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It can be tough to suss out what's real on the internet, but an empty warehouse sitting at the listed address for a bustling law office should be a pretty dead giveaway. In practice, though, vacant addresses or adverts popping up on platforms like Google Maps could be diverting clients away from verifiably local firms who could use the business.

According to Mischelle Davis, director of operations and communications at the Davis Law Group in Seattle, the problem may actually be getting worse. For example, it used to be that a lawyer from Tacoma might pretend to have an office in Seattle in order to extend the reach of his or her business.

“But really in the last five years, it's gotten really bad with out-of-state attorneys,” Davis said.

Legal isn't the only industry with some less-than-reputable entries taking up space online. A story published last month by the Wall Street Journal reported that Google Maps contained approximately 11 million falsely listed businesses on a given day.

The shape those deceptions take varies, but in the legal space it could be as simple as an out-of-town attorney claiming a local address without any actual employees present, or as complicated as an offshore business using a fictitious practice as a way to collect leads on clients, which they then turn around and sell to law firms.

To the average would-be client shopping for a local attorney online, the warning signs aren't always readily apparent.

“Ten to 20 years ago, it was more difficult to establish what appeared to be an office. Now you can get a virtual office, you can use Google Voice or something like that to establish a local number. I mean, it's really easy to make yourself look local online,” Davis said.

Conrad Saam, president of the legal industry-focused Mockingbird Marketing, has noticed a growth in the number of faux legal entries on Google Maps over the last six months. He attributed that pattern to the classic combination of motive and opportunity.

“The local results drive so much business and it's easy enough to get on these maps. … It's such an aggressive cutthroat world. No one is regulating it. The bar [associations] don't know what to do about it,” said Saam.

He believes the practice is particularly common in the field of personal injury law, where finding and locking down a high-profile case can pay dividends.

“It's more like roulette than blackjack. Everyone's looking for that big trucking accident case, so having a wider net can have a really big payoff,” Saam said.

If local search results are indeed driving a lot of legal business, then a flock of online impostors obviously puts legitimate local firms at a disadvantage. When it comes to Google Maps, the search giant is ostensibly the sheriff in that jurisdiction and can remove faux listings. Part of Saam's business model includes helping to facilitate that process for clients.

Still, given the proliferation of fake accounts in the ether, that doesn't seem like much of a silver bullet. The key may be to balance those efforts with a healthy dose of marketing diversification that concentrates on establishing local credentials. For example, if a firm's namesake grew up in the area or is raising his or her family nearby, those may be points worth stressing in the next ad campaign.

“Just telling the truth, but bringing that truth more into the forefront,” Davis said.

While those tips might be especially well-suited to more conventional or long-form marketing campaigns, remaining competitive in quick-hit terrain like Google Maps entries may require constant vigilance for suspicious looking entries. A listing that links back to a web page that doesn't feature the names of any actual attorneys should always be a red flag worth reporting to Google.

Unfortunately the tells won't always be that obvious.

“It's hard. It's really hard,” Saam said.