When a client asks AI who to call, is it you?
More people now ask ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews or Claude “who's a good lawyer in Hamilton?” instead of scrolling through ten links. The answer names a handful of firms. If yours isn't one of them, you never got a look.
Backroom Ops gets New Zealand service firms named in those answers. We're based in Hamilton, and we publish our own NZ directories, so we watch which pages AI tools pick up.
What we found testing Hamilton law firms (5 November 2026)
We asked an AI answer engine three plain questions about Hamilton lawyers: employment, property, and wills and estates.
- The answers leaned on “best of” directory pages and on firms with a dedicated page for that service in that city.
- None of the three firms we checked had the structured data that tells machines “this is a law firm, here, doing this work”.
These are plain fixes, and most firms haven't made them yet.
What you get: NZ$790 a month, month to month
First month
- An AI-answer check: the questions your clients actually ask, run through the AI tools they use. Who gets named, and which sources those answers cite.
- Business, service and FAQ structured data, plus an llms.txt file, set up on your site or written for your web person.
- Answer-first rewrites of your three most important service pages.
- Checks on the directories AI answers actually cite.
Every month after that
- We re-run the same questions and send a one-page “named / not named” report.
- Two new answer-first pages or FAQs.
- Directory and review fixes.
No lock-in, and no ad spend required. Nothing goes live until you approve it, and you own everything we build.
Who it's for
New Zealand lawyers, accountants, trades and health practices that win work locally and want to be the name AI gives. More detail for law and accounting firms is on our for firms page.
Common questions
What is AEO or GEO?
Answer engine optimisation and generative engine optimisation. Both mean making your business the one AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Claude name and cite when someone asks for help.
Is this just SEO?
It builds on SEO, but the test is different: whether your firm is named in the answer, not only where it ranks in a list of links.
Can you guarantee my firm will be named?
No, and be wary of anyone who does. We show you where you stand first, make the changes you approve, and re-test every month so you can see what changed.
Will working with you change our listing on your directories?
No. Listings, scores and order on our directories are free and cannot be bought. Working with us has no effect on them.
Book a 15-minute call → or email hello@backroomops.co.nz with your website address.