A proposal to build on what's already working, defamation and reputation search, and fix what isn't: three of your four practice areas return no ranking at all, and the first page of Google for your own name currently carries a negative headline next to a 2.5-star business profile. Below: the retainer that closes the visibility gap, and a goodwill plan to help build stronger competition for that headline.
The ranking report we sent on 21 August set out the SEO gap in detail: 67 terms tracked, only 4 on page one, and 57 with no visibility at all outside the defamation and reputation practice. This proposal picks up from there and adds a second, more immediate problem: what actually shows up today when someone searches your name.
Defamation & reputation is genuinely strong, a #1 ranking and four terms on page one. But commercial litigation, corporate crime & investigations and employment law return no ranking at all, 45 terms between them. Three of your four practice areas are effectively invisible in organic search.
Separately, and more urgently: here is what "mark o brien lawyer" actually shows on Google right now.
Your own name search is doing the opposite of what it should. A stronger organic footprint would crowd out the unrelated ABC story as irrelevant, give genuine positive coverage and directories the authority to sit above the AFR piece, and a healthier review profile would turn the knowledge panel into a reason to call rather than a reason to hesitate.
One retainer, four connected pillars. Stronger pages feed the answer engines, an active GBP and LinkedIn feed the SEO and authority signals, and all four build the kind of consistent, owned content that a name search should be dominated by, rather than a single 2021 news story and a 2024 opinion piece.
On-page and technical work across all four practice areas, prioritised by the ranking report: the six terms already ranking that need a push, the three page-one terms ready for the top three, and new pages built for the highest-value gaps in commercial litigation, corporate crime and employment law.
Search is no longer just ten blue links. Structuring your expertise so it surfaces in Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT or Perplexity-style answer engines, and so those engines correctly attribute it to Mark O'Brien Legal rather than a similarly-named solicitor.
The profile shown in the map pack and knowledge panel for every branded search, currently sitting at 2.5 stars from 12 reviews. Active management to lift both the review profile and the weekly content that keeps the listing fresh.
A channel that already exists but sits dormant, brought to life with a regular posting cadence: case commentary, firm news and thought leadership that builds the same authority signals AEO and reputation work both depend on.
A single monthly fee covering all four pillars above, billed in advance, with no fixed-term contract.
| Fee | $2,350 + GST per month ($2,585 inc. GST) |
| Billing | Monthly in advance, by invoice |
| Term | 30-day rolling. No lock-in. Either party may cancel with 30 days' written notice |
| Start date | On written acceptance of this proposal |
| Proposal valid until | 4 September 2026 (14 days from issue) |
| Reporting | Monthly, in the format of the 21 August 2026 ranking report |
Alongside the retainer, and at no additional fee, we'll work to build genuine authority around your name search, so the AFR piece has real competition for attention on page one.
Search rankings are set by Google, not by us, and we have no way to remove or alter genuine press coverage, nor would we try to. What we can do is build stronger, legitimate content and citations that compete for the same page-one real estate. We'll do everything in our power to move it down, but we can't promise a result or a timeframe. This scope is offered as goodwill alongside the retainer above, free of charge.
TikTok, Instagram and Facebook profiles, currently absent from your search footprint. Each becomes another page you control that can rank for your own name.
Regular posting on the channel that already exists but sits dormant, timed alongside the GBP content calendar from the retainer above, so the same story runs across every owned channel at once.
Submissions and profile build-outs on directories and citation sources with stronger domain authority than the AFR article: Doyle's Guide, the Law Society of NSW Find a Lawyer register, Best Lawyers, Lawyers Weekly and relevant industry bodies among them.
Monthly tracking of the "mark o brien lawyer" and "mark o'brien legal" results alongside the core retainer reporting, so you can see what's moving and what isn't.
Building genuine authority takes time, realistically three to six months before it shows in the rankings, sometimes longer. The unrelated 2021 story about a different solicitor, Mark Leo O'Brien, should also move as this work builds out: a stronger, more authoritative organic footprint makes it easier for Google to recognise that story as irrelevant to searches for your name.
No lock-in, 30 days' notice either way, and we can be underway within a week of sign-off.
Sign off on this proposal below, or let us know what needs adjusting.
A short onboarding call, and access to GBP, LinkedIn, Search Console and the CMS.
Your first monthly report, in the same format as the 21 August ranking report, within 30 days of kickoff.