In this episode of Craft on Tap, Stephen Beach and Faustin Weber mention a recent Kitces article on AI search and share what Craft Impact is seeing with our RIA clients. Spoiler: the reality is different from what you may have heard before.
👇 Watch the full discussion below:
Co-Founder Stephen Beach & Strategist Faustin Weber discuss ChatGPT updates.
Craft on Tap Ep 22 Podcast Takeaways & Summary
Key Takeaways:
- The Traffic Myth: Even when you show up in ChatGPT results, people rarely click through to your site. The AI answers the question right there (that's the whole point).
- Focus on Bottom-of-Funnel: Optimize for searches where someone is actively looking for an advisor (e.g., "best financial advisor in Tampa for stock options") rather than educational content.
- Reputation Beats Everything: Your ratings on Yelp, WealthTender, and other platforms matter more than perfect on-page SEO for AI search results.
- Keep Perspective: For advisors targeting $1M+ clients, AI-generated leads are still only 5-15% of total leads. Referrals remain king.
Podcast Summary: The Secrets of ChatGPT for Financial Advisory Firms
There is a trend across industries that has reached the financial sector: optimizing to show up as part of an answer in LLMs (like ChatGPT). But WAIT before you tell your team to go all in on marketing for Gen AI. Before making changes, do your homework. Think of this like evaluating a client's portfolio before making trades.
Know the Facts: Understanding "Grounding" vs. "Flying"
FACT: ChatGPT doesn't always search the web to answer questions. When it believes it has sufficient information in its training data, it simply "flies" along, using what it knows to provide an answer. Only when it needs current or specialized information does it "ground" itself by actually searching online.
This matters because most educational content, like "How do Roth conversions work?" won't trigger a search. ChatGPT will answer from its training data without ever citing your carefully crafted blog post.
As Faustin explains, "If your number one goal is to show up in AI search results for topical educational information, most of the time the LLM's not gonna cite you because it doesn't need to." In other words, don't count on your blogs, webinar summaries, and other learning content to be seen by anyone who uses ChatGPT for financial learning purposes.
The Real Opportunity: Bottom-of-Funnel Searches
The opportunity with ChatGPT is in bottom-of-funnel searches where someone is actively comparing advisors.
What we've seen work:
- Test prompts your prospects would use: Try searches like "best financial advisor in [your city] for [your specialty]".
- See if ChatGPT grounds itself: If it doesn't search the web, the prompt isn't worth optimizing for.
- Study the comparison matrix: When ChatGPT does ground itself, it typically creates a chart comparing firms across categories like pricing, specialties, and reviews.
- Fill the gaps: Look at what information ChatGPT emphasizes for your competitors and make sure you have clear answers to those categories on your site.
Reputation: Your Secret Weapon
You can optimize your website perfectly, but if your online reputation is lackluster, you won't show up in those top three spots ChatGPT recommends. Focus on:
- Yelp reviews: ChatGPT references this heavily
- WealthTender: Seeing strong traction here
- Website testimonials: Real client quotes matter
- Google Business Profile: While not directly cited by ChatGPT, this is still critical for the majority of searchers using Google
The Citation Strategy
Want to be seen as an expert by AI? Don't just blog on your own site. Get your name and firm cited across multiple reputable websites. This means:
- Guest posting on industry publications
- Being quoted in media (PR matters again!)
- Podcast appearances
- YouTube content
- Reddit discussions (yes, really)
As Stephen notes, "There's a resurgence of PR in the interest of showing up in bottom-of-funnel results for different LLMs."
The Pricing Advantage
If you're willing to share pricing information on your website, do it. ChatGPT consistently includes pricing in its comparison matrices, and firms that address this question clearly have an advantage. You don't need exact dollar amounts... Just answer what clients can expect to pay and what they receive in return.
For more on pricing strategy, check out this previous episode.
Reality Check: Keep Your Perspective
Before you panic about AI search optimization, remember who you're serving. If your ideal client has $1-2M+ in assets, they're probably not starting their advisor search by asking ChatGPT. They're getting referrals from friends, CPAs, and other trusted sources.
Stephen notes, "We've gotta put ourselves in their shoes. How are they doing it? They're gonna get referrals. That's not changing. It's human behavior."
Our data shows that even the best-optimized RIA clients are only getting 5-15% of their leads from AI search. That's not nothing, but it's also not the tidal wave some marketers want you to fear.
What Content Marketing Is Really For
So if educational blog posts don't drive AI search traffic, what's the point? The real value of content marketing is positioning your brand for when prospects DO find you through referrals or other channels.
Your content demonstrates expertise, builds trust, and elevates your brand. When someone gets referred to you and compares you against two other firms, your content library shows them you're uniquely positioned to solve their challenges.
The 80/20 Approach
Our recommendation: Focus 80% of your effort on what's already working—referrals, COI relationships, client marketing. Put maybe 20% toward AI search optimization, focusing on those bottom-of-funnel searches and reputation management.
Faustin sums it up: "Take it with a little bit of a grain of salt. There's so many other avenues and channels that for most firms, they're better to focus on first."
Shameless plug for Craft on Tap
The AI search landscape is evolving rapidly, but don't let the hype distract you from what drives real growth for your firm. This conversation is only a starting point.
For more on our first AI search discussion from summer 2024, check out Episode 13: How to show up in AI search results. For ongoing insights and practical strategies for RIA growth, listen to Craft on Tap. Available now, wherever you find your podcasts.
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