The Biggest 2026 Advantage You'll Want

In this episode, Danny Decker breaks down a massive shift coming for small law firms as more consumers turn to tools like ChatGPT for legal guidance before ever calling an attorney. Danny shares why AI’s unpredictable answers actually create a huge advantage for firms that position themselves correctly — and how 2026 may be the year this opportunity becomes impossible to ignore. It’s a conversation every solo and small firm needs to hear if they want to stay visible, credible, and competitive.

📌 Key Takeaways:

• Why ChatGPT doesn’t give the same answer twice — and why that matters for your marketing
• How AI is already recommending specific law firms (even without being asked)
• The strategic move firms must make now to capitalize on 2026’s biggest opportunity

📆 Schedule Your Strategy Session

📱You can check out the video component by following us here on
Instagram or TikTok

Chapters

• 0:00 People Ask Legal Questions To AI
• 0:23 Accuracy And Limits Of ChatGPT
• 0:50 Variability In AI Responses
• 1:17 Why Staying Current Matters
• 1:45 Patent Steps And Cited Sources
• 2:09 AI Referrals To Local Attorneys
• 2:24 Marketing Takeaway And Sponsor

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Right. There are people who are jumping onto ja chat GPT simply to ask a question. What are the first steps to filing for divorce in North Carolina? And ChatGPT gives me a very long and thorough answer, right? Maybe it's accurate. Probably it's accurate. Maybe you guys could comment more on whether it's actually accurate. But bottom line, um, a lot of people are using Chat GPT in this way. So they're not necessarily explicitly uh showing up and saying, hey, I need a lawyer, but they are saying something like, hey, how do I file a will? How do I how do I file for divorce? How do I get a patent, right? And then ChatGPT spits out an answer. And I'm sure the vast majority of you uh who are here have probably used Chat GPT in in this capacity, right? Um one of the points I want to make that's really important is um ChatGPT doesn't answer the same way every time. We actually just informally, among the 20 or so of us uh in our office here, you know, I asked everybody at about the same time to go ask a specific question and we compared notes on responses. And I mean, Dylan, it was like it was all over the board, right? Like we got very different responses, even though we all asked at the same time.

SPEAKER_00: 1:16

Yeah, for sure. It'll it'll know you a little bit based on your history and all that. But it's also just it's not, it's not programmed to just spit out like when I get asked this, I need to say this. When this comes in, it it's a it's a thinking, it's learning, it's going to adapt, uh, it's gonna change, um, which is why it's important to kind of be on this because um as it changes, you want to be a part of that change. You don't want to get left behind and and have it adapt beyond you know what you're what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02: 1:44

Exactly. And so for example, this second question, I asked it, you know, what are the first steps to filing a patent in North Carolina? And it gave me a similar like seven or eight step answer. And then, but also, you know, this time it decided to include sources. Okay, and these are all, you know, federal USPTO uh websites, right? It it gave sources. I didn't ask it to include sources, it just included sources this time. Um, it also closed by saying, if you'd like, I can help you find a registered patent attorney in North Carolina. And so I respond and say, Yeah, sure, please help me find a patent attorney. I prefer an attorney in Charlotte, North Carolina. And this is this is the money part, right? Um for whatever reason, these are the the the first two that it shared with me, right? And and it shares uh, you know, firm name, firm website, uh, which you can click and and link directly to. Um, and it uh it shares some some information about the firm, which is uh a really interesting part of this. Like you're generally gonna get more information when you ask chat GPT chat chat GPT for a recommendation than when you ask you.

SPEAKER_01: 2:54

The Law Firm Marketing Minute is brought to you by Spotlight Marketing and Branding, where we help solo and small law firms get more planned and better. If you want more details, visit growmylaw firmfast.com.