Fin the Week

It's time for another emergency episode!

OpenAI has announced the launch of ChatGPT Business Hub, a tool that promises to give businesses a place to control the information ChatGPT has about them, see how they perform, and interact with customers via an agent.

Given our theme of discussing 'signal loss' this quarter, could this be a significant gift to marketers crying out for better performance data?

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Context

02:50 Overview of ChatGPT Business Hub

05:51 Implications for Businesses

08:27 Advertising and Marketing Insights

11:27 User Experience and Setup

14:19 Potential Impact on Financial Services

17:10 Future of AI Tools and Competitors

19:50 Conclusion and Jargon Buster

With an impending Competition & Markets Authority deadline looming, is Google about to unleash a better set of AI search stats for website owners?

Right now, marketers and publishers can see how many impressions they get in AI search via Google Search Console.

An upcoming regulatory deadline in the UK wants the search giant to go further, so could we be about to see a rare improvement in the information available?

Chapters

00:00 Meet the panel and introduce the signal-loss theme

01:15 The CMA’s concerns: choice, transparency, and attribution

04:06 What Google Search Console currently reports

06:34 Which Google AI features could the rules cover?

09:22 Why marketers want AI search query data

12:15 Using search queries to spot audience and content gaps

14:57 Will Google add click reports by the December deadline?

17:00 AI Mode monetization and Google’s incentive to withhold data

19:16 How advertising and search measurement may change

26:28 What compliance could look like for publishers

29:36 Is it fair for marketers to expect the data?

31:21 The wider commercial context and the December milestone

33:36 Jargon buster: what EBITDA stands for

It's launch day for our new product, Corrik, so Pat and Paul talk through what they've learned in building and testing it.

Corrik is an AI visibility and accuracy checker. It uses a 'source of truth' to flag when LLMs are quoting inaccurate information.

The team have spent the week testing it in the financial services sector and have uncovered where it's strong, and where it needs work.

If you're interested in the challenge of tracking AI accuracy, this is one for you!

Chapters

00:16 The PHP Vulnerability Crisis

07:15 Introducing Corrik: An AI Accuracy Checker

15:32 Testing Corrik: Insights and Findings

26:29 Managing Online Information Accuracy

31:31 Corrik's Launch and Future Plans

36:11 The Importance of a Source of Truth

40:55 Jargon busters!

Last week, FCA CEO, Nikhil Rathi appealed to attendees of the FCA's Annual Public Meeting to continue to come up with inventive ways to track consumer outcomes.

With the challenge fresh in mind, we went away and built a tool that could potentially help do just that.

Using a database of around 90 search terms, and industry benchmark, and Google Trends, our Consumer Duty Search Index looks at how consumers are using search to support them.

Today, we dive into the key findings!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and episode overview

02:33 Applying Google Trends to financial services and consumer duty

03:56 What is Google Trends and how does it work?

06:08 Using Google Trends to track flu symptoms and outbreaks

10:12 Building a search term database for consumer outcomes

13:15 Key findings on search trends in finance

15:21 Case studies: market reactions to events

16:26 Search trends related to vulnerability and scams

16:52 Impact of news cycles on search behavior

19:58 Using search data for regulatory insights and firm strategy

28:58 How firms can leverage search trend data

37:29 The role of AI and LLMs in consumer search behavior

38:44 Limitations and future potential of search data

40:41 Conclusion and next steps for firms and regulators

This week saw the FCA host it's annual public meeting in Edinburgh.

Hosting over 900 attendees both online and in the room, the FCA were quizzed on topics from how it works with whistleblowers, Consumer Duty, AI, and more.

We pick up on the technology and marketing angles present in the event and unpack what we took away.

We look specifically how the FCA does (or doesn't) oversee AI, and what that means for firms in the industry.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the FCA Public Meeting and Key Themes

03:25 Human Element in Financial Regulation

05:28 Handling of Criticism and FCA's Response to Whistleblower Questions

11:14 AI Developments and FCA's Upcoming Papers

13:11 Regulation of AI and Consumer Duty Framework

14:47 Financial Advice from Large Language Models

16:12 Firm Accountability for AI and Technology Use

18:05 Targeted Support Regime and Advice Gap

20:08 Regulation of AI and Fast-Moving Technology

21:58 Lead Generation Crackdown and Data Misuse

23:50 Enforcement Actions and Data Provenance

25:59 Data Gathering and Observational Data Use

27:42 Consumer Duty and Market Impact

31:55 Vulnerable Customers and Power of Attorney Issues

37:21 Accessibility challenges and power of attorney

38:23 The FCA is appealing for support in assessing Consumer Duty outcomes

39:56 Using Data and Trends to Detect Harm

42:44 Search Trends and Financial Harm Indicators

43:32 Jargon Busters: Fiduciary Duty

It's launch week for Q4 and this edition is all about Signal Loss.

Whilst demand for accurate reporting data is as high as it has ever been, access to clean and reliable web data is arguably worse than it has been since the launch of the web.

To kick things off, we dig into cookie compliance and why Google Analytics (or GA4) isn't anywhere near as accurate as it used to be.

Thankfully, we have a few thoughts on what marketing teams can do ahead of planning their 2027 marketing strategies!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and episode overview

00:16 Meet the hosts and episode context

01:03 Series focus on trust and signal loss in Q4

02:12 Setting the scene for tracking challenges in 2026

05:23 Technical overview of web tracking and cookies

07:18 The decline of Google Analytics and cookie compliance

12:03 The rise of third-party tracking and privacy laws

17:30 Browser controls and their impact on tracking

20:46 GA4 and the limitations of cookie-based tracking

23:23 Impact of cookie banners and user opt-in behavior

26:12 Data segmentation and bias in tracking data

30:42 Triangulating data sources for accurate insights

31:41 Design considerations for cookie banners and UX

35:39 The future of cookies and alternative tracking methods

39:55 Google’s evolving approach to privacy and ad targeting

44:48 Emerging AI tools and privacy concerns

46:26 Key takeaways: triangulation and data reliability

47:05 Jargon busting: understanding junk bonds

In July (2026), Cloudflare announced that it was going to categorise web crawlers (bots) in one of three ways: search, agent, or training.

If you want to opt out of training, you can block training bots - easy, right?

Not so...common crawlers such as Googlebot (critical for showing up in Google search) are classed as multi-purpose. They crawl for search purposes, but they also train AI models.

In this discussion, we explain Cloudflare's strange decision to hide settings within the 'security' section and how easily a brand could trap itself into obscurity if it chooses the incorrect settings.

Chapeters

00:00 Introduction to AI training and web crawling issues

01:58 Overview of Cloudflare's categorization of crawlers

03:31 Cloudflare's default settings for training and agent crawlers

04:27 The challenge of 'multi-purpose crawlers'

06:19 What is Cloudflare and how does it work?

08:14 The evolution of Cloudflare's features and internet security

09:28 The rise of AI crawlers and their impact on content security

11:36 The challenge of balancing bot access with website security

15:31 Implications for businesses and website owners

21:32 Managing crawler settings and the role of IT and marketing

24:25 Historical context and the evolution of AI and web scraping

25:48 The decoupling of impressions and clicks due to AI overviews

28:17 Cloudflare hides crawler settings within 'security'

29:39 Next steps for businesses: managing Cloudflare settings

33:20 The importance of transparency and security in bot management

38:30 The future of website visibility and AI training

42:02 Jargon busters and closing thoughts

Fresh from our annual security training with Pat, the team discussed AI-driven fraud in our industry.

It's a growing challenge; according to Mitek/Datos, U.S. unsecured credit losses reached ~$2.94 billion in 2025, up from $1.8 billion in 2020.

We cover some horror stories, like the UAE banking exec who was scammed by a 'deepfake' of a company Director into initiating $35m in transfers.

But AI is also at the forefront of the fight against fraud. Banks are flagging potential issues sooner and apps are using smart features to show when you are and aren't on a legitimate call.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to AI's impact on fraud

01:48 Statistics on AI-driven fraud increase

03:44 Deepfake scams: case studies from 2020 and 2024

07:09 How scammers use AI to craft convincing emails and calls

12:50 The role of AI in enhancing verification and security

13:37 Who owns the role of tackling AI-driven fraud?

18:21 The evolution of scam sophistication and AI's role

22:29 The concept of AI prompt injection

29:58 Using AI in the battle against fraud

31:31 Balancing security with user experience

33:40 Invisible security measures and behavioral signals

36:52 Balancing data sharing for security versus privacy

41:39 Innovative UX features to prevent scams

46:47 Future outlook: AI in security and fraud detection

49:04 Jargon busters: amortisation

This week, Paul and Amelia sit down for a chat with Nick Laws, the senior creative leader behind work with Nest Pensions and the recently rebranded Centre for Inclusive Money (formerly Nest Insight).

Nick chats about the tricky task of engaging consumers with their pensions. We touch upon his work alongside Aardman (of Wallace & Gromit fame) on building a national ad campaign.

We also discuss the role of influencers in financial campaigns; including the Everyday Investor campaign featuring a former winner of The Great British Bake Off who baked using products that benefited from Nest pension pot investment.

It's a fascinating discussion covering one of the most lively parts of the world of financial services.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Nick Laws and his role at Inclusive Money

02:28 The challenge of engaging consumers with pensions

04:17 Complexities of pension types and communication hurdles

06:32 Creative restrictions in financial promotion

09:28 Working with Aardman on the Nest brand awareness

15:37 Auto-enrollment and consumer inertia in pensions

21:43 The Everyday Investor campaign and innovative engagement

30:24 Impact of generative AI on creative work

37:54 Working on a mission-led brand and its unique aspects

39:36 The importance of purpose and authenticity in branding

40:59 Jargon busting: Understanding the black swan event

We've just updated our big guide to SEO in financial services, so this week the marketing team got together to define what SEO actually means in our industry.

We outline the challenges banking, insurance, wealth management, and fintech firms face in search and what good search strategy looks like.

We also outline our case for why search is a relevant factor when it comes to Consumer Duty.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to SEO in Financial Services

01:09 What is SEO and why is it different in finance?

04:36 Unique challenges of finance SEO: YMYL

05:49 EEAT: Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness

07:01 Regulatory and compliance considerations in finance SEO

11:40 Subsector differences: Banking, Wealth Management, Insurance, Fintech

16:38 SEO in wealth management

19:55 SEO for insurance brands

22:03 SEO for fintechs

23:22 Content strategies: FAQs, keyword research, and outdated content

27:12 Powerful keyword research using a brand name

29:28 Building a strategic approach: Technical, Content, Promotion

33:24 Navigational search and user journey optimisation

36:40 Impact of AI and generative search on SEO in finance

42:28 Consumer duty and the importance of accurate search results

45:59 Why SEO is a Consumer Duty factor

46:37 Jargon Busters: AUM