Which accountant does ChatGPT recommend, and why is it not us?

The owner of a fast-growing online retailer is frustrated. Her accountant takes a week to reply, turnover has just passed the £90,000 VAT registration threshold, and she is not sure her stock accounting is right. A few years ago she would have asked other founders for a name. Now she asks ChatGPT: "Which accountants in Bristol specialise in ecommerce businesses and work with Xero?" The assistant names three firms with a line about each.

The same thing is happening across the owner-managed businesses that make up most practices' client base. A software founder asks Perplexity which accountants in London specialise in SaaS companies and R&D tax relief. A landlord asks Copilot whether Making Tax Digital applies to him. That last question is not rare: HMRC said in February 2026 that more than 860,000 sole traders and landlords had to start digital reporting from 6 April 2026 (HMRC, February 2026), and by August more than 570,000 had signed up and more than 436,000 had sent their first quarterly update (HMRC, August 2026). Each is a likely question for an assistant, and a prospective client.

Accountancy is still a referral business, but more referrals now pass through an assistant first, and the practice that is not named never hears about the enquiry. The assistants answer basic tax questions themselves; what they cannot supply is judgement for a specific kind of client, which is what the practices they recommend have written down. This guide is for the managing partner or practice owner who wants to be one of those names.

#What do business owners ask ChatGPT when they need an accountant?

They describe a business, a problem and often a frustration with the current adviser. These are typical of the questions that decide who gets named.

Most practices think only about the finding questions, yet the deciding questions are where owners judge who knows what they are talking about.

#Why does generic tax content no longer earn you anything?

Because an assistant can already give the general answer, so a general article rarely gets quoted. Many practices also publish the same syndicated articles supplied by their website provider, word for word, alongside hundreds of other firms. To an assistant, that content says nothing about your practice.

What assistants cannot produce is applied judgement: how the rules play out for a dental practice with associates, what a growing ecommerce business gets wrong about stock and VAT, when a landlord should incorporate and when not. A practice that writes that down, from real experience with that kind of client, gives the assistant something no one else has. We explain the wider pattern in why ChatGPT never quotes most firms' blogs.

#What does an AI assistant check before it names a practice?

Broadly, five things: your specialism, your credentials, independent listings, what clients say, and whether it all agrees.

• Specialism. The sectors and client types you know best, and the services, such as audit, tax advisory, outsourced finance director support or R&D claims. "Accountants for small businesses" matches nothing; "accountants for dental practices across the North West, from associates to multi-site groups" matches a real question.
• Credentials. Name partners and senior staff with their qualifications and professional body: ICAEW, ACCA, ICAS or CIMA for accountants, CIOT or ATT for tax. Say whether the firm holds practising certificates and is a registered auditor, and who supervises it for anti-money laundering.
• Independent listings. Professional and software partner directories, awards such as the British Accountancy Awards and coverage in AccountingWEB, Accountancy Age or your regional business press describe you from the outside.
• Reviews. Recent, specific Google and Trustpilot reviews help most: "sorted out our VAT registration and explained it properly" says more than five stars. Reply without disclosing anything about a client's affairs.
• Consistency. Many practices have merged or joined groups, leaving old names, offices and departed partners on directories for years. If an assistant finds you under three names, it struggles to connect the evidence. We explain how to fix that in why ChatGPT describes a firm wrongly.

#Which practice directories matter, and what should each listing contain?

The professional body directories and the software partner directories, because they are independent records an assistant can check against your website. Every listing should use your exact trading name and address and name the same specialisms your website does.

Check each one after any merger, office move or partner change.

#What should we say about our anti-money laundering supervisor?

Name your current supervisor accurately and date the statement, because the supervisor is changing. The government decided in October 2025 that the FCA will take over anti-money laundering supervision of the legal and accountancy sectors from the professional bodies (HM Treasury, October 2025). It also said implementation "requires primary legislation" and that the start date "will be heavily dependent on the availability of parliamentary time", and it expects the professional bodies to continue "in their important wider regulatory and representative roles". So today, say who supervises you (for example ICAEW or ACCA), keep your professional body membership prominent, and update the page when the transfer happens.

Tax advice is changing too. Tax advisers who deal with HMRC on behalf of clients must now register with HMRC and meet minimum standards, starting from May 2026 (HMRC, November 2025), with registration windows running into 2027 (HMRC, August 2026). Once registered, say so.

#How do we build a sector page that shows we understand a client's world?

A sector page is where your specialism becomes visible, and it is often the page an assistant draws on when an owner asks for an accountant in their industry. ID-Pal, which sells identity checks to accountants among others, shows the method. From the ID-Pal case study: "Five industry pages rebuilt: fund administration, wealth management, legal, accountancy and estate agency. Each opens with the question a compliance lead types, names the regulator, and answers inside the first ninety words." And: "Where a page has been rebuilt, ID-Pal appears. Where it has not yet, it does not, which tells us exactly what to build next."

#Step 1: Open with the client's question, in their language

For dentists that means NHS contracts, UDAs, associates and practice purchases. For SaaS it means R&D relief, recurring revenue, EMI options and investor reporting. An owner reading the first paragraph should feel you have sat in their office.

#Step 2: Set out the issues that matter most

The five or six problems you see most with that kind of business, and how you deal with each, saying where the answer depends on circumstances.

#Step 3: Explain how you work with them

The software you use, how often you report, the monthly or quarterly rhythm and who they will deal with.

#Step 4: Show evidence

Named clients who agree to it, anonymised examples of the situation and outcome, and sector memberships. Only include figures you can stand behind.

#Step 5: Explain fees

How you price for a client of that type and size, and what is included.

For example, a practice with forty dental clients among four hundred will do more for its visibility with dentists through one proper dental page, written by the partner who looks after them, than through a hundred general articles.

#Which HMRC and Companies House changes should we be explaining now?

The ones your clients are asking assistants about this year. Publish a short explainer soon after each change, link to the official guidance, put the date at the top and add an "updated" line when guidance changes, rather than writing a new post.

Qualifying income for Making Tax Digital is self-employment and property income added together, before expenses, and excludes employment income and dividends (HMRC, September 2026). For example, a loss-making software company whose relevant R&D expenditure is at least 30% of its total expenditure may qualify for enhanced R&D intensive support, while one below that line claims under the merged scheme. A page that walks through that test in plain words is what a SaaS founder's assistant will quote. Keeping these pages current matters, as we explain in how old is too old for content.

#How should we explain fees and switching?

Answer both on your website, because not knowing the cost and fearing the hassle of switching are the two biggest reasons owners hesitate. Explain your packages plainly (bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll, year-end accounts, tax returns and advisory time), say what is included and what costs extra, and publish typical starting points for your most common client types. Then describe switching: professional clearance, how you get the information you need from the previous accountant, how long it takes and what happens in the first month. Prospects then arrive having decided they can afford you.

#How do we tell whether it is working?

Keep a fixed list of 20 to 50 questions covering your sectors, services and towns, run each several times a month in a clean session in ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude, and count a win only when it repeats, because answers vary between runs. Record whether you are named, how you are described and which sources are cited, and add "AI assistant such as ChatGPT" to your enquiry form. Assistants that search the web live can reflect a corrected listing or a new sector page within weeks; answers drawn from a model's own memory change only when it is retrained, which takes months. Our guide to checking whether ChatGPT recommends your firm sets out the method.

#What to do this month

1. Choose the one or two sectors where you have the most clients and experience, and write a proper sector page for each using the five steps above.
2. Update every partner's profile with qualifications, professional body, sector focus and a short biography in plain text.
3. Check your ICAEW, ACCA or ICAS listing and your Xero, QuickBooks and Sage listings, and correct old names, offices and people.
4. Publish or update dated explainers on Making Tax Digital thresholds and Companies House identity verification, linked to GOV.UK.
5. State your anti-money laundering supervisor and your HMRC tax adviser registration on your website, with the date.
6. Publish a fees and switching page for your most common client type.

#Frequently asked questions

#Do I need to sign up for Making Tax Digital if I earn £40,000 from property?

It depends on the year, and a practice should answer this on its own site. Example: a landlord whose only qualifying income is £40,000 of rent a year was under the £50,000 test for 2024 to 2025, so did not have to join in April 2026. Because £40,000 is over the £30,000 test for 2025 to 2026, HMRC's guidance says Making Tax Digital applies from 6 April 2027. HMRC checks qualifying income from each year's Self Assessment return.

#How do I verify my identity at Companies House as a director?

Through GOV.UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, also called a Companies House authorised agent. New directors verify on appointment or within 14 days, depending on their situation; existing directors give their personal code with the company's next confirmation statement. If your practice is an authorised agent, say so on your website, because owners ask assistants who can do it for them.

#How much does an outsourced finance director cost per month in the UK?

Owners ask this often, and assistants can only quote figures they can find. We do not quote market rates here, because they vary with days per month, sector and the seniority of the person. If you offer outsourced finance director support, publish how you price it, what a typical engagement includes and what changes the cost.

#Is it worth switching from a high street accountant to an online accountant?

Assistants answer this by comparing price, software, responsiveness and depth of advice. Online accountants usually compete on price and software. A local or specialist practice competes on judgement and sector knowledge, so say plainly what a client gets from you that a fixed-price online service does not provide, and publish how switching works.

#We use syndicated articles from our website provider. Is that a problem?

It is not harmful in itself, but it does little for you, because the same articles appear on many other practices' sites. Keep them if clients find them useful, and put your effort into content only you could write: sector pages, plain explanations of rule changes and guides built from questions your team answers every week.

#Our practice has joined a larger group. What should we do about our name?

Decide how you want to be known, then make every listing match. If you keep your local brand, say clearly that you are part of the group. If you move to the group name, update your website, Google Business Profile, professional and software directories, and explain the change on your site so clients and assistants can connect the old name to the new one.

If your website is mostly template content and a contact form, Website That Sells turns it into something assistants can read and quote. A free Growth Review is 30 minutes with David Adams, with three fixes in writing.

#Sources