July 31, 2025
How FS marketers stay discoverable when Google isn’t the starting point
Sixty per cent of Google searches now end without a single click.
Your prospects still have questions, but they’re finding answers on LinkedIn, Reddit, TikTok and, increasingly, in ChatGPT’s neat little summaries. As I said on the recent LinkedIn Live with the experts at Remarkable Global :
“Your buyers are already out there asking LinkedIn, Reddit and GPT. The funnel is faster, messier and, frankly, mostly invisible.”
Traditional SEO isn’t dead, yet it’s no longer the sole gate-keeper of discovery. Social search and AI search are converging – and the brands that surface in both places win the first (and often only) shortlist.
Why financial-services marketers can’t rely on the old funnel
| Reality check | Data point |
| Trust is fragile. | Only 66 % of customers say they “always or almost always” trust their bank.² |
| Discovery has moved upstream. | 76 % of consumers now use social platforms to search for or discover products and brands.³ |
| B2B research is social. | 75 % of corporate buyers vet suppliers on social before first contact.⁴ |
| Affluent investors live on LinkedIn. | 73 % of high-net-worth investors consult LinkedIn monthly for investment research.⁵ |
| Gen Z aren’t alone. | 25 % of UK banking customers aged 18-24 seek financial guidance on social; 57 % of millennials and Gen Z rank “stock and bond tips” as the top topic they see there.⁶ |
| AI overviews are stealing clicks. | Roughly one in four UK FS queries now triggers an AI summary in Google’s results – up 112 % since April.⁷ |
| Budgets follow behaviour. | Global social ad spend will hit $276 billion in 2025; 83 % is mobile.⁸ |
Carry on posting “Thoughts from the trading floor” PDFs and you’ll look invisible next to a challenger bank whose carousel answers “How does a flexible pension actually work?” in plain English.
Social search 101 – and why AI loves it
Social search happens in two ways
- Direct queries – typing ‘ISA allowance deadline’ into LinkedIn or TikTok.
- Algorithmic discovery – feeds predict your next question and surface the answer.
Generative-AI tools hoover up those same social signals when crafting their summaries. Reddit threads outrank brand sites. Instagram posts appear in Google results. If your content isn’t clear, labelled and human, AI can’t see you – and neither can your buyer.
James Gray put it neatly:
“If ChatGPT doesn’t see it, your audience won’t either.”
Three common blunders that still bury FS content
- Burst-only campaigns – visibility vanishes the moment budget stops, so authority never builds.
- Corporate waffle – algorithms favour plain-language questions and answers over slogans and jargon.
- Useless filenames – “FINAL_v8.pdf” tells a crawler nothing; descriptive filenames are indexed first.
Five fixes you can implement this quarter
1. Run a social-SO hygiene sweep
- Rename your last ten hero assets with descriptive keywords.
- Add alt text that behaves like a second headline.
- Rewrite captions as the literal questions clients type into search bars – think “What is a director’s pension?” not #FinancialFreedom.
2. Make your expertise AI-readable
- Bullet points, FAQ blocks and H2 sub-headings.
- Attribute posts to named specialists – title, FCA number, head-shot.
- Embed schema (Article, FAQ, Author) so machines can parse context.
“Authoritative voices with job titles and LinkedIn presence rise fastest in AI answers.”
3. Build trust with human proof
- Pair every product update with a client story or staff POV.
- Curate UGC, testimonials, behind-the-screens demos, transparent process reels.
- Educate any influencer or colleague who posts: FCA issued 50+ finfluencer warnings last year alone.
4. Create a compliance-smart content grid
- Green – evergreen facts (safe).
- Amber – commentary that needs fast review.
- Red – anything that could be construed as advice.
Use pre-approved narrative blocks so speed doesn’t sacrifice safety.
5. Measure what matters
- Map Outputs → Outtakes → Outcomes → Impact.
- Track “search-driven leads” where the last non-direct click is social or an AI citation.
- Benchmark your engagement (FS medians: LinkedIn 2.5 %, TikTok 1.6 %, Instagram 5 %) and set targets a notch above.
Your pre-posting checklist for AI & social search
- Rename the asset: flexible-pension-rules-2025.png
- Add alt text: “Flow chart of UK flexible pension rules 2025”
- Overlay the key question on-screen
- Caption in 40-60 words, plain English, keyword-rich
- Include closed captions or transcript
- Pin or feature evergreen explainers on profile
The ‘I-want-it-now’ buyer is turning to agents
Voice-prompted “agents” will soon book meetings, compare savings plans and fill your CRM form on behalf of the user. When that lands, discoverability won’t hinge on ten blue links – it’ll depend on whether the agent trusts your content enough to act.
That trust is built today on:
- Clear language (natural queries)
- Consistent expertise (named authors, peer validation)
- Always-visible cadence (social + site + search, no dark gaps)
Don’t let AI write your story for you
Only one in five FS brands actively optimise content for social + AI search. That leaves an obscene amount of white space for those who act first.
You don’t need twenty new head-count slots or a film studio. You need a checklist, a rinse-and-repeat process, and the courage to refresh content you already own.
Ready to be found first, and remembered?
And turn small tweaks into big visibility gains.