We Tested 149 UK IFA Firms on ChatGPT. 79% Were Invisible.

We ran 30 real queries against GPT-4o, asking it to recommend independent financial advisers across 10 UK regions. We tested 149 real, FCA-registered IFA firms to see which ones AI would actually mention.

The results were stark.

The headline number

79% of UK IFA firms are invisible to AI.

Of 149 firms tested, only 32 were ever mentioned in any response. The remaining 117 firms never appeared once, no matter how we phrased the question.

How we tested

We used three prompt variants for each of 10 UK regions (30 queries total):

1. "Can you recommend a good independent financial adviser in [region]?"
2. "Who are the best independent financial advisers in [region]?"
3. "I'm looking for a trusted financial adviser in [region]. Can you suggest some reputable IFA firms?"

These are the kinds of questions real prospective clients type into ChatGPT every day. We recorded every response and checked whether each of our 149 firms was mentioned.

Results by region

The regional breakdown reveals a clear pattern: the further from London, the worse the visibility.

East Anglia had zero firms recognised. Not one. The Midlands and Yorkshire were barely better at 93% invisible. Even in London, the most visible region, nearly half of firms were never mentioned.

The winner-takes-all problem

A handful of large national firms dominate AI recommendations. Chase de Vere appeared in 15 out of 30 queries, half of all responses. Brewin Dolphin appeared in 7. Charles Stanley in 4.

Meanwhile, well-established firms like Investec Wealth, Schroders Personal Wealth, Cazenove Capital, AJ Bell, Mattioli Woods, and Canaccord Genuity were completely invisible. These are not small firms. They manage billions in client assets. Yet AI does not mention them.

This is the winner-takes-all dynamic of AI search. Unlike Google, where you can appear on page two or three, AI gives a short list of recommendations and nothing else. If you are not on that list, you do not exist.

What the visible firms had in common

The firms that appeared consistently shared clear characteristics:

1. National brand recognition. Chase de Vere, Brewin Dolphin, and St. James's Place have the kind of brand presence that appears across hundreds of web sources. AI models absorb this.

2. Strong content footprint. Firms that publish thought leadership, guides, and commentary give AI models more material to draw from when forming recommendations. For guidance on what to publish, see our content strategy guide for IFAs.

3. Consistent citations across platforms. Complete profiles on directories that feed into AI recommendations, industry publications, and review sites. The same firm name and description everywhere.

4. Structured data and schema markup. FinancialService schema that tells AI systems exactly what services they offer, where they operate, and their regulatory credentials. This is one of the 15 items on our AI visibility checklist.

What the invisible firms had in common

The pattern was equally clear:

• Generic website copy. "We provide comprehensive financial planning solutions" could describe any firm in the country. AI cannot distinguish you if you sound like everyone else.
• Thin or absent directory presence. No VouchedFor profile, no Unbiased listing, or profiles with minimal information and no reviews.
• No published content beyond a services page. No articles, no guides, no FAQs. Nothing for AI to learn from.
• Regional firms without national signals. A firm that operates only in one city has far fewer web mentions than a national brand. Without deliberate effort to build online authority, regional firms are structurally disadvantaged.

Why this matters now

AI search is not a future trend. Over 15 million UK adults already use AI assistants regularly, and adoption among high-net-worth individuals is even higher. As we explore in our analysis of the great wealth transfer, the next generation of clients will find advisers through AI, not Google.

When a prospective client asks ChatGPT for a financial adviser recommendation, the firms that appear get the enquiry. The firms that do not get nothing. There is no page two in AI search.

A single high-net-worth client is worth tens of thousands in lifetime fees. The cost of being invisible is not theoretical. It is real clients going to competitors you have never heard of, simply because AI recommends them and not you.

The opportunity

The good news: the barrier to entry is currently low. Because so few IFA firms have optimised for AI visibility, the firms that start now can establish a dominant position in their area relatively quickly.

The window will not stay open forever. As awareness grows, competition will increase. AI systems are conservative: once they form a view of which firms to recommend, it takes sustained new evidence to change it. The firms that move first will have an advantage that is very difficult to overcome.

What you should do

Start by understanding where you stand. Our guide on how to test your firm on ChatGPT walks you through the process. A free AI visibility score takes 60 seconds and shows you whether AI platforms are currently recommending your firm.

If you score below 30 (and based on our research, most firms will), the full AI Visibility Audit provides a complete breakdown across all four platforms with a specific, prioritised action plan.

The firms that take this seriously in 2026 will own their local market in AI search for years to come.

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