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AI search and SEO for financial services firms

Getting authorised firms back into the AI answers that comparison sites currently own.

, Founder, Axiom Flux Updated 3 min read
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There is a paradox in regulated finance. Assistants answer consumer money questions constantly, citing whoever published clear, trustworthy explanations. Authorised firms are the best qualified sources in the country and are almost absent from those answers, because the compliance risk of publishing made everybody go quiet.

So the citations go to comparison sites, journalists and the occasional unregulated influencer. That is a visibility problem for firms and arguably a consumer protection one, and it is fixable without going anywhere near a promotion the FCA would object to.

The rule that shapes everything

Under section 21 of FSMA, promotion itself is regulated, and FG24/1 requires each communication to be compliant standing alone. No rescuing the risk warning with a caption, a link in bio or slide five of a carousel. The FCA reported 19,766 promotions amended or withdrawn in 2024, nearly double the year before, so this is enforced rather than theoretical.

Social media is where standalone compliance bites hardest, which is why so much financial marketing quietly died there. Search and educational content are where it barely bites at all, because a page has room to carry a balanced view of benefits and risks within itself. That is not a workaround. It is the channel the rules were always going to favour.

What we build

Educational content designed compliant rather than repaired afterwards, explaining products honestly, including who they suit badly, which is what the Consumer Duty points at and what assistants cite. Search strategy as the core channel, since someone researching a pension transfer has declared intent and can be given real information. Paid search where every ad, sitelink and landing page is treated as the promotion it legally is. Client communication, the most under-invested channel in the sector and the one with the least regulatory friction.

We work with your compliance team from the first draft by preference. Work designed compliant clears approval faster and performs better than work that has had its risk warnings retrofitted.

Questions firms ask

Is AI visibility a promotion?

The content that earns it can be, so it gets assessed like any other communication. Explanatory material that does not invite or induce investment activity usually sits outside the perimeter, but that judgement belongs to your compliance function and we build to whatever line they draw.

Can social media work for us at all?

For the firm, its people and its thinking, yes. For products, rarely, because of standalone compliance. We will tell you which side of that line an idea falls before anybody produces it, which saves the argument later.

What about influencers and affiliates?

Handle with real care. An unauthorised person communicating a financial promotion without proper approval may be committing a criminal offence, and the firm behind the arrangement is exposed alongside them. Contracts are not monitoring.

Our guide to FG24/1 is open; check it against your compliance team's reading. If you need growth that survives a promotions review, tell us what you offer and who regulates you.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a financial promotion?

Broadly, any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity. Under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 it must be made or approved by an authorised person. The rules are technology neutral, so they apply to a website page, a paid advert, an email, a video and a social post equally.

What is standalone compliance and why does it matter?

FG24/1 requires each financial promotion to comply with the rules when considered on its own. In practice that means you cannot put the benefit in an image and the risk in the caption, rely on a “see more” expander, run a carousel that sells on slide one and warns on slide five, or link out to a risk page and treat that as covered. Every individual post, story, reel and advert must carry a balanced view within itself. It is the single rule that breaks most financial services social media marketing.

Can we use influencers to promote a financial product?

Only with great care. An unauthorised person communicating a financial promotion without approval from an appropriately authorised firm may be committing a criminal offence, and the firm behind the arrangement is exposed alongside them. FG24/1 requires firms using affiliates to ensure they understand the product and the regulatory requirements, and are approved and actively monitored.

How much is the FCA intervening in financial promotions?

Considerably more than it was. In its 2024 data the FCA reported 19,766 promotions amended or withdrawn by authorised firms, up 97.5 per cent from 10,008 in 2023, with around 8 per cent arising from its own proactive reviews rather than complaints. Note there is no published denominator, so no compliance rate can be derived from that figure.

What does Consumer Duty require from marketing teams?

Communications must be timely, clear and capable of being understood. The FCA review published on 13 March 2026 went further, setting the expectation that communication design choices should be evidence based and tested with diverse customer groups rather than approved on judgement. That effectively moves customer testing from good practice to something a firm should be able to evidence.

Which marketing channels work best for regulated firms?

Search is the strongest, because someone researching a pension transfer has declared intent and a page can carry balanced risk information in a way a social post cannot. Educational content explaining who a product suits badly builds trust in a sector where trust is the purchase. Existing client communication and professional referral are consistently under-invested and carry lower regulatory friction than acquisition.