I caught up with a financial planner recently who is genuinely exceptional at what he does.

More than twenty years in the industry. Loyal clients. A strong referral network. The kind of reputation most businesses would love to have.

I asked him:

“What do you think a prospective client finds when they search for you?”

He guessed his website. Maybe his LinkedIn profile.

What they actually found was a Google Business Profile with no reviews, a LinkedIn profile that hadn’t been updated in eight months, and a website that said almost nothing about who he helped, how he worked or why someone should choose him over the forty other financial planners in the area.

None of it reflected the quality of the business he’d built. That’s a problem.

And now there’s another layer.

Prospective clients aren’t only searching Google. They’re asking ChatGPT, Perplexity and other AI tools questions like:

• Who are the best financial planners for business owners in Melbourne?
• Which firm specialises in helping people approaching retirement?
• Who has experience working with complex family wealth?

Your next client may ask AI about you before they ever visit your website.

Your client experience starts before you’re in the room.

Most business owners still think marketing is mainly about attracting strangers. It isn’t.

A client recommends you to a colleague over lunch. A referral partner wants to introduce you and quickly checks your LinkedIn profile. Someone hears you speak at an event and looks you up that evening. A potential employee searches your business before deciding whether to apply.

These people aren’t always cold leads. They’re often already connected to your business in some way. But they’re still checking, and they’re still forming an opinion.

And they’re doing it based on what they can find without speaking to you.

Your website, LinkedIn profile, Google reviews, articles, team profiles and service pages are not separate from the client experience. They’re part of it.

Now, they’re also the information AI systems use to understand, summarise and potentially recommend your business.

Being good isn’t enough if nobody can work out what you’re good at.

People are changing the way they make buying decisions.

Instead of starting with a Google search or asking for three referrals, many now describe what they need to an AI tool and ask who they should consider. They use it to understand the market, compare providers and narrow down their options before they ever make contact.

By the time someone reaches your website or books a call, they may already have formed a view of who you are, what you do and whether you’re worth speaking to.

That changes the job of your marketing.

You don’t just need to look credible when someone lands on your website. You need to make it painfully obvious to people, search engines and AI tools:

• Who you help
• What problems you solve
• Where you operate
• What experience you have
• What makes your approach different
• What proof supports the claims you’re making

And generic language doesn’t help. “We’re passionate about helping you achieve your goals” could describe almost any adviser, accountant, consultant, coach or professional services firm in the country.

It says nothing.

If your website, profiles and content are vague, dated or inconsistent, people have to work too hard to understand your business. AI tools have the same problem.

The issue isn’t only whether you appear in a search result. It’s whether what appears creates a clear, credible and accurate picture of the business you’ve actually built.

AI search visibility isn’t a trick.

There’s already plenty of noise around how to ‘rank in ChatGPT’ or ‘hack AI search’.

That isn’t the point.

AI search visibility comes from having a digital presence that is clear, specific and supported by evidence.

That means a website that explains what you actually do. Service pages with substance. Team profiles that go beyond job titles. Current business information. Strong Google reviews. Useful content that answers real client questions. Relevant case studies. Consistent language across the places your business appears online.

None of this is particularly sexy. It is, however, useful.

These are the signals that help people trust you and help AI tools understand when your business may be relevant.

Traditional SEO still matters, but rankings and website traffic are no longer the full picture. Your business also needs to be understood accurately when someone asks an AI tool for recommendations, comparisons or advice about who to contact.

If the information available about your business is thin, generic or outdated, the answer may be vague. It may be wrong. Or your business may not appear at all.

Start by searching yourself.

Open an incognito browser and search your name and business name.

Look at the first page properly. Don’t skim it as the business owner who already knows everything. Look at it as someone who has heard your name once and is deciding whether you’re credible.

Then ask ChatGPT or Perplexity:

• What does this business do?
• Who does it help?
• What is it known for?
• Why might someone choose it?
• What alternatives would you suggest?

You’re not trying to catch the tool out. You’re checking whether your digital presence provides enough reliable information to accurately describe your business.

Then be honest about what comes back.

• Does it reflect the quality of the business you’ve built?
• Is your expertise obvious?
• Are your services specific?
• Is there enough proof to support what you say?
• Would someone feel more confident after reading it?
• Or does it sound like every other business in your industry?

 

Fix the foundations before you produce more content.

When businesses notice gaps in their visibility, the instinct is usually to start producing more.

More blogs. More posts. More video.

That may eventually be part of the answer, but more content won’t fix unclear positioning, weak service pages or a website that says very little.

You don’t need more noise. You need a clearer picture.

The better starting point is to work out what’s missing, what’s weakening your digital presence and which changes will make the biggest difference first.

That could mean rewriting key website pages, improving adviser or team profiles, building a proper review strategy, tightening service descriptions or creating content around the questions clients are already asking.

The right order will differ for every business, and the expertise may already be there.

But being brilliant behind closed doors is no longer enough. The right people, search engines and AI tools need to be able to see it, understand it and trust it.

And if you need help working out what needs to change and getting it done, reach out for a chat