A financial advice firm secured its first client through ChatGPT within two weeks of making changes designed to improve its visibility to artificial intelligence platforms.
Folan Brookes Financial Consultants recorded the result during a pilot carried out by specialist advice support provider SM Advice, which has now launched an AI Visibility & Authority Audit for financial advisers and mortgage brokers.
The firm also reported a 21% increase in website visitors during the first month after implementing the recommendations.
The service comes as advice businesses increasingly consider how they appear not only in conventional search results but in answers generated by ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI-powered search tools.
‘ANOTHER GOOGLE SITUATION’
Chris Miles (main picture), managing director of SM Advice Limited, said: “The way people search for financial advice is changing quickly. Most people will remember Google’s introduction in the early 2000s and how it revolutionised client search. Those who signed up early reaped the rewards in terms of rankings and visibility. Well… we have another Google situation.
“Increasingly, the first interaction may not be a list of website links; it may be a direct answer from an AI platform. For advice firms, the question is no longer simply whether they rank on Google, but whether AI systems understand who they are, recognise their expertise and view them as a credible source.”
Miles added: “Our audit gives firms a clear picture of how visible they are today and a practical roadmap for improvement. It is not about chasing a shortcut or promising that an AI platform will recommend a particular business. It is about strengthening the digital evidence, authority and trust signals that make a firm easier for both search engines and AI systems to discover, understand and cite.”
FIRST CLIENT THROUGH CHATGPT
The audit examines more than 30 areas, including AI recommendation readiness, local search authority, website performance, content, backlinks and the likelihood of a firm’s material being cited by AI platforms.
Siobhan Brookes, director at Folan Brookes said: “Within two weeks of making the recommended changes, we received our first client through ChatGPT. We also achieved a 21% increase in website visitors in the first month.”
Miles added: “The Folan Brookes result shows why this matters. Visibility is not an abstract marketing metric; when the right foundations are in place, being discoverable via AI can help connect advice firms with people actively seeking support. The pilot gave us the confidence to make the service available more widely across the profession.”
The AI Visibility & Authority Audit costs £295, with SM Advice also offering implementation and ongoing support services.
