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What should financial advisors use in their AI SEO marketing in 2026
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What’s the best marketing advice for financial advisors right now
The best marketing advice financial advisors can use in their practice is to get specific about what services they provide, avoid jargon, and share real client stories. Or as Sara Grillo, a CFA and financial advisor marketing consultant specializing in lead generation in New York, puts it, “Spare me the garbage nonsense jargon.”
Financial advisors can use this Estate Guru webinar to win more clients through marketing by:
- Talking to current and potential clients through plain, non-jargon language
- Being specific about what services advisors are offering
- Using client stories to build trust
- Avoiding overpromising or making guarantees
- Ask your clients questions and then listen to their concerns
- Quality marketing is better than frequent generic AI marketing
Missed attending the webinar live? Click the play button on the image above to watch our webinar recording.
What jargon should financial advisors avoid when talking to clients
Financial advisors use industry shorthand, but doesn’t mean anything to the general public or clients. In the Estate Guru webinar with Sara Grillo, she breaks down several words that advisors try to use in client conversations that are hurting their client relationships.
The key to speaking to clients is to explain what financial services the financial advisor is offering in simple language, to describe what they are offering to clients.
Grillo makes it clear that advisor marketing should be treated so anyone could understand what service financial advisors are offering. She suggests that advisors, “Ask yourself, is this understandable to my 80-year-old mother who doesn’t understand what a financial advisor is?”.
Removing jargon that only advisors understand when talking to prospective clients is to describe what the financial advisor actually does, what kind of people they tend to assist, and what specific services they are offering to the clients.
Is frequency or quality better for financial advisor marketing
Typically, quality marketing beats frequent marketing for financial advisors, because the relationship-focused nature of the industry rewards content that consistently shows real expertise, trustworthiness, and relevance over content that simply shows up often.
Sara Grillo says, “Be the best or don’t do it”, because she would rather see the one social media post or LinkedIn ad that’s the best written on the topic the advisor is addressing. In the world of AI, anyone can create a passable blog in 15 seconds, but it sounds generic, rather than describing what the financial advisor is offering clients.
What common AI generic marketing looks like:
- “We help individuals and families pursue their financial goals through personalized financial planning and investment management.”
- “Our team takes a holistic approach to your finances, creating customized strategies designed to help you build, preserve, and transfer wealth.”
- “Our commitment is to provide trusted advice, exceptional service, and long-term relationships built on integrity and transparency."
Specific, well-positioned copy reads more like this:
- “We are financial advisors located in Dallas, Texas, who help individuals and families make informed financial decisions around estate planning. We work with estate planning attorneys to organize assets, identifying what financial goals clients want to achieve, and make sure that assets are properly managed through the trust.”
The difference comes down to specificity: naming the advisor’s role, location, niche, and the kinds of clients they work with, rather than how the advisor may identify themselves to other advisors. That same specificity is what an AI tool needs when a prospect in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is already looking for an advisor with that speciality. These AI tools favor content built around a clearly identified person, place, and specialty over content built around a slogan.
How do financial advisors get client referrals
Financial advisors primarily get client referrals from existing clients, financial professionals like attorneys and CPAs, educational marketing, workshops or hosted events, and increasingly through online search and AI through SEO and AEO.
According to Sara, “The easiest path [to growing the client base] is referrals and word of mouth marketing when you’re known for something.” One way that Sara encourages financial advisors to use referrals is to ask their best clients to start an introduction between the financial advisor and the client’s referral. The opportunity to receive referrals can happen in almost every client meeting too, but according to a recent study, advisors tend to over-talk in meetings. “You’re probably more likely to get referrals from meetings when the questions are exploding all over the place.” If clients aren't asking questions, Grillo's read is that the advisor is probably doing most of the talking instead of listening, and those quieter meetings are the ones least likely to lead to a referral.
Client stories work as another way to attract referrals and word of mouth marketing because they allow the advisor’s best clients to talk about their experience and the solutions the advisor provided for them specifically. “Testimonials and case studies matter more than ever” because these stories tell AI that the advisor has authority and credibility as an advisor. AI will be more likely to recommend clients use the advisor’s service because of their client stories.
Remaining compliant while growing a client base is important for financial advisors. Sara suggests not using absolutes when it comes to marketing. “Avoid products, avoid guarantees, and avoid making yourself look like the hero.”
What does the data actually say about AI and financial services
AI in financial services is changing how prospective clients find financial advisors, determine advisor expertise, and use AI to decide which advisor to hire. Estate Guru’s Q2 2026 report cites that two of three Americans have already used AI for financial advice, and of those who use AI for financial advice, 85% have acted on the AI’s recommendation.
She offers a few suggestions to help advisors with the current AI shift:
- Be specific about what financial services are offered, advisor credentials, business locations, and what makes the advisor different from the others on the market.
- Use Google Search Console to understand where prospects are finding the advisor’s information.
- Be transparent about pricing and fees. Individuals want to know as much as they can before committing to services, especially pricing.
- Google yourself, and make sure all the information, bio, headshots, and branding are consistent across websites, LinkedIn, and social media.
How can financial advisors use AI SEO for winning clients
AI SEO, sometimes called Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) or Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), focuses on creating content that AI assistants can easily understand, summarize, and recommend. For financial advisors, that means clearly describing who you help, what you specialize in, where you serve clients, and publishing educational content that answers common planning questions in plain language.
Here are some suggestions to use AI to communicate what financial advisors do and the services they offer:
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