SEO Consulting & Strategy
In a recent Search Off the Record podcast, Google tackled the big question: Is AI making SEO irrelevant? Their take? SEO is alive and well. But,
In a recent Search Off the Record podcast, Google tackled the big question: Is AI making SEO irrelevant? Their take? SEO is alive and well. But, for those of us who are up close and personal with Google—especially for pros doing SEO for the finance industry —it’s not quite that simple.
SEO consultants like me aren’t ready to retire—just yet. Instead, these are the finance SEO strategies firms should prioritize as we navigate the era of AI and LLMs (large language models).
Your website needs to be structured in a way that’s easy for search engines to read and see if it’s relevant to search queries. No orphaned pages or random PDFs, but instead, a website that is:
For SEO in the financial sector, this means eliminating technical barriers that prevent search engines from accessing valuable service pages, blog posts, or resource libraries.
Effective SEO for the finance industry requires a blend of strategy and substance, ensuring your site structure supports discoverability while your content addresses client concerns directly.
The days of generic content are long behind us. Now it’s all about Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (Google’s E-E-A-T), which means content must be highly relevant and tailored to specific search terms.
But AI’s impact on ranking signals, authority, and relevance can’t be ignored.
The traditional “top 10” search results are replaced by AI-generated summaries and dynamic results.
For accounting and financial firms, this shift means your website may not get direct clicks from Google as often, as users find answers directly in the search results. However, ensuring your content is clear and authoritative can increase the chances of being included in those AI summaries.
Search behavior is changing. Prospects ask conversational, complex questions, not just keywords like “best CPA firm near me.”
Instead of optimizing for broad keywords like ‘CPA firm,’ firms need to create content answering detailed questions like, ‘How do I reduce my small business tax liability?’ or ‘What financial statements are required for a loan application?’
This level of depth and specificity is critical for strong SEO for the finance industry today.
Whether you’re navigating financial services SEO or local rankings, volatility is the new normal. Frequent updates make rankings unstable and unpredictable.
The key to navigating these changes is focusing on evergreen strategies—building high-quality content, earning backlinks, and engaging visitors. Tracking results regularly with tools like Google Analytics and SEMRush ensures you can adapt quickly to shifts.
The bigger question isn’t just about SEO. It’s about the web ecosystem. How do accounting, private equity, and financial firms thrive when the rules are shifting at a breakneck speed?
Successful SEO for financial firms means adapting to AI-driven search and focusing on authority, trust, and relevance. It means creating a website that has a good user experience (UX) tied with content that is written with client intent in mind—not just what the search engines are looking for—but what your ideal clients want to spend their time reading.
What’s your firm’s plan to stay ahead of these changes?
Need help refining your SEO strategy to attract more leads and build authority? Reach out today to start optimizing for success in 2025 and beyond.
