reflects a larger trend toward continuous scrolling and mobile-first design. Infinite scroll mimics social media feeds and keeps users on the platform longer. While this change may feel like a technical inconvenience for marketers, Google’s real motivation is to improve user experience, not to cater to SEO tools.

For law firms, this means the data we relied on to show activity across dozens of ranking positions is no longer available in the same way. Search is now less about tracking every possible keyword position and more about measuring meaningful outcomes like clicks, calls, and conversions.

How Are Rank Tracking Tools Adapting?

Many SEO platforms that relied on the &num=100 parameter have not fully solved the problem, which means their reports may still fail to show complete results. Some providers are attempting to re-engineer their crawlers by simulating user-like scrolling to capture rankings beyond the first page. This workaround is slower, consumes more resources, and could reduce the frequency or increase the cost of keyword tracking over time.

For law firms and other professional service providers, this means reporting dashboards may look different. Instead of displaying hundreds of positions at once, many tools will now deliver smaller, more selective snapshots of visibility. As a result, accuracy in tracking high-value keywords becomes more important than ever, while lower-tier keyword data will be harder to monitor with the same consistency.

What Does This Mean For Local SEO?

The change has a particular impact on law firms that rely on local SEO. Many local practices benefit from showing up in searches even when they are not on the first page. Those impressions helped firms understand how often they were being seen and how close they were to breaking into higher positions. With that layer of data gone, it becomes harder to measure progress in the “almost there” stage of ranking improvement.

The new focus should be on the metrics that matter most to clients: how many calls and form submissions come from local search, whether visibility in Google Maps is improving, and whether high-value keywords are producing real leads.

Did My Site Really Lose Rankings After The September Update?

Not necessarily. If your analytics show that organic sessions and conversions are steady, you probably did not lose real traffic. The drop in impressions was most likely tied to automated tracking tools rather than actual users. Before adjusting your SEO strategy, look at specific data points to confirm what is happening:

• Google Analytics (GA4): Check organic sessions, new users, and conversions during the same period that Search Console impressions dropped. If those numbers are stable, your site is still attracting visitors.
• Google Search Console: Review average position and click-through rate. If clicks remain consistent while impressions decline, it may indicate a reporting issue rather than a ranking loss.
• Server logs (optional, advanced): Verify whether the number of requests from real users and Googlebot changed. A stable pattern here shows that search engines and users are still reaching your site normally.

If these indicators remain healthy, it typically signifies that the “loss” is in the reporting, not in a firm’s visibility with potential clients.

Why Are My Clicks Down If My Rankings Look Stable?

This is where AI Overviews come into play. Google’s AI-powered summaries now sit at the top of many search results, giving users direct answers without requiring a click. Your site may get credited as a source, but users may not actually visit your page. This “Great Decoupling” means impressions and clicks no longer move together. You might appear more often in search results but see fewer visitors, a fundamental shift that requires businesses to rethink what success in SEO looks like.

How Should Reporting Workflows Change?

Law firm marketing departments will need to shift their focus from impression counts to performance-based data. Search Console impressions are no longer a reliable proxy for visibility beyond the first page. Instead, firms should:

• Track organic sessions in Google Analytics to confirm whether users are still arriving at the site.
• Monitor click-through rates and engagement, since these reveal how persuasive a listing is once it appears.
• Measure local pack and map visibility separately, as these remain critical for attracting clients in specific geographic markets.
• Combine SEO reporting with paid ad data to gain a clearer picture of total search exposure.

At Esquire Interactive, we help firms move beyond vanity metrics with FirmMetrics®, our fully customized reporting system. Each dashboard is tailored to the firm’s unique practice areas, goals, and client acquisition strategy. By redefining benchmarks around conversions, local visibility, and long-term growth, we make sure your reporting reflects business outcomes rather than inflated numbers.

What Should Law Firms Do Next?

Audit your analytics

The first step is to determine whether a ranking change is genuine or just a reporting artifact. Compare impressions in Google Search Console with actual traffic in GA4. Look for consistency in organic sessions, new users, and conversions such as phone calls or form fills. If those numbers are stable, the drop you see is likely tied to changes in reporting rather than a real decline in visibility. Going deeper, segment your analytics by device type or geographic region to identify whether the change is uniform or limited to a specific audience.

Revisit your content

Content that feels stale or generic is more likely to lose ground in Google’s evolving search results. Updating existing pages with fresh examples, current case law, new statistics, and practical insights gives your website credibility and keeps it aligned with searcher intent. Demonstrating first-hand experience and real-world perspective, such as describing how your firm has handled a particular client challenge, creates a depth that AI summaries cannot replicate.

Focus on high-value keywords

Rather than spreading resources across dozens of marginal keywords, concentrate on the terms most likely to attract qualified leads. For law firms, this might mean prioritizing practice-area searches tied to specific locations, such as “New Albany child custody attorney” or “Boston business litigation lawyer.” High-value keywords often represent intent to hire, so ranking for them brings stronger ROI than chasing visibility on broad or informational queries.

Integrate multi-channel marketing

Search is only one piece of a resilient marketing strategy. Pairing SEO with paid advertising ensures visibility even when organic results fluctuate. Building an engaged email list gives your firm a channel you control, free from algorithm changes. Maintaining a consistent presence on LinkedIn, YouTube, or other platforms adds credibility and keeps your name in front of potential clients who may not be actively searching yet. Together, these channels strengthen your reach and protect you against sudden shifts in Google’s reporting or ranking systems.

Is SEO Still Worth It In 2025 With AI Overviews Dominating Results?

SEO is evolving, not dying. The focus is shifting from ranking first to being featured within Google’s AI Overviews, where authority and clarity matter most. Beyond rankings, SEO now plays a larger role in brand building. Even if users don’t click immediately, seeing your name cited builds recognition and trust. The key is to complement SEO with multi-channel strategies that include social media, ads, and email marketing so you’re visible across multiple platforms.

At Esquire Interactive, we design AI-ready content strategies that protect traffic and grow brand authority in this new search era.

How Can I Protect My Rankings Going Forward?

Think of SEO as an ongoing investment in brand authority. Confirm whether drops are real before reacting, then double down on content that shows first-hand experience and demonstrates E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Refresh old content regularly, optimize titles and meta descriptions to drive clicks, and use structured data to win snippets. Just as important, build your brand presence outside of Google through email, community engagement, and direct audience channels.

The firms that thrive in 2025 will be the ones with recognizable names and trusted voices, not just those chasing rankings.

Ready To Future-Proof Your SEO? Schedule A Free Consultation With Our Experienced Google Ranking Specialists.

Esquire Interactive helps law firms and professional service providers cut through SEO confusion and build strategies that work—even when Google rewrites the rules.

Schedule a free consultation today to learn more about protecting your firm’s rankings and growing your brand in an AI-driven search world.