The world of search marketing is changing rapidly, with AI-driven algorithms and large language models (LLMs) transforming how fintech brands build online visibility.
In this SEOTalk webinar, Manish Chauhan (Head of SEO at Groww) joins our host Parth Suba to decode the unique competitiveness, trust factors, and compliance challenges involved in AI visibility for fintech, and how the SEO game is evolving for India’s financial sector.
Excerpts From The Live Interview On AI Visibility For Fintech
Parth: What makes SEO for fintech brands unique compared to other industries in India?
Manish: Fintech SEO in India is shaped by three major forces – deep competition, strict compliance and the critical importance of trust.
Unlike other sectors, fintech is regulated under YMYL (“Your Money, Your Life”), so brands must invest in authoritative, accurate and expert content. Getting top SEO results isn’t just about keywords; it means hiring subject matter experts and meeting complex regulatory checks before you can even publish content.
Building authority and ensuring compliance are non-negotiable for ranking on important fintech queries.
Parth: What’s changed in fintech SEO over the last 6–12 months, especially with AI-driven answers and LLMs?
Manish: AI-powered search, like ChatGPT and Perplexity, is shifting user behavior. Thirty-one percent of Indian users now leverage chatbots for search, resulting in lower click-through rates (CTR) on Google for top-funnel queries. While visibility on these AI platforms has grown, referral traffic hasn’t kept pace. Brands now focus on being cited and referenced in AI answers – the new North Star metric for SEO success. But it’s also crucial to educate management: high visibility doesn’t always mean conversions, so expectations need consistent resetting.
Parth: Will traditional traffic metrics remain relevant as AI-overviews dominate? What should change?
Manish: Visibility and sentiment have overtaken traffic and clicks as primary KPIs. Tracking how often your brand appears in AI results and the sentiment expressed is now more important than raw organic visits. Being frequently and positively referenced by AI and LLMs is the real measure of brand equity in fintech SEO.
Parth: Are you seeing content from fintech brands cited in Google’s AI overviews? What kind of pages get picked?
Manish: AI overviews are less prevalent for financial queries due to regulatory widgets. However, leading fintech websites with high authority are often referenced, especially for transactional queries. A high correlation exists between SEO rankings and AI citations – ranking at the top usually means higher AI visibility, though not always. SEO remains essential: well-ranked, expert content tends to get selected as trusted sources in AI answers.
Parth: Should businesses focus on traditional SEO rankings or optimize for AI-driven search experiences?
Manish: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the next big thing. Beyond classic SEO, brands must build authority across the entire digital ecosystem – reviews, forums, PR, social signals. Visibility in external citations and positive sentiment online now fuels AI search prominence. Fintech marketers should take a 360-degree approach to brand reputation beyond their website.
Parth: Should fintechs keep building top-of-the-funnel content even as its direct traffic drops?
Manish: Yes, TOFU content is key to maintaining topical authority and ranks in Google. Comprehensive coverage signals expertise to both Google and LLMs, ensuring your brand stays visible. Until default Google search transforms fully into conversational AI, investing in TOFU articles is strategic for long-term authority.
Parth: Is traditional keyword clustering still effective, or has concept mapping taken over for fintech content?
Manish: Concept mapping and deep topical coverage now trump basic clustering. Relying on customer conversations and first-party insights leads to more robust content clusters. Subject-matter expertise and integrated, semantic coverage matter most for expert-driven fintech SEO.
Parth: How do EEAT principles (Expertise, Experience, Authority, Trustworthiness) impact AI visibility for fintech?
Manish: EEAT is vital. That too for both Google and LLMs, especially in regulated financial sectors. Original, experience-based content stands out, and LLMs are trained to recognize and favor unique human insights over generic AI text. Adding author bios isn’t enough; you need content with unique value and authentic expertise.
Parth: Should fintech blogs lean on concise direct answers or maintain long-form articles for SEO and AI?
Manish: Direct answers earn visibility in LLMs; well-structured long-form content always wins with Google. The best approach: address core questions clearly at the top, provide detail below and use tables or semantic markup to aid both search engines and users.
Parth: Have you integrated AI into your ongoing SEO strategy?
Manish: AI-first search monitoring is now a must. Tracking brand mentions and sentiment across TrustPilot, Reddit, and review platforms allows for real-time adaptation. SEO professionals must work closely with PR, tech and customer teams to ensure positive brand representation in every touchpoint.
Parth: If you had to bet on one big SEO skill or trend for 2026, what is it?
Manish: Without a doubt, it would be GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and broad reputation management are the future.
Brands must optimize for visibility and sentiment on YouTube, Reddit and social platforms, not just their own website to ensure AI and conversational search cite them as leaders.
We ended the conversation with Parth exclaiming – Visibility is not an accident – it’s engineered.
Your Thoughts?