Overview of SEO Expert Witness Services
Bill Hartzer offers a full range of SEO expert witness services to assist law firms and their clients in matters involving search engine optimization, online visibility, and website performance. He does not simply provide generic opinions. Each engagement is grounded in data, historical context, and how search engines actually process and rank websites.
Because he continues to do day-to-day SEO work for clients, his opinions reflect current search engine behavior, not outdated practices. That combination of hands-on experience and expert witness background is particularly helpful in complex web cases.
Case Evaluation and Early-Stage Consulting
Many matters begin with informal consultations, where counsel wants to know whether SEO is likely to be a core issue in the case. In these early stages, Bill can review key facts, analytics snapshots, and search examples to determine whether SEO data is likely to support or undercut specific claims.
Early input can help you decide whether to preserve particular logs and analytics data, whether further discovery is warranted, and whether SEO-related damages should be part of the case theory. This is especially important in disputes involving sudden traffic loss, harmful search results, or disputes with SEO providers.
SEO Expert Reports
Bill prepares SEO expert reports that explain what happened to a website’s rankings, visibility, or traffic in clear terms. These reports typically include:
- Analysis of historical organic traffic patterns and search visibility.
- Identification of major technical and content changes on the site.
- Review of Google Search Console data, analytics, and third-party SEO tools.
- Context around known algorithm updates that may have influenced rankings.
- Discussion of causation where specific actions or failures are alleged.
- Assessment of the business impact of changes in organic visibility.
The goal is to present technical information in a format that lawyers, judges, and juries can understand, without losing the precision required for expert testimony.
Rebuttal Reports
In many cases, opposing parties present their own SEO expert. Bill can review those reports and provide rebuttal opinions, highlighting inaccuracies, unsupported assumptions, missing context, or misuse of analytics data.
A rebuttal report may correct technical misunderstandings about how search engines operate, clarify the limitations of certain metrics, or explain why particular conclusions are not supported by the underlying data.
Depositions and Trial Testimony
Bill has been deposed and has testified at trial in cases involving SEO, domain names, and online marketing. During depositions, he focuses on explaining concepts in plain language while remaining precise and consistent with his written opinions.
At trial, he translates technical SEO concepts into examples and explanations that make sense to a non-technical audience. The objective is to help the trier of fact understand what happened in search results, whether alleged conduct is consistent with best practices, and how that affected the business at issue.
Consulting with Counsel
Outside of formal reports and testimony, Bill frequently consults with counsel on SEO-related discovery, strategy, and cross-examination. This may include:
- Helping draft discovery requests related to analytics, search console data, and server logs.
- Evaluating the strength of SEO-related arguments made by the other side.
- Preparing questions for deposing an opposing SEO expert or technical witness.
- Reviewing settlement proposals where SEO performance and traffic levels are at issue.
These consulting engagements can be limited in scope or ongoing throughout the life of a case, depending on what the legal team needs.
Matters Involving Defamation and Negative Search Results
Defamation cases often require a careful look at how visible harmful content is in search results. Bill examines branded and non-branded queries, search result layouts, and user behavior to assess whether negative content is likely to be seen by typical users.
More detail on this work is available on the Defamation in Search Results page, which explains how visibility, ranking position, and snippet content can influence reputational harm.
Traffic Loss and SEO-Related Damages
In traffic loss cases, it is not enough to say that rankings went down. Bill reconstructs what changed on the site, what changed in search algorithms, and how those shifts line up with analytics trends. The goal is to determine whether specific actions or omissions likely caused the traffic loss.
For more information about these analyses, visit the Traffic Loss & Damages page.
Next Steps
If you are evaluating whether to involve an SEO expert witness, you may find two resources especially helpful: the SEO Expert Witness FAQ and the Attorney Checklist. These pages provide a quick way to determine whether SEO is likely to be central in your matter.
When you are ready to discuss a specific case, you can reach Bill using the details on the Contact page.