If you’re doing research on doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in fintech, you've likely got questions like:
- Does it still make sense to invest in SEO in the age of LLMs?
- How long does it take to work?
- When does it make sense to hire external help vs do it in-house?
There’s been a big shift in SEO in the past few years with more people than ever using LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude to do research. It’s only natural for marketers to therefore question whether people even still use Google to do research, and therefore – does SEO matter?
The reality is that SEO is even more important because you cannot grow your visibility on LLMs without ranking well on Google. However, working on LLM visibility can be slightly different to doing SEO and when done well, can bring faster results.
Having said that, too many guides online on fintech SEO will focus on the technical aspects of SEO, rather than sharing practical information on how to actually acquire customers with SEO.
In this article, we want to talk about how you can implement SEO and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) to help you acquire customers, not just “grow traffic”.
As a content marketing agency, we specialize in helping fintech companies turn content into measurable pipeline, and have helped companies like Persona, GBG, Yapily and many more turn content, SEO and LLMs into an acquisition channel.
Our experience working with fintech companies and the results we were able to achieve with them has allowed us to build our own process to implementing fintech SEO, which we’ll cover in this piece.
In this article, we’ll be covering:
- What’s unique about SEO in the fintech industry?
- How to acquire customers with a fintech SEO strategy in 2026
- How does it work with LLMs?
- How this fintech company generated $1M+ in customers with SEO and content marketing
Note: if you’re looking for SEO and content marketing support for your fintech company, reach out to us to learn more about how we can help you.
What’s unique about SEO in the fintech industry?
If you’ve worked in SEO in a separate industry, you might be interested in learning more about how the fintech industry is different. Here are a few ways:
1. It’s even more important that your content should come from a place of authority and trustworthiness
Google considers financial topics Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) industries. That’s because these are industries where the wrong advice or a mistake can lead to serious consequences for the consumer.
This includes fintech companies, which therefore means it’s even more important that your content comes from a place of expertise and authority.
In fact, Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) guidelines were updated to include another E for “Expertise”. Although they are not ranking factors themselves, it might be harder to rank for a phrase if your content is not high quality.
Ideally, your content is either written by an expert or based on an interview with an expert, and you want to make that clear in your content. Confused.com, for example, do a good job of adding an author bio with the expert who’s written the piece of content:
As a fintech startup, your content will be under even more scrutiny from Google and therefore it’s even more important that your content is based on expertise and authority. You also want to be careful with:
- Using AI to create content
- Outsourcing your content to a freelancer or marketing agency that doesn’t have access to experts
You may like: Best Fintech SEO Agencies (And How to Pick the Best One for You)
2. It’s an industry that requires people to do research (both B2B and B2C)
SEO (and GEO) is about targeting people who do research online.
Because fintech and financial services are complex industries, by their nature they require people to do research. Whether it’s issuer processing, figuring out taxes, B2B payments or investing, these are topics that require a lot of research.
It’s also an industry where the stakes are high: getting the wrong mortgage or wrong type of investment account isn’t the same as buying furniture or opening up a new social media account. Incorrect content can have serious negative consequences.
Same for B2B: changing payment provider is a complex process and is fundamental to a SaaS company, for example
People therefore tend to do in-depth research when it comes to personal finance topics and will turn to Google and LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude to get a lot of their information.
This is where there’s a lot of opportunity for fintech and financial services companies to help educate consumers, build trust and use content to acquire customers.
It’s also why content-only personal finance sites like NerdWallet, Credit Karma and Money Saving Expert are able to operate as businesses alone: they’re able to build an audience educating them on topics related to personal finance, and then monetise that online presence via partnerships and sponsorships.
In both B2B and B2C fintech, you’re targeting people who are trying to understand important, complex topics that if incorrect, could lead to negative consequences.
The biggest opportunity is appearing for phrases that indicate they are searching for your solution but don’t know you exist (e.g. “top accounting software” if you were Quickbooks).
This is what we call the “Bottom of the Funnel”. By targeting people who are aware they have a problem and are actively looking for a solution, the conversion rate will be a lot higher. These are people who are ready to close and buy right now – not targeting them is leaving money on the table.
Catering to them by ranking on the first page for the right high-intent keyphrases and producing high quality fintech content will put you at a huge advantage as prospects trust you more and will come to you to do business.
3. However, there is a lot of competition
Having said that, there is a lot of competition in SEO, especially in the B2C space.
As mentioned in the section above, there are large websites whose sole focus is ranking on Google and creating content that answers readers’ questions. They have large SEO teams and use all the tricks to stay high in the search engine rankings.
This is why it’s a lot harder to rank for general keywords that are more Top of the Funnel in the buying journey. Target keywords like “best business bank account” or “what is a budget” are what the NerdWallets and Credit Karmas are focusing on, and although we’ve been able to rank above them in the past, there is no denying it’s a lot harder to rank for those key phrases.
That’s why, when it comes to SEO performance and content, it’s important to be strategic and think carefully about the keywords you want to rank for.
If you follow the same strategy as everyone else, you’ll struggle to see success. If your focus for fintech SEO is acquiring customers and generating leads, then you want to implement a strategy that focuses primarily on that – not just rankings and organic traffic. We go through how you can do that down below.
4. You don’t need to invest so much in technical SEO
Generally, SEO is divided into technical and content SEO. Technical SEO focuses on ensuring the structure of the website works, link building / high-quality backlinks, the pagespeed is high and adding technical parts like meta descriptions, schema mark-up, internal links and title tags. It’s also sometimes called “on-page SEO”.
Technical SEO is incredibly important if you have thousands of pages on your website and one small mistake could lead to millions in lost revenue.
But as a fintech website, it’s likely you won’t have that many pages. If you have under 10,000 web pages, then it’s very unlikely you’ll have technical issues and therefore technical SEO isn’t as important.
Instead, your SEO focus will be more on content SEO: that’s because it’s easier to rank for specific keywords your audience is searching for online with content, and also because you often need to create long form content so people understand what your product does (you can’t sell a tax product if your audience doesn’t first understand how taxes work).
To summarise, don’t worry too much about technical SEO – do an audit once every 6 months, and you should be fine.
How to acquire customers – not just traffic – with SEO
As we established above, if you work for a financial technology company and are doing research on implementing SEO, it’s most likely that you’re looking to implement SEO for customer acquisition – not just to generate traffic.
What you really care about is ensuring you have visibility amongst the right group of people.
However, a lot of marketers, agencies and freelancers will focus the majority of their SEO efforts on getting as much traffic as possible. The problem with that is that an increase in traffic does not always equal an increase in leads and conversions.
In fact, based on our analysis, we’ve found that it’s often the articles with the lower traffic that have the highest conversion rates and bring in the most leads and conversions.
As mentioned above, these are articles who are targeting people who are at the “Bottom of the Funnel” in their buying journey (which is different to Top of the Funnel, which is typically targeting anyone who would be interested in the topic).
This is why we advocate for an SEO strategy that prioritises leads and conversions over traffic. The fintech marketing strategy we’re going to lay out here will be implementing fintech SEO via high quality, expert-based content.
This is the strategy we’ve implemented that has helped fintech companies like Yapily generate 3x more inbound leads and rank well above large websites.
Here’s how it works in practice:
1. Align on commercial outcomes
Many content strategies are focused on creating Top of the Funnel content and optimizing for high level metrics like traffic, bounce rates or white paper downloads.
Although these are still good to track, the most important metrics are always missing: the commercial ones.
Leads, MQLs, SQLs, deals, closed won deals and revenue.
Before investing in content or ramping up content production, we recommend having a clear focus on how much content currently brings in SQLs, and what the objective is.
When we work with clients we start off by creating a simple financial model to understand the potential revenue that content could help generate.
We do this through a 2 week Diagnostic, which you can learn more about here: The Diagnostic: How This 2 Week Project Will Help You Get a Better Understanding of Your Digital Marketing
Your leadership will want to understand whether it’s worth investing in content and how this fits into the wider marketing strategy. By having alignment on commercial outcomes, you can ensure that your work is aligned with the wider company goals.
2. Create a strategy that starts with the Bottom of the Funnel
A lot of marketers will start their SEO strategy by first doing research via a keyword research tool like Ahrefs or SEMRush.
But that’s an easy way to end up competing with all the NerdWallets of the world. When it’s this competitive, using the same tools as everyone else will make it a lot harder for you to rank for these keywords.
Instead, we advocate for starting instead with your customers. That means either interview them directly or interview your salespeople to understand:
- Who your best customers are
- What are their pain points
Based on those interviews, you want to try and understand what is your ideal customer searching on Google that indicates that they are close to buying. Here are some examples of questions we like to ask people:
- What was the last prospect/company that you had a really easy time closing? What type of prospects are the ones that are the easiest to close?
- What are you usually compared to? What are the alternatives?
- What is the most common reason for buying your product?
- How do they currently solve X and how much does it cost to do so?
- What happened last time their problem came up? What did they do?
You can also find great keywords by going through your PPC campaigns and seeing which keywords are performing the best.
Once you’ve done that research, you can then use your keyword research tool to see which specific keyphrases people are using, what are the current search engine results (SERPs) and what their organic search volume is.
For LLMs, use an AI tracking tool like Peec to see what your visibility is for those Bottom of the Funnel prompts. Those where you don’t have great visibility are the prompts to target.
And what’s important here is: you want to prioritise by search intent. That means, start by targeting the specific keywords that you think will bring in the most amount of conversions. We call this BOFU content, or sometimes they’re called long-tail keywords
What’s important to note here is that by starting with your customers, you can uncover keyphrases that the NerdWallets and Credit Karmas would never target and would have no interest targeting.
This is often because these keyphrases have low search volume – but again, that doesn’t matter if your focus is on acquiring potential customers rather than bringing website traffic.
For example, for our client, Jeeves, a corporate expense card, we uncovered that some of the easiest customers to close were those looking for a cheaper alternative to Amex.
One of the first pieces we created targeted the keyphrase “amex business card no annual fee”. We were able to rank above Amex and bring in multiple high quality customers – all because we had interviewed the salesperson (the article has now been taken down as Jeeves has adjusted their product).
Learn more here: Low Volume, High ROI Keywords: Why You Should Include Them in Your Content Strategy
3. Create content based on interviews
Many pieces of content are too basic or general because they’re based on the writer doing general Google research and lazy ChatGPT prompting rather than from an expert point of view.
This causes a few issues:
- The lack of information means the writer can’t focus on the ideal customer’s pain points and make it compelling to the reader.
- The article isn’t based on expertise and therefore doesn’t stand out.
- The article can’t go into detail about your product, and you risk missing out on potential conversions.
When you are targeting advanced buyers who have a certain knowledge of the sector, you don’t want to write beginner content. For example, if you’re targeting CFOs, an article on “What is a Profit and Loss statement” won’t be interesting at all to them.
When putting together your content strategy, you need to pick advanced topics that you know your target audience would want to read. The content itself has to also be advanced.
You want to use the words they use, examples they would understand and not be afraid to get technical. One key way we do this is by interviewing experts in the sales or product team to get a deep understanding of the product and therefore be able to get into the level of detail needed.
See how we’ve created more advanced content targeting advanced buyers here:
- How to switch issuer processors: A detailed card migration guide
- Global ID verification: How to get it right with Persona
Compare that with the regular content you’ll find online, and you’ll see how different it is. With this type of content we are focusing on getting the right information to the reader.
You can read more about how to do that here: Why You Should Create Content Based on Interviews With Experts
We’re not trying to hook them, we’re not trying to use flowery language and give them a history lesson on money. We understand that the reader has a certain level of knowledge and just wants to get done.
A good way to think about it is: think about the last time you were looking for a recipe and you wanted to start cooking right away. You were getting frustrated with the long intros about the backstory of how the recipe came into the family.
You just wanted a recipe so you could start cooking! This is the type of person you are targeting with this type of content: they are ready to buy, they are looking for very specific information and just want to move on. So there’s no need to “entertain” them.
When you write for the level of knowledge for the reader, the reader will also understand that you understand them and their pain points, and are therefore more likely to trust you and reach out. This is also how you’ll be able to rank above competitors who are writing for the wrong audience and don’t go as in-depth.
The last thing to note is that when writing for this audience, don’t be afraid to go into detail about the product.
Someone who is comparing spend management solutions wants to learn about your features. So this is a type of content where it’s ok to talk about your product – but that doesn’t mean that you have to be salesy. We’ve written about this in more detail here: How to Write About Your Product In Your Content [And Increase Conversions]
4. Track and report on commercial outcomes
All too often, marketers are only measuring traffic to track the success of their content. But an increase in traffic doesn’t equal an increase in conversions.
As mentioned above, if you’re going to align on commercial outcomes then you need to be able to track and report on those metrics on a monthly basis.
The lack of correct tracking and attribution often leads to content budgets that are often questioned, making it harder to get more budget, hire people or get more time commitment from experts.
The best way to track is to use a CRM like HubSpot, or a third party tool like WhatConverts, both which allows us to see first, last and multi-touch click attribution.
Tracking multi-touch attribution is especially important for content because it’s typically how it’s consumed. Few people read one blog and then convert. Usually they will read it at one point in their journey and convert a few months down the line.
With this set-up we can track:
- People who discovered an article and then completed a form 2 - 3 months later
- People who entered via a product page, read a blog and then completed a form
- People who at one point in their journey completed a form
Most importantly, we can see the opportunities and deals created and the journey the user went through before submitting a form, allowing us to see the true influence of content. This makes it a lot easier for you internally to build a business case for content.
For example, with one of our fintech clients, we were able to track not just leads, but actual SQLs and closed customers that content helped to close, helping bring in over $1M in business opportunity:
With this level of granular tracking, leadership more easily understands the value of content and will therefore be happy to invest in it long term.
This type of information also helps direct your content strategy, as this tells you which content will bring in revenue.
You can read about how to set up Hubspot reports here: How to Track the Quality of the Leads Your Content Brings in [With 6 Hubspot Reports]
How does it work with LLMs?
Being visible on LLMs is just as important as SEO. For many of our clients, 30% of website inbounds now come via LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude.
Most people use both tools: 32% of buyers now use generative AI as much or more than traditional search engines when researching vendors.
But the thing is, to appear on LLMs you also need to be strong in SEO. That’s because when an LLM doesn’t know the answer to a user’s query, it will do RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and crawl Google to generate an answer.
However, this is not to say the key to improving visibility on LLMs is “just to do SEO”. We’ve developed our own methodology where we produce “GPT articles” to target specific topics and prompts to increase visibility on LLMs. This methodology has helped some of our clients grow brand visibility from 5% to 40%+, and has also turned LLMs into a key acquisition channel.
The best approach is to do both SEO work and LLM-focused work, where you create content focused on both channels. We call it a hub and spoke model where the main article ranks on Google and shorter articles allow you to answer more specific questions and therefore appear on LLMs:
Read the full article here on our strategy and how to implement it here: Want LLMs to Recommend Your Brand? Here's What We've Found Works: GPT Articles
How this fintech company generated $1M+ in customers with SEO and content marketing
Zai is a B2B payments company that helps fintech and non fintech businesses leverage payment orchestration technology. With their API, Zai helps customers collect, split and make complex payment workflows.
Zai engaged us because they were looking to invest in lower funnel content that would help drive more conversions. In the CMO, Andrea Linehan’s, own words:
“We were a new brand, expanding globally with aggressive growth targets. Coupled with the fact that we are B2B with long sales cycles, it was imperative that we accelerated the lead-to-customer journey and get to revenue quickly.
We decided to invest more heavily in the 5%-10% of potential customers that are ‘in-market’, those that are actively searching for a solution to a pre-defined problem. And the way to do that is with BOFU content.”
As per our process, when we started working with Zai, we started by first doing in-depth interviews with people on their team who were close to customers, such as salespeople and product managers. We were able to get a better understanding of who their best customers were and pain points.
Based on that initial research and then our own research, we were able to put together a collection of keyphrases that would target people who were already aware they had a problem and were actively looking for a solution. Examples of these keyphrases include:
- Split payments API
- Top direct debit solutions
- PayID API
We were targeting Head of Product, commercial leads, which meant we had to make sure the content was written at their knowledge level. By creating content based on interviews with their team, we were able to write:
- In-depth, technical content that couldn’t be found anywhere else
- Go into detail about how the Zai product worked
- Include case studies and success stories explaining how their specific feature
You can read some examples here:
- Direct Debit API: How to set one up (and when to use one)
- 3DS2: Everything you need to know and how to prepare for it
- Multi-party payments: How they work and when to implement them
Within one year of our engagement, we were bringing over $1M in business opportunities to Zai via content. It was all via SEO and high quality content. By first taking the time to understand our target audience, and creating complex, in-depth content, we were able to get incredible results
You can read the full case study here: Case Study: How We Helped Zai Gain Multiple SQLs Per Month with Content
We’ve done this for multiple fintech clients including Yapily, Jeeves and GBG which you can read here: Results
Fintech SEO: when done well, it’s a great acquisition channel
As mentioned at the beginning, there is a big opportunity to implement SEO in the fintech industry as a way to build trust and acquire customers. However, you need to make sure your SEO is strategic so you don’t end up competing with all the large players with huge SEO teams.
By implementing a methodology like BOFU content marketing and SEO, you can therefore target keyphrases that are less competitive and more relevant to your business, and therefore helping you reach your ultimate goal: more customers.
If you’re keen on learning more about this methodology and our fintech SEO services, click below to learn more about what we do!
Fintech SEO Frequently Asked Questions
1. What makes SEO in the fintech industry different from other industries?
SEO in fintech requires a stronger emphasis on trust, expertise, and targeting complex, high-stakes topics like payments, investments, and compliance. Since financial content falls under Google’s Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) category, accuracy and authority are critical. Unlike industries that focus heavily on brand awareness, fintech SEO is most effective when it’s tailored to drive qualified customer acquisition.
2.Why is content quality and expertise so important in fintech SEO?
Because incorrect financial advice can have serious consequences, Google favors content that demonstrates WWExperience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). This means fintech brands should create content written by, or in collaboration with, subject matter experts — ideally based on interviews — to ensure accuracy, credibility, and depth.
3. What is the BOFU content strategy, and why does it work in fintech?
BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel) content targets prospects close to making a purchase decision. It focuses on specific, solution-driven keywords (often with lower Google search volume) that directly match buyer intent. By speaking to an informed audience, using industry terminology, and providing detailed product insights, BOFU content helps shorten sales cycles and drive high-value conversions.
4. How can fintech marketers track the real ROI of SEO?
Go beyond measuring website traffic. Use tools like Google Analytics and HubSpot to track first-click and last-click attribution, monitor lead quality, deal size, and total business opportunities generated. This helps prove the direct revenue impact of SEO content.
5. How do you find the right keywords for fintech customer acquisition?
Instead of relying solely on keyword tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, start with customer and sales team interviews to uncover pain points and buying triggers. This insight reveals high-intent keywords your competitors may overlook — even if they have low search volume — but can drive high-value conversions.
