This is (probably) the most important article we’ve ever written.
It’s about something that’s changing how clients find your business and the ways you should respond.
Of course, I’m talking about AI.
As exciting as they are, it’s not the AI tools that can help you work more efficiently or improve your marketing, that we’re discussing today. Instead, this is a deep dive into how potential clients might use LLMs (Large Language Models) like ChatGPT, Claude, and others to find you in the future.
Together, we’ll look at:
- How people will use LLMs to find an adviser/planner
- The pace of the migration away from Google to LLMs
- The immediate changes you might need to make to your marketing.
The migration to LLMs is the most significant change to how advice/planning firms market themselves since the launch of Google search in 1998. Therefore, this is a long read, but if you make it to the end, you’ll feel better informed about the threats your marketing faces and the fantastic opportunities LLMs present.
If you’d rather listen to what we have to say, we’ve used AI (NotebookLM) to create a podcast version of this article. American is the default accent for now, but I’m hopeful that we Brits will be represented in the future.
Before we dive in, let’s add some caveats to what you’re about to read or listen to.
Firstly, AI is evolving rapidly, so this article might have aged like milk in the months or years to come.
Secondly, this is our take on the impact of LLMs. We could be wrong. So feel free to disagree, challenge, and debate; we’ll reach better conclusions if you do.
And finally, to make life easier as you read this, we’ll use “LLM” from now on as a shorthand for platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, and so on.
A move from traditional Google searches to LLMs
Now we’ve primed our escape hatches, let’s begin by examining two ways people might use LLMs in their search for a financial adviser or planner.
#1. To research a firm they’ve been recommended to
When it comes to finding a financial adviser or planner, many people ask someone they trust, such as friends, family, work colleagues, or other professional advisers, like their accountant or solicitor.
Furthermore, many people will seek multiple recommendations and research the advisers and planners they’ve been recommended to online before deciding who to contact. Over 93% of those searches are likely to be on Google. Some will simply be looking for the adviser or planner’s contact details, while others will conduct deeper due diligence, as they decide which firm to contact.
These potential clients will use the search results and information on the firms’ websites to decide who to contact. If they’re not impressed, they’re likely to look elsewhere. It’s why our research shows that, frustratingly, most people who are recommended to an adviser or planner never contact them. It’s also why Marcus Sheridan is bang on when he says 70% of a consumer’s buying decision is made before they meet you.
If that’s the journey people who are referred, recommended and introduced to you currently take, our best guess is that LLMs will change it in three ways:
- Firstly, while we don’t see the importance of human referrals from trusted sources diminishing, we do expect some people to migrate from Google to LLMs when researching firms they’ve been recommended to.
- Secondly, when people run these searches, they are often fairly basic in nature. For example, simply typing the name of the firm or the specific adviser/planner into Google and then clicking links listed on the results page. In the future, we believe people will ask LLMs more personalised questions. For example: “I’m a 57-year-old man in Nottingham who needs advice on my retirement. I’ve been recommended to XYZ Wealth Planning. Are they a good fit for me?”
- Thirdly, we’re likely to see consumers use the extra power of LLMs, and the personalised nature of the experience, to do the hard work and compare two or more firms they have been recommended to. For example, we might see prompts such as “I’m a 62-year-old single female who needs help understanding when I can retire. I have been recommended to XYZ Wealth Planning and ABC Lifestyle Financial Planning. Please tell me who might be better for my circumstances”.
#2. As an alternative for service searches on Google
People who need an adviser or planner but don’t seek a referral will often head to Google and enter a basic search term, such as “financial adviser in Nottingham”, “financial planner near me” or “financial advice for dentists”.
These are called service searches.
Right now, the results page is usually divided into four sections:
- Paid adverts
- Google Business
- Natural search links
- A second section of paid adverts.
Again, it’s our best guess, but LLMs could herald two potential changes to service searches:
- Firstly, we can expect to see people migrate away from traditional search engines like Google to LLMs. Anecdotally, that change has already begun; however, there is very little evidence to show the pace of the migration.
- Secondly, we’re likely to see more detailed searches, including where the person looking for an adviser or planner asks the LLM for a recommendation.
The extent to which the prospective client trusts the LLM’s recommendation enough to make immediate contact with the suggested adviser or planner without further research is hard to gauge. Some might, but we know a human recommendation usually leads to online due diligence, so it’s hard to see why an LLM would be trusted more than a human. Especially if:
- Stories of AI hallucinations (a fancy term for mistakes) and blind spots become mainstream.
- The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warns consumers about the dangers of using LLMs to find an adviser/planner.
- LLMs introduce paid listings into the results as they look to generate revenue.
So, there we have it, the two ways potential clients will likely use LLMs to connect with advisers/planners:
- Researching after recommendations
- Service-based searches.
That leads us to the next logical question: How quickly is this change likely to happen?
LLM migration, it’s complicated!
The truth is no one really knows.
Research conducted in March by Ahrefs on 35,000 websites shows that SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) accounted for 43.8% of all traffic. Unsurprisingly, most of it came from Google. At the same time, LLMs accounted for just 0.1%.
On that basis, we might say the pace of change is glacially slow.
However, unlike a traditional Google search results page, which is a series of links, the results from an LLM are self-contained, meaning someone might not feel the need to click a link.
The counterargument to that, of course, is that we know a human recommendation usually results in further online due diligence. If we trust LLMs less than humans, we’re potentially likely to see shortlists being created on LLMs and further due diligence on Google, as the human takes over from the AI before final decisions are made.
Furthermore, our research indicates that in the first four months of 2025, traffic to adviser and planner websites from search engines decreased by 12.93%. This might suggest that the pace of migration from Google to LLMs among people looking for financial advice or planning is faster than in the general population.
We told you it was complicated, and we haven’t finished yet!
The next factor to consider is that people don’t need to actively choose to migrate away from Google to be given AI-driven results. That’s because Google is increasingly inserting an AI overview at the top of the search results page. For example, if I search, “What is the state pension age in the UK?” you can see how this works:
Right now, for the usual search terms people use to find a financial adviser, Google isn’t displaying an AI overview at the top of the page. However, we can certainly see a time when it will. If that prediction comes true, it’ll mean fewer clicks for the links below the AI overview. In turn, this will cause issues for firms that rely on SEO and PPC (Pay-Per-Click advertising – the ads at the top and bottom of the search results page) to drive traffic to their websites.
All together now… this is complicated!
So let’s try to provide some clarity.
We believe two things are almost certain. Firstly, even if the pace of change can be debated, we will see a migration away from traditional Google search towards LLMs and AI-driven responses. It might be an evolution. It might be a revolution. But it’s going to happen.
Secondly, Google will fight back. It generates around 57% of all its annual revenue, equivalent to $175 billion, from searches. It isn’t going to let the LLMs take a chunk of that without a fight. We’ve already seen Google respond with the AI overviews, and it’ll certainly develop other initiatives to fight back against LLMs.
The rise of LLMs means your marketing needs to focus on three things
We’re certain this migration will happen. So, being prepared for the change and positioning your business now to take advantage of it in the future makes sense. Even if it doesn’t result in huge lead numbers right away.
To do that, we believe you need to do three things:
#1. Produce “source information”
LLMs require source information to answer questions and prompts, making it more crucial than ever to write, develop, and publish high-quality content.
That content could include:
- Blogs
- Guides
- Reports
- White papers
- Social media posts
- Podcasts and webinars
- Guest columns and blogs.
#2. Build “expertise indicators”
To accurately answer the type of questions people searching for an adviser or planner might ask, LLMs need to know who the experts are. That means social proof has never been more important.
Your social proof could include:
- Award wins
- Google reviews
- VouchedFor reviews
- Press coverage and mentions
- Qualifications and accreditations
- Client survey results on your website
- Client testimonial videos on your website and social profiles.
Remember, you now have two audiences for your social proof: a human conducting research and the LLM performing the same task, so the more you have, the better.
#3. Spread source information and expertise indicators far and wide
The importance of publishing source information and social proof across multiple platforms and websites is shown by analysing the results of a prompt we gave to ChatGPT:
“I’m a 62-year-old female with a 65-year-old husband. We want to retire and are looking for a financial adviser in Brighton who specialises in helping people in our position. We want to meet them face-to-face. Can you give me three options?”
We were given the names of three firms and links to their websites. However, things get really interesting when we look at the sources ChatGPT used to provide the answer:
- Google search results (localised for Brighton) using queries like “retirement financial adviser Brighton”, “independent financial adviser Brighton pensions”, and “SIPP and retirement advice Brighton”
- VouchedFor and Unbiased directories
- Google Maps for location and client reviews
- Company descriptions, testimonials, qualifications, and types of advice offered
- A range of directories (some of these were pretty random).
So what does this tell us?
If you’re already ranking well on Google, plus you’re collecting social proof, producing content, and distributing both far and wide, you’re probably ahead of the curve.
To prove the point, this week we received this email from a Yardstick client:
“Afternoon Phil,
Jon has asked me to share the email below with you about our 2nd ChatGPT lead within 24 hours!
It seems like our marketing man/team is doing something very good for us!
Many thanks indeed”
You guessed it, this firm:
- Has Google reviews (79 at the last count)
- Ranks very well on Google for local searches
- Has VouchedFor reviews (352 in total right now)
- Publishes content each month (which we provide)
- Explains on their website what they do, who they do it for, and why people use them.
Unfortunately, if (unlike the Yardstick client above) you aren’t doing those things and want to grow your business, even if it’s only through referrals (where you can’t assume people will just pick up the phone without doing further due diligence), you probably need to make some changes.
Here are eight things you could easily do now that we believe will position you well with the LLMs.
- Build a free profile with Unbiased.
- Start posting regularly on social media.
- Collect reviews on Google and VouchedFor.
- Claim or update your Chartered firm profile.
- Claim and complete your Google Business Profile.
- List your business on other directories, including Yell.com.
- Claim/update your profile on the PFS Find an Adviser and CISI Wayfinder directories.
- Review your website and LinkedIn profile to ensure they explain what you do, who you do it for, and why people use you.
Feel the fear and do it anyway
We know many people are concerned about AI. After all…
AI = change.
Change = scary.
QED, AI is scary.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Sure, LLMs will change the digital journey many people take to your door, and it’s yet another thing firms need to add to their marketing mix. However, we’re not sure it changes the fundamentals of an effective marketing strategy. So, providing you’ve got those covered, you’re probably in a pretty good place.
If you don’t, it’s a very different story.
As we learn together, we’d love your feedback on this blog. Feel free to email phil@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300. You can also use those contact details if you need help with the marketing fundamentals in this new AI-driven world.
