How do IFAs get recommended by ChatGPT?

166 financial advice firms, three engines

We asked each engine the question a new client asks before they have a name: “Who are the best financial advisers in <town>?”. Then we asked what each engine knew about every firm by name. Here is what came back for the 166 independent financial advice firms in our sample.

19 of 166

named by at least one engine when asked for the best financial advisers in their town

13 · 7 · 8

named by ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity in turn

134 of 166

described by all three engines when asked about the firm by name

88 of 166

had at least one engine that could not say who runs the firm

92 of 166

had at least one engine treat their own claims as marketing

53 of 166

got different answers from the engines to the same factual question

The engines know most of these firms. They just rarely put them on a shortlist. For 6 firms, at least one engine mixed them up with a similarly named company.

Reviews and who got named

Of the 17 firms with 50 to 199 Google reviews, 6 were named. Of the 117 firms with fewer than 10 reviews, 6 were named. Only one advice firm in our sample had 200 or more, so that row tells you nothing on its own.

Across all 1,000 firms in the study, 93% were not named by any engine, and reviews were the clearest dividing line: 1% of firms with no reviews were named, against 38% of firms with 200 or more. That is a correlation, not proof that reviews cause recommendations. Firms with many reviews tend to be busier and better known in other ways too.

Norwich did best, with 4 of 11 firms named. No advice firm was named in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle or Sheffield.

Where the engines get their facts

The firm’s own website was the main source. These are the outside sites cited most often in the answers about the financial advice firms we tested, with the number of times each was cited.

1. Companies Housefind-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk601
2. LinkedInlinkedin.com, uk.linkedin.com314
3. FCA register and FCA siteregister.fca.org.uk, fca.org.uk298
4. FinancialAdvisers.co.ukfinancialadvisers.co.uk129
5. VouchedForvouchedfor.co.uk69
6. Unbiasedunbiased.co.uk58
7. Endoleopen.endole.co.uk47
8. Yellyell.com29
9. Top Adviserstopadvisers.co.uk29

The FCA register was cited 239 times on its own, with the wider FCA site adding 59 more. Adviser directories such as VouchedFor and Unbiased also turned up often, which matters because they carry client reviews too.

A checklist for financial advice firms

1. 1

   Make your FCA register entry match your website

   The FCA register was the second most cited outside source after Companies House. Check the trading names, address, website link and approved individuals listed there are current and match your site.

2. 2

   Keep Companies House in line

   It was cited 601 times for the advice firms we tested. Registered office, directors and company name should agree with your website footer and your FCA entry.

3. 3

   Gather reviews on Google and adviser directories

   Firms with more Google reviews were named more often in our data. VouchedFor and Unbiased profiles were also cited, so reviews there count twice: as reviews, and as a source the engines read.

4. 4

   Name your advisers on a team page

   For 88 of the 166 firms, at least one engine did not name who runs the business. Give each adviser a name, role, qualifications and FCA reference number, and keep their LinkedIn profiles consistent.

5. 5

   Claim the directories that appear in the answers

   FinancialAdvisers.co.uk, VouchedFor, Unbiased, Top Advisers and Yell all came up. Claim or correct those listings so they say the same thing as your site.

6. 6

   Add Organization schema

   Mark up your legal name, FCA firm reference number, company number, address and leaders, with links to your FCA register and Companies House pages.

7. 7

   Publish an llms.txt file

   A short summary of who you advise, where, and on what. It is a basic step. It will not get you recommended by itself.

None of this guarantees a place in any list. AI answers change from day to day and with the wording of a question. These steps make the facts about your firm consistent and easy to check, which is the part you control.