Forget SEO: Here's How Advisors Can Market Now

Russell notes that the number of searches for "financial advice" or "financial advisor near me" is up 70% in the past three years, and that's with SEO on the decline.

Search engine optimization, in which firms work to have their website appear on the first results page of a Google search, has been replaced, Russell says, by answer engine optimization.

With AEO, she offers, the visibility afforded by hosting a podcast or being mentioned in the media increases the probability that AI tools will find and recommend you.

In the interview, Russell reveals how client testimonials, AI-centered content and demonstrated subject-matter expertise can make an advisor an artificial intelligence magnet.

Here are highlights of our conversation:

THINKADVISOR: What's the difference between search engine optimization and answer engine optimization?

SAMANTHA RUSSELL: For a long time, [attracting people to engage with a firm] was all about website visibility and getting your website to be on the first page of Google's [findings]; that is, ranking as high as possible. That was search engine optimization.

But with AI, it's no longer about that. It's: Are you the answer, or perhaps one of three answers, that will show up in response to a question someone asks?

If they ask, "Who's the best financial advisor for business owners in St. Louis?," they'll get, in most cases, only three or four recommended businesses.

There's no more ranking. And that is completely changing the game.

We've found that even though 30% of all website traffic across every industry is down, if you get to be one of those [recommended] businesses, your conversion rate is about four times what it was in a traditional Google search.

THINKADVISOR: What does an advisor have to do to appear as the answer to someone's search?

RUSSELL: AI is looking [mainly] at three different things. One, it wants to know what other people have to say about you. That's really key. A big part of that is testimonials and reviews from real clients that have used your [services].

Therefore, advisors have to get their clients to leave them a review that they can publicly utilize.

The SEC marketing rule passed a few years ago paved the way, and now you can get and use testimonials. You can do this legally as long as you have the right processes and procedures in place.

You need to show you're not cherry-picking reviews. You have to show you have a system to ask every single client [for their review], and you have to document that — in case of an audit. This is about asking clients for feedback and then putting it on your website and other places where AI can [find it].

Eighty percent to 90% of consumers want to read reviews about an advisor before they hire them. Yet less than 10% of advisors [post] customer reviews or testimonials. Getting other people to talk about your business positively is really important to AI.

THINKADVISOR: What else should an advisor do to use AI for marketing?

RUSSELL: Format their content according to what AI looks for. It's all question-and-answer based. So if the question is, for instance, "What's the best age to claim Social Security?," you need to answer that question [beforehand] in your content.

At the top of your piece, put a couple of bullet points summarizing what it's about. At the bottom, create an FAQ of questions related to that topic.

THINKADVISOR: Is there another necessary action an advisor should take?

RUSSELL: Show AI that you're an authority on a particular topic. Tools like ChatGPT show preference for advisors who have been on someone's podcast, quoted in a Wall Street Journal article, listed in a directory of best advisors, or any other kind of media mention.

Having your own podcast is great, but going on other people's is an [effective] strategy too.

Also, you can sign up for "Help a Reporter," where journalists say, "I'm working on a story about [whatever] and need someone who's an expert in [that area]." The advisor can respond with "I'll talk with you."

So you want to find ways beyond your own website to get your name out.

THINKADVISOR: What about using social media?

RUSSELL: That's another great way because someone else can reshare your [post]. LinkedIn, the social media platform all advisors love more than any other, is in the Top 5 citations that a lot of AI tools use.

THINKADVISOR: Are wirehouse advisors permitted to market this way?

RUSSELL: Though the SEC marketing rule of 2022 paved the way for advisors to be able to do testimonials, not every wirehouse has a system yet to allow their advisors to do them.

Therefore, in a lot of cases, if someone asks, "Who is the best financial advisor near me?," wirehouses won't be listed in the answers because the FAs [probably] haven't posted any reviews or testimonials.

THINKADVISOR: Is the number of advisors using AI marketing increasing?

RUSSELL: A year ago, [when giving a speech], I'd ask, "How many of you have had a lead from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity or other AI tools?," virtually no one would raise their hand.

Last month, I asked the same question — and half the room raised their hand.

It's really shifted. People searching for "financial advice," or "financial advisor near me" is up 70% in the last three years. Five years ago, it was, like, nobody found an advisor that way.

THINKADVISOR: If someone searches for "the best financial advisor near me," how does AI know what constitutes "the best" to this person?

RUSSELL: Having had a previous conversation with you is one way that [your name will come up as an answer]. You can save chats so that AI uses them to determine future interactions.

[A prospect] may have said, for example, that they have three little kids and $10,000 in credit card debt. AI can use that information to determine [the best] advisor for you.

If you don't have a prior chat history, AI often will go on other things, like client reviews and testimonials.

The more the advisor can be very specific about who they serve in all their marketing and communications, the better chance they'll have of being the answer AI recommends.

I just did an interview with an advisor on LinkedIn Live whose niche is people over 50 wrestling with the [issues] of midlife.

If a [user] says they want to talk to an advisor about what they're doing with their money, like, spending it in a good way with charitable giving, this advisor will have a much better chance of AI recommending him because he's put who he serves out there — and AI will match the two.

THINKADVISOR: How might advisors use AI for marketing in the future?

RUSSELL: At FMG, we're working on AI analyzing every email you [an advisor] sent last year and found that every time you mentioned a certain word, your email [response] rate went up a lot. And we noticed that every time you posted on social media about [a particular topic], that post got the most comments.

So we're using that kind of data analytics to pull out insights to allow the advisor to go deeper on topics that actually work for them and AI providing prescriptive suggestions for their marketing.

For instance [AI may say]: "It's tax season. You should send your list of [clients] an email to remind them that tax season is here."

THINKADVISOR: Overall, how would you assess AI's use by advisors thus far?

RUSSELL: One of the things I've seen happening already is that firms who are adding a lot more AI capabilities to their tech stack have become more efficient.

They're doing less busywork, which is giving them more time to think creatively about how they serve their clients and market their business.