Georgia lawyer advertising rules, SEO and ads

Georgia started over on March 1, 2026. Its new Rules 7.1 to 7.3 follow the ABA Model Rules: no filing, no record-retention rule, an ad needs only a name and a way to reach the firm, and “specialist” is allowed when it’s earned. The firm’s harder questions sit outside the bar rules: a 2025 tort-reform law that changes what injury cases are worth, and metros that spill into Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Not legal advice. We summarize Georgia’s published rules for marketing planning. The State Bar of Georgia and the courts apply them, and the rules change. Your counsel’s reading wins over ours on every point.

Georgia rules in plain English

Each rule shows its verification code: P for a primary source we read, S for a secondary summary, D for the ABA-model default (what the codes mean).

Filing: none

Georgia doesn’t require filing or pre-approval. The new rules took effect March 1, 2026, and their text has no record-retention requirement. Rules 7.4 and 7.5 are now reserved.

Verification: P, primary source · Supreme Court of Georgia order

What every ad must say

A name plus contact information: a website, phone number, email or office (Rule 7.2(d), comment 11). The 2026 text has no mandatory contingent-fee statement.

Verification: P, primary source · Georgia order

Waiting period: more than 30 days for written contact

Written communications about a personal injury or accident are barred until more than 30 days have passed (Rule 7.3(c)(3)). Live person-to-person contact is banned, but texts are not “live” (7.3(b), comment 2).

Verification: P, primary source · Georgia order

Results and “specialist”

“Specialist” or “specializes” is fine if based on experience, training, education or bona fide certification, and not misleading (7.2(c), comment 9). Results can mislead, and disclaimers can help (7.1, comment 3).

Verification: P, primary source · Georgia order

Lead generators and referral services

Lawyers may pay lead generators that don’t recommend them (Rule 7.2, comment 5). Referral-service fees are allowed for bar-operated nonprofit services (7.2(b)(3)).

Verification: P, primary source · Georgia order

Runners and accident data

O.C.G.A. §33-24-53 covers runners and the sale of accident data. It shows as “reserved” from January 1, 2027, so check whether it has been recodified.

Verification: S, secondary source · O.C.G.A. §33-24-53

Ads in other languages

The 2026 order says nothing we found about ads in other languages. We still write each required statement into Spanish, Korean or Vietnamese ads in that language.

Verification: D, default · Georgia order, reviewed

Call recording: one-party consent

A person on the call may record it.

Verification: S, secondary source · Recording laws by state, 2026

Texting law and privacy

Georgia has no texting statute with private suits in the 2026 trackers; automated texts answer to the federal TCPA (D · tracker · 47 CFR 64.1200). Nor does it have a comprehensive privacy statute yet (S · comparison chart).

Rules last checked October 24, 2026.

What this means for your SEO and ads in Georgia

Ads

• Short ads get easier. A name and one way to reach the firm satisfy the rule, so a pinned firm-name headline with a call or location asset can carry it. We still put the responsible lawyer and office city in every ad, as our default everywhere.
• “Specialist” is available, carefully. Georgia lets a lawyer say “specializes in” when experience or certification backs it. Keep the proof on file, and don’t let one lawyer’s credentials read as the whole firm’s.
• Write results with context. The comment to Rule 7.1 says disclaimers can help; we pair any result with its facts.

Intake and outreach

• Texts are written contact here. Georgia’s comment treats texts as written, not live, unlike Pennsylvania. Federal consent rules still govern automated texts, and we keep our 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 3-attempt limits.
• Written injury outreach waits more than 30 days. Search ads and replies to people who asked aren’t affected.

Case values after SB 68

Georgia’s 2025 tort-reform law changed injury trials: juries now see both the billed and the paid medical amounts, seatbelt evidence is admissible, and damages anchoring is limited (Governor’s office). An actuarial firm’s study calls it too new to measure (Milliman, secondary). Case values that guide bids should be rebuilt from cases resolved under the new law as they come in.

Metros that cross into other states

Three of Georgia’s six largest metros cross a state line, and each neighbor has stricter rules:

• Columbus reaches Alabama, where every ad gives the location of a bona fide office, discloses a lawyer not licensed in Alabama, and is kept on file for 6 years (Alabama).
• Augusta reaches South Carolina, where ads must be mainly informational and name the office city (South Carolina).
• Chattanooga is mostly in Tennessee, which also sets a 30-day waiting period (Tennessee).

Target Georgia campaigns by presence in Georgia, or check each cross-border campaign against both states’ rules.

Spanish and Asian languages

Vietnamese (63.0% of its speakers) and Korean (51.8%) have even higher limited-English shares (Census, below). After Google’s September 2026 change, a search in Korean or Spanish is matched to ads written in Korean or Spanish (Google), so Atlanta firms need ads in each language they want to answer in.

Languages in Georgia

Sources: Spanish and any-language shares from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table C16001; other languages from the 2020-2024 estimates, table B16001. People age 5 and older.

Top metro areas in Georgia

Sources: population from the ACS 2024 1-year estimates, table B01003; Spanish at home from the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, table C16001, people age 5 and older. Georgia has 15 metro areas in all. Populations cover each whole metro area, including parts in other states.

The Georgia legal market

Source: Census Bureau, Statistics of US Businesses 2022, offices of lawyers (NAICS 541110). A firm with offices in several states is counted in each.

Questions for your counsel

• Has O.C.G.A. §33-24-53 been recodified, and does it reach marketers?
• What proof should the firm keep for a “specialist” claim under comment 9 to Rule 7.2?

How Probative works in Georgia

• No filing, so approval is the gate. Your attorney approves every version before it runs, and Georgia ads launch on the normal setup timeline.
• New rules, checked at the source. Because the 2026 rules are new, we read the Supreme Court’s order itself during onboarding rather than older summaries.
• Border campaigns checked twice. Columbus, Augusta and Chattanooga campaigns are checked against Alabama’s, South Carolina’s or Tennessee’s rules too.

Probative works with law firms in every state from day one, remotely and in person; travel terms are on the pricing page. Your attorney approves every ad before it runs, and where a state requires a filing, we prepare it and your attorney files it. Every Monday you see what each signed case cost, counted from your own records under The Probative Standard. The lawyer advertising rules by state table compares every state.