Our legal SEO team recently analyzed paid and organic marketing campaign data from 49 law firms specializing in personal injury, practicing in 36 U.S. states. Combined, our dataset included firms spending an average of $21.4 million annually on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, SEO, and generative engine optimization (GEO), and was drawn primarily from personal injury firms our agency worked with between 2022 and 2025. Our objective was to benchmark the average cost per lead (CPL) in the highly competitive personal injury law market and identify the key factors influencing it.
For all channels except generative engine optimization (GEO), the data analyzed was sourced from campaigns active between January 2022 and Decemeber 2024. For GEO, our was sourced from campaigns active between January 2024 and December 2024 due to lack of investment in, and therefore data available about, GEO campaigns before 2024.
We share our findings below, breaking down average personal injury CPL across channels, case types, and regions.
Average Personal Injury Cost Per Lead by Channel
In the table below, we break down the average CPL for personal injury campaigns by marketing channel.
The Average Personal Injury Cost Per Lead by Channel – 2025
| Marketing Channel | Average Cost Per Lead (CPL) |
| Google Search Ads | $442 |
| Facebook Ads | $286 |
| YouTube Ads | $319 |
| Display Ads | $296 |
| Local Service Ads | $378 |
| SEO | $183 |
| Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) | $246 |
Key Insights:
- Google Search Ads command the highest CPL due to intense bidding on high-intent keywords.
- SEO offers the lowest average CPL and compound value over time, though ramp-up takes several months.
- Generative Engine Optimization (optimizing for ChatGPT responses) is an emerging but effective strategy with competitive CPLs and growing ROI.
Personal Injury CPL by Case Type
The below table breaks out the average CPL for each of the five most common case types in our dataset. We do not include other case types below (e.g. Dog Bites, Defamation) due to insufficient data in the legal marketing campaigns we analyzed.
The Average Personal Injury CPL by Case Type – 2025
| Case Type | Average CPL |
| Auto Accidents | $391 |
| Medical Malpractice | $512 |
| Product Liability | $476 |
| Slip and Fall | $312 |
| Workplace Injury | $354 |
Key Insights:
- Medical malpractice and product liability cases are the most expensive to acquire due to their complexity and potential for high settlement values.
- Slip and fall leads remain among the least expensive, though conversion rates to signed clients are also lower in this category.
Personal Injury CPL by Region
While many of the firms in our dataset practice in more than one region, the geographically segmented nature of the marketing campaigns we analyzed made it possible for our team to break down average personal injury CPLs by U.S. region in the table below.
The Average Personal Injury CPL by Region – 2025
| Region | Average CPL |
| Northeast | $468 |
| Midwest | $314 |
| South | $389 |
| West | $402 |
Researcher Notes:
- The Northeast exhibits the highest CPLs due to competition in metro areas such as New York and Boston.
- The Midwest maintains lower CPLs, partially due to less aggressive bidding and a larger percentage of rural campaigns.
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