AI assistants recommend financial advisers when they can confirm three things: that you are authorised by the FCA, what kind of advice you give and to whom, and roughly what it costs. Most adviser websites are vague on all three. Publish them clearly, keep your FCA register entry and adviser directory profiles consistent, and collect genuine reviews, and you give an assistant something solid to repeat, within rules that already require you to be fair, clear and not misleading.
Key takeaways
- People ask AI about their situation and their money: "do I need an adviser for a £150,000 pension?" Pages that answer with your fees, minimums and specialisms meet them there.
- The FCA's Financial Services Register is the public check of whether you're authorised. MoneyHelper tells consumers to use it before choosing an adviser.
- You can only describe your advice as independent if it meets the FCA standard in COBS 6.2B. If you're restricted, say so plainly.
- Everything on your site is a financial promotion and must be fair, clear and not misleading. The Consumer Duty adds a requirement to support consumer understanding.
- VouchedFor, Unbiased and the Personal Finance Society directory are the adviser directories MoneyHelper points people to.
What do people ask AI when they're looking for a financial adviser?
They describe a life event and a sum of money, then ask who can help and what it will cost. The prompts below are illustrative examples of the kinds of questions people ask, not measured search volumes.
| Intent | Example prompts (illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Urgent | "I've just inherited £200,000, who should I speak to first?", "I've been offered a pension transfer value, do I need advice before the deadline?" |
| Comparison | "Independent or restricted financial adviser, what's the difference?", "Is a percentage fee or fixed fee better for retirement advice?" |
| Local | "Independent financial adviser in Harrogate for retirement planning", "Chartered financial planner near Guildford who does inheritance tax" |
| Price | "How much does a financial adviser charge for a £300,000 pension?", "Will an adviser see me if I only have £40,000 to invest?" |
| Trust | "Is [firm name] FCA authorised?", "Reviews of [adviser name] on VouchedFor" |
Where does AI get its answers about financial advisers?
From public pages that can be checked: your website, the FCA register, adviser directories, review platforms and consumer guidance sites. Google says its AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on pages that are indexed and eligible to show a snippet, with no extra technical requirements (Google Search Central, 2025).
| Source | What it is | Why it matters for advisers |
|---|---|---|
| Your website | Services, fees, team, regulatory status | The only place you control that can answer fee, minimum and specialism questions in full. |
| FCA Financial Services Register | Public record of firms and individuals the FCA or PRA has authorised, including appointed representatives and their principals | The definitive check of whether you're authorised (FCA, n.d.). MoneyHelper tells consumers that if a firm isn't on it, they shouldn't use it (MoneyHelper, n.d.). |
| MoneyHelper | Government-backed money guidance | Its "choose a financial adviser" guide is the kind of page assistants cite for process questions, and it names the directories below. |
| VouchedFor | Directory and review site for financial advisers, mortgage advisers, solicitors and accountants | Says it verifies the identity of all reviewers and never removes or edits negative reviews (VouchedFor, n.d.). |
| Unbiased | Adviser matching platform | Says all financial advisers and mortgage brokers listed are FCA-regulated and qualified (Unbiased, n.d.). |
| Personal Finance Society | Professional body's "Find an adviser" directory | Searchable by location, specialism and Chartered status (PFS, n.d.). |
| Google Business Profile | Listing on Search and Maps | Where "adviser near me" questions start. |
| US equivalents | SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) and FINRA BrokerCheck | Investor.gov sends consumers to IAPD to check whether a professional is licensed and has any disciplinary history (Investor.gov, n.d.). |
What do the rules mean for your marketing?
They mean that every claim an assistant might repeat has to stand up, which is also what makes it worth repeating.
- Financial promotions. The FCA says "All financial promotions must be clear, fair and not misleading regardless of the media type" (FCA, n.d.). Its social media guidance, FG24/1, applies the same standard to posts and says promotions should give a balanced view of benefits and risks (FCA, 2024).
- The Consumer Duty, in plain terms. Firms must "act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers". The Duty's four outcomes are products and services, price and value, consumer understanding and consumer support (FCA, 2026). It applied to products open to sale from 31 July 2023 and to closed products from 31 July 2024 (FCA, 2022). For your website, the consumer understanding outcome is the useful one: plain explanations of what you do and charge are what it asks for.
- Independent or restricted. A firm that tells clients it gives independent advice must assess a sufficiently diverse range of products, not limited to its own or closely linked providers (COBS 6.2B.11R). Firms must disclose in good time whether advice is independent or restricted, using those words (COBS 6.2B.33R), and explain why and what restrictions apply (FCA Handbook, 2026).
- Past performance. If you mention past performance, it must not be the most prominent feature, must cover five complete years where available, and must carry a prominent warning that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results (COBS 4.6.2R) (FCA Handbook, n.d.). Most firms are better off leaving client returns off their site entirely.
If you're an appointed representative, your principal is responsible for your compliance, so run new website pages and directory profile text through its sign-off process.
The 8-step plan to get your firm recommended
Check your FCA register entry first. Firms update core details, including trading names and contact details, through Connect, and most must confirm them every year (FCA, n.d.). Make sure the firm name, trading names, address and website match your site and Google profile, and that each adviser who should appear does. Show your firm reference number on every page footer.
Publish how you charge, with examples. MoneyHelper notes that "Many financial advisers do not list their fees online" and tells people to get at least three quotes (MoneyHelper, n.d.). A page that sets out your initial and ongoing charges, a worked example in pounds, and what the ongoing service includes answers the most common price prompt directly. Make it fair, clear and not misleading, and keep it consistent with your client agreement.
State your minimums and who you're not right for. MoneyHelper tells consumers to ask whether an adviser requires a minimum amount, such as a pension worth over £50,000 or £100,000. Say what yours is. An honest "we usually work with clients who have at least £X to invest" helps an assistant match you to the right people.
Describe your advice accurately. If you meet the COBS 6.2B independence standard, say "independent" and explain what it means. If you're restricted, say "restricted" and explain the restriction. An assistant asked "is [firm] independent?" will repeat whatever it finds.
Write one page per life event. Retirement income, pension transfers, inheritance tax planning, divorce, later-life care fees, business owner exit. Explain the process, typical timescales, the qualifications your advisers hold for that area and how the fee works. Keep it general information, not a personal recommendation, and balance benefits with risks.
Complete your directory profiles consistently. VouchedFor, Unbiased and the PFS directory are the three MoneyHelper names for searching regulated advisers. Use the same firm name, address, fees description and specialisms everywhere. VouchedFor's Top Rated guide requires 10 or more reviews since January 2026, an overall rating of 4.5 or higher and its paid verified membership (VouchedFor, 2026); treat that as a by-product of good review habits, not a target to game.
Ask every client for a review, the same way, with no incentive. Google prohibits incentivised reviews (Google Business Profile Help, n.d.), and UK law has banned fake reviews and reviews that conceal an incentive since April 2025 (CMA, 2025). Ask at a natural point, such as after the first annual review. Never confirm a client's circumstances in a public reply.
Add FinancialService structured data. Google recommends the most specific LocalBusiness subtype with name, address, phone, website and opening hours (Google Search Central, n.d.). Schema.org's FinancialService is a LocalBusiness subtype for financial services businesses (Schema.org, n.d.). Markup must match the visible page.
Also check that robots.txt and any firewall allow OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search (OpenAI, n.d.), PerplexityBot (Perplexity, n.d.) and Claude-SearchBot (Anthropic, n.d.).
Mistakes that keep advisers out of AI answers
- "Fees on request" and nothing else. It gives an assistant nothing to quote on the question people ask most.
- Calling yourself independent when you're restricted. It breaks COBS 6.2B, and an assistant may repeat the claim to a client who later checks.
- A register entry that doesn't match your website. An old trading name or address on the FCA register undermines everything else.
- Jargon instead of answers. "Bespoke holistic wealth solutions" doesn't tell anyone whether you advise on pension transfers.
- Client return figures as headlines. Past performance has strict rules and rarely helps.
- Different firm names across Google, VouchedFor and Unbiased. Inconsistent facts make it harder for anyone to be sure they've found the same firm. Google's guidelines also require your profile name to reflect your real-world name (Google Business Profile Help, n.d.).
How do you check whether AI recommends your firm?
Ask the assistants what your clients ask, and log the answers monthly.
- Pick 10 prompts from the table, using your town and your two or three main specialisms.
- Run each in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google (AI Overviews and AI Mode), Gemini, Claude and Copilot, logged out or in a private window where possible.
- Note whether you're named, which firms or directories appear instead, and which sources are cited.
- Check every fact about you, especially fees, independence and FCA status. If something is wrong, fix the source page it came from.
- In Google Search Console, traffic from AI features is counted in the Performance report under the "Web" search type (Google Search Central, 2025).
SearchCrow runs these checks for you. It asks the major AI assistants the questions people ask about financial advice in your area, shows whether your firm is mentioned and which sources they rely on, and suggests what to fix first. It's built for small and regional advice firms rather than national wealth managers with in-house marketing teams.
FAQ
Why doesn't ChatGPT recommend my financial advice firm? Usually because the questions people ask aren't answered anywhere it can read. People ask about fees, minimum pot sizes, whether an adviser is independent and who specialises in things like pension transfers or later-life planning. If your site says "holistic wealth planning" and nothing about cost, minimums or specialisms, a firm that states those facts plainly is easier to recommend.
Can I call my firm "independent" on my website? Only if your advice meets the FCA's independence standard. COBS 6.2B.11R says a firm that tells clients it gives independent advice must assess a sufficiently diverse range of products that isn't limited to its own or closely linked providers. Firms must also tell clients in good time whether advice is independent or restricted, using those terms. If you're restricted, say so and explain the restriction.
Should a financial adviser publish fees online? There's no rule forcing it, but it's one of the clearest gaps. MoneyHelper notes that many advisers don't list fees online and tells people to compare at least three quotes. Publishing how you charge, with worked examples and any minimum investable amount, answers the price questions people put to AI assistants. Everything you publish must stay fair, clear and not misleading.
Do VouchedFor and Unbiased help with AI visibility? They are public pages about you that anyone, including an AI assistant searching the web, can read, and MoneyHelper names both as places to search for regulated advisers. No AI platform has said it weights them. Keep your profiles consistent with your website and FCA register entry, and collect reviews the same way from every client.
What structured data should a financial adviser use? Use LocalBusiness markup with the FinancialService type from schema.org, which is a subtype of LocalBusiness. Include your name, address, phone, website and opening hours, and keep each value identical to the visible page. Google says its AI features need no special markup, so schema tidies up your facts rather than boosting you.
Sources
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central
- Local business structured data, Google Search Central
- FinancialService, Schema.org
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google, Google Business Profile Help
- Get reviews on your Business Profile, Google Business Profile Help
- Financial Services Register, Financial Conduct Authority
- Keeping your firm's information up to date, Financial Conduct Authority
- Financial promotions and adverts, Financial Conduct Authority
- FG24/1: Financial promotions on social media, Financial Conduct Authority
- About the Consumer Duty, Financial Conduct Authority
- PS22/9: A new Consumer Duty, Financial Conduct Authority
- COBS 6.2B Describing advice services, FCA Handbook
- COBS 4.6 Past, simulated past and future performance, FCA Handbook
- How to choose a financial adviser, MoneyHelper
- VouchedFor, VouchedFor
- Top Rated Adviser Guide, VouchedFor
- Unbiased, Unbiased
- Find an adviser, Personal Finance Society
- Check out your investment professional, Investor.gov
- Fake reviews (CMA208), Competition and Markets Authority
- Overview of OpenAI crawlers, OpenAI
- Perplexity crawlers, Perplexity
- Anthropic crawler FAQ, Anthropic