ADVISOR MARKETING

Susan Theder

Here’ s why reviews are your new competitive advantage if you want to be found online.

HEN A PROSPECT ASKS CHATGPT,“ WHO’ S THE BEST financial advisor near me?” what is it that determines whether your firm shows up in the search results?

You might be surprised to hear that it’ s not your website content or paid ads. It’ s your reviews.

Artificial intelligence-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’ s AI Overview are fundamentally changing the way prospects find advisors. These platforms evaluate your online reviews as ranking signals— teaching AI who you serve, how you help, and whether you’ re worth recommending. Yet fewer than 10 % of SEC-registered firms actively take advantage of testimonials in their marketing.

That’ s not just a missed opportunity. It’ s a competitive disadvantage in an AI-driven world.

To help you prepare for the new ways you’ ll be connecting with clients online, we’ ve come up with five strategies to build a compliant review system that gets you found.

Not all review platforms carry equal weight with artificial intelligence search engines. You’ ll need to focus your efforts on where they’ ll have the most impact.

1. Collect Reviews On The Right Platforms Not all review platforms carry equal weight with artificial intelligence search engines. You’ ll need to focus your efforts on where they’ ll have the most impact. Start with your Google Business Profile— it’ s the most visible for local search and Google AI recommendations. After that you’ ll want to expand to compliance-focused tools like Testimonial iQ to collect Google Reviews and reshare them in your own marketing. The more places your reviews appear, the stronger your AI search signals become.

Once you receive a review on any platform, ask the client’ s permission to republish it on your website. This compounds the visibility effect and boosts what’ s called answer engine optimization( AEO), an update on the concept of search engine optimization( SEO) that essentially teaches AI that you’ re a trusted resource.

2. Request Reviews Systematically, Not Sporadically

Let’ s say you’ ve delivered exceptional service. Your clients trust you and refer their friends. But unless you’ re systematically asking them to share their experiences publicly, all that goodwill remains invisible to prospects.

That means you should structure your review requests in four steps:

1. First, send a broad email campaign to your entire client base explaining that you value all feedback and you are inviting honest reviews.

2. Next, you’ ll want to automate post-meeting follow-ups, setting a trigger in your CRM system: Three days after every client meeting, you’ ll want to send a review request.

3. Then you’ ll want to display a QR code prominently in your office that links directly to your review platform.

16 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2025 WWW. FA-MAG. COM