Some words in a law firm’s Google ad may now come from Google’s AI, not the firm.
With Google Ads AI review summaries, law firms face a new question: who checks ad wording the firm never wrote?
The question reaches further after October 28, 2026, when Google launched multiturn ads in the U.S., so ads can appear on follow-up questions in AI Mode.
Google Ads can show AI-written review summaries in Search ads and AI explainers with ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and Google says advertisers cannot edit either.
Law firms should know which parts of their ads they control, because attorney advertising rules apply to communications about a lawyer’s services.
Three Sources of Text in a Law Firm’s Google Ad
A law firm’s Google ad can carry text from three sources, and the firm’s control drops at each one.
- Text the firm writes. Headlines, descriptions and added assets.
- Text Google builds from the firm’s site. Automated assets, such as dynamic callouts, pull lines like years of experience from landing pages and can be turned off.
- Text Google writes from other sources. Review summaries inside the ad and AI explainers beside it. Advertisers cannot edit either.
Review summaries are positive only and built from online reviews across the web, according to Google’s help page on review summaries. They run in Search campaigns in the US, Australia, the UK and India, in English, and advertisers “cannot directly edit or customize the generated text.” The only excluded vertical named is sensitive categories such as pharmaceuticals. Legal services are not mentioned.
AI explainers are short text from Google’s Gemini models shown with some ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google’s help page on ads in AI experiences says they can draw on the advertiser’s website and are kept separate from ad copy. Advertisers cannot edit, approve or opt out of them.
Why Bar Rules Care Who Wrote It
Attorney advertising rules reach every communication about a lawyer’s services. Colorado Rule 7.1 on communications concerning a lawyer’s services says a lawyer “shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services.”
The rule’s comment adds that a truthful report of past results can mislead if it leads a reasonable person to expect the same result elsewhere. The same goes for unsubstantiated claims and comparisons, though a disclaimer may help.
Positive-only review text the firm did not write sits close to that line. Whether a Google-written summary counts as the firm’s own communication is a question for its state rules and bar ethics counsel.
A Four-Step Check for Law Firms Running Google Ads
Step 1: See what Google has added
Google’s page on account-level automated assets explains how: in the Assets report, filter by “Added by” and pick Google AI.
Step 2: Turn off automated assets the firm cannot back up
The same page shows how to switch off automated assets through Advanced settings. If a dynamic callout repeats a claim the firm would not publish itself, turn that type off. Review summaries are not on Google’s list.
Step 3: Clean up the landing pages
Because AI explainers can use the advertiser’s website, landing page copy is the firm’s best lever. Remove results claims without context and vague comparisons.
Step 4: Use the controls Google offers for AI Mode
Firms cannot opt out of AI Mode ads separately from Search. Google names negative keywords and brand exclusions as the controls, and these queries appear in the search terms report.
Frequently Asked Questions
A law firm cannot edit Google’s AI review summaries. Google’s help page says advertisers cannot directly edit or customize the generated text, because the summaries represent user feedback. They are positive only and appear when Google predicts they will help performance.
A law firm cannot opt out of ads in AI Mode separately from Search. Google says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are eligible automatically. The controls it names are negative keywords and brand exclusions.
AI explainers in Google Ads are short text generated by Google’s Gemini models that can appear with ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode. They can draw on the advertiser’s website, and Google says advertisers cannot edit, approve or opt out of them.
Google’s review summaries help page does not mention legal services. It says summaries are available for all advertiser verticals except sensitive categories, naming pharmaceuticals as the example. Law firms running Search campaigns should check their own ads to see whether summaries appear.
- Review summaries are AI-written, positive only, and cannot be edited by the advertiser.
- AI explainers can appear with ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and advertisers cannot edit them.
- Multiturn ads launched in the U.S. on October 28, 2026, reaching follow-up questions in AI Mode.
- Dynamic callouts and other automated assets can be turned off in Google Ads Advanced settings.
Keeping Google Ads AI Review Summaries in Check for Law Firms
Google Ads AI review summaries show law firms that ad copy is no longer just the headlines in the account. Google’s systems read the firm’s website, its reviews and the search, then add words of their own. The firm cannot edit those words, but it can shape the source material.
That makes landing pages part of ad compliance. Pages that state results with context and avoid comparisons the firm cannot prove give Google’s AI less room to overstate anything. Firms deciding where the budget should go between PPC and SEO should count that page work on both sides.
Lexicon’s legal content experts write practice area pages written with bar advertising rules in mind. Call 877-486-8123 to review your landing pages.
