Why does ChatGPT name other debt collection agencies and not us?

For example, a finance director at an engineering business has a customer who owes £80,000 and has stopped answering the phone. She asks ChatGPT whether to use a debt collection agency or a solicitor, then which B2B agencies are best for manufacturers. She gets a sensible answer and four names. Your firm recovers commercial debt for manufacturers every week. It is not one of the four.

At the same time, someone your team wrote to last week types your firm's name into ChatGPT and asks "is this a real company, and do I have to pay them". The answer draws on reviews from other people you have contacted, on your website and on the FCA Register. If that answer is muddled or hostile, it is not only the debtor who sees it. Creditors ask the same assistants about you before they sign.

arum shows what a collections firm's website can carry. A collections and recoveries firm with 28 years behind it, arum advises banks, governments and major brands on collections technology, with "more than 500 projects in 23 countries, from offices in London, Atlanta and Sydney". We rebuilt its site: "310 pages rebuilt across three regions, in weeks", with "Proper structure and markup on every page, a plain summary AI assistants can read, facts stored once so two pages never disagree, and every old address redirected so years of rankings carry over." Jamie Waller, its CEO, says: "For most people, our website is the first time they meet arum. It now does us justice." (arum case study).

The government says late payment "causes the closure of 38 businesses per day" (Department for Business and Trade, July 2026), and finance directors now research recovery options with an assistant. This guide is for the founder or managing director of a UK collections, recoveries or credit management firm.

#What do creditors and debtors ask ChatGPT about collections?

Commercial creditors ask how to get paid and who can help; consumer creditors ask who will protect their brand; debtors ask whether they have to pay and who you are. These are typical of the questions that decide who gets named.

Most creditor questions are about a decision, not an agency. An assistant answers the question and then names firms it has evidence for, so the firm with the clearest answer to "agency or solicitor" is the obvious one to mention. Law firms compete for the same questions, as our guide for law firms shows.

#How does ChatGPT decide which agencies to name?

It names the agencies it can verify and describe with confidence. Four things decide it: clear standing (FCA authorisation where required, CSA membership, CICM qualifications among your people and a company record that matches your trading name); a stated specialism; evidence of how you work at each stage; and what others say, including the tone of what debtors write.

Assistants are cautious with anything involving money owed. If they cannot tell whether you are authorised, what you do or how you treat people, they hedge, and a firm they hedge about is easy to leave off a list. Firms that trade under several names often have an FCA Register entry, a Companies House record and a website that each tell a different story. We explain how to fix that in why ChatGPT describes firms wrongly.

#Commercial collections: what should a B2B agency publish?

Plain, dated guides to the decisions a finance director faces: which route to take, what they can add to the debt and what it will cost, because the rules are about to change.

#What can a creditor add to a late invoice today?

Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act, a business can charge statutory interest of "8% plus the Bank of England base rate for business to business transactions" (GOV.UK, September 2026), plus a fixed sum for recovery costs of £40 on debts under £1,000, £70 on debts from £1,000 to just under £10,000 and £100 on £10,000 or more, and reasonable further recovery costs (GOV.UK, September 2026).

#What will the late payment reforms change?

The government's response to its late payment consultation, published in March 2026, confirmed it will legislate for a 60-day maximum payment term with limited exemptions, statutory interest at 8% above base rate that parties can no longer contract out of, and powers for the Small Business Commissioner to investigate, fine and settle disputes outside court (Department for Business and Trade, March 2026). A proposed cut to 45 days was not taken forward. As of GOV.UK's July 2026 update, the government intends to legislate "as soon as Parliamentary time allows", so none of this is law yet. Say so on your page, and review it when a bill is published.

#Agency, letter before action, court claim or solicitor?

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own court processes, so say which jurisdictions you handle.

#How do we answer overseas recovery questions?

When a finance director asks how to recover a debt from a company in Germany, Ireland or Spain, the assistant explains the local process and names firms that show a partner network. FENCA, the Federation of European National Collection Associations, has 25 national member associations, and the UK's Credit Services Association is one of them (FENCA, September 2026); in the United States, ACA International plays a similar role. The UK has also been a party to the Hague Judgments Convention 2019 since 1 July 2025 (HCCH, September 2026), which can make a UK judgment easier to enforce in EU countries. Publish a page for each country you recover in, naming your partner, the process, the languages you work in and your memberships.

#Consumer collections: what changes when the debt is regulated?

The rules, the audience and the tone. Collecting debts due under credit agreements is an FCA-regulated activity (Regulated Activities Order, article 39F), and those agreements include credit to sole traders and to partnerships of two or three partners, not only consumers (article 60L). Collecting a company's unpaid invoices from another company is not regulated in the same way. Say which kinds of debt you collect, and show your FCA reference number wherever it applies.

Regulated firms also work under the FCA's Consumer Duty, in force since 31 July 2023 for products on sale (FCA, July 2022). Where the debtor is an individual, including a sole trader, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies, and if the debtor does not reply to the letter of claim "within 30 days", the creditor may start court proceedings (Ministry of Justice). The protocol "does not apply to business-to-business debts unless the debtor is a sole trader".

Utilities, councils and lenders buying consumer collections ask about vulnerability, complaints and brand protection before price. Publish your approach to customers in vulnerable circumstances, how you handle disputes and how complaints can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, written for the creditor's compliance team.

#Why do the people you collect from shape your reputation?

Because the assistants read what they write. Reviews, forum posts and complaints are public, and when anyone asks about your firm, creditor or debtor, the assistant draws on them. You cannot stop people disliking being chased for money, but you can make the full picture visible.

Start with a page for the people you contact. It should explain, calmly and in plain words, who you are and who you act for; how to check you are genuine, including your FCA reference number; how to pay, set up an arrangement or dispute a debt; where to get free, independent advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, National Debtline and Citizens Advice; and how to complain. That page answers the debtor, gives the assistant a source to quote when someone asks whether you are legitimate, and shows prospective clients you will protect their brand.

Reply to reviews politely and factually, and ask satisfied creditor clients to review you on Google or Trustpilot, so the record includes the people who hire you.

#Which outside sources matter most for a collections firm?

The assistants trust independent sources over your own claims, so check these first.

Published data helps most of all. Anonymised, aggregated findings, such as how payment behaviour differs by sector, get quoted by trade press and cited by assistants. Our article on publishing your own research explains how to do that without exposing client information.

#Why does a named specialism win more work?

Because most creditor questions are specialist, and an agency clearly known for one or two kinds of debt will be named for those far more often than a generalist is named for anything. A website promising "debt recovery solutions for every sector" reads as a generalist; rebuilt around, say, manufacturing and construction, with named specialists, the same firm becomes a candidate whenever a finance director in those sectors asks. arum's site follows this pattern: "Each of the 12 case studies leads with a number, and each of the nine sector pages names the regulation in play." The same applies to utility arrears, council tax, telecoms and lending, where a deep guide written by the people who do the work will be quoted in a way a general page never is.

#How do we tell whether it is working?

Keep a fixed list of 20 to 50 questions a prospective client would ask, plus the questions debtors ask about your firm by name, and run each several times a month in a clean session in ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. Count a win only when it repeats, because answers vary between runs, and note whether the description of your conduct is fair. Assistants that search the web live can reflect a corrected listing 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. Check that your FCA Register entry, CSA listing, Companies House record, Google Business Profile and website agree on names, permissions and address.
2. Split your services into clearly labelled commercial and consumer sections, each naming the rules that apply.
3. Write or update the page for the people you contact: who you are, how to check you are genuine, how to pay or dispute, where to get free advice and how to complain.
4. Publish one dated creditor guide covering what the Late Payment Act allows today and the status of the reforms.
5. Add a page for each country where you recover debts, naming your partner and memberships.
6. Invite a handful of satisfied creditor clients to review you on Google or Trustpilot.

#Frequently asked questions

#What percentage does a debt collection agency charge in the UK for commercial debt?

We do not quote market rates here, because commission varies with the size and age of the debt, the sector, the debtor's location and whether legal action is included. What an agency should publish is how its fees work: what commission is charged on, how legal costs are handled and what happens to statutory interest and compensation. That answers the question creditors ask assistants and builds the trust that wins panel places.

#Should I use a debt collection agency or send a letter before action myself?

For a recent, undisputed debt with a customer who is still trading, a firm letter claiming statutory interest and fixed recovery costs often works. An agency adds tracing, persistence and scale; a solicitor or court claim suits disputed or larger debts.

#Which debt collection agencies are CSA members and FCA authorised?

Assistants answer this from the CSA member directory, the FCA Register and agencies' own websites, so all three need to agree. Show your CSA membership and FCA reference number on your website in plain text, with links to both records.

#How do I recover an unpaid invoice from a company in Ireland or Spain?

Usually through an agency with a partner in that country, followed by local legal action if needed. The UK has been party to the Hague Judgments Convention 2019 since 1 July 2025, which can help enforce a UK judgment in EU countries. Agencies that publish country pages naming their partner and process are the ones assistants name.

#What statutory interest can I charge on a late invoice in 2026?

Between businesses, statutory interest is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, with a fixed recovery sum of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt. The reforms confirmed in March 2026 would stop parties contracting out of statutory interest, but they need legislation first.

If your website still undersells the work you do, Website That Sells is how arum's site was rebuilt. A free Growth Review is 30 minutes with David Adams, with three fixes in writing, and a good way to see what ChatGPT tells a finance director, or a debtor, about your firm today.

#Sources