Online Financial Advisors: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index

Tracking how AI platforms recommend online financial advisors. This public AI Visibility Market Discovery Index is updated monthly since July 2026.

By Mark Huntley, J.D.Growth Strategist & AI Discovery Analyst

8 minutes read

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On this page

01Benchmark Summary
02Current Benchmark at a Glance
03Research Scope and Qualification
04Current Brand Standings
05How to Read the Standings
06Recommendation Coverage Movement
07Largest Increase: Betterment LLC
08Largest Increase (Mid-Tier): SoFi
09Largest Increase (Mid-Tier): Empower
10Largest Decline: Betterment
11Largest Decline (Mid-Tier): Wealthfront
12Category Leader: Fidelity

Benchmark Summary

Questions This Section Answers

Which online financial advisor led AI recommendation coverage in October 2026, and by how much?
Which brands showed the largest coverage gains and declines since the July 2026 baseline?

Fidelity led the Online Financial Advisors benchmark in October 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 90.9%, up from 83.9% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand, Charles Schwab at 89.3% in October 2026, was 1.6 percentage points.

The largest single increase since baseline came from Betterment LLC, rising to 37.6% in October 2026 from 0.0% in July 2026, a movement beyond normal variation. Betterment LLC rose in each of the two months since September 2026. The largest single decrease came from Betterment, whose coverage fell to 0.0% in October 2026 from 76.0% in July 2026, also beyond normal variation.

Several brands with previously tracked legal-entity names continued to show shifted coverage this month. Betterment, Facet Wealth, and Wealthfront each registered 0.0% coverage in October 2026, while Betterment LLC, Facet, and Wealthfront Corporation showed coverage. Charles Schwab recorded significant month-over-month movement, rising 9.1 percentage points from September 2026 to October 2026, a streak of two consecutive months of increase.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 484 qualified observations in October 2026 after qualification.

AI recommendation trend

valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Oct 2026

Fidelity90.9%
Charles Schwab89.3%
Vanguard85.5%
SoFi42.6%
Betterment LLC37.6%
Empower21.7%
Wealthfront Corporation14.9%
Facet11.2%
Ellevest2.5%
Zoe Financial0.8%
Betterment0.0%
Facet Wealth0.0%
Wealthfront0.0%

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Measure	Jul 2026	Oct 2026	Movement
Qualified benchmark observations	671	484	Down 187
Tracked brands	10	10	No change
Qualified surface breadth	6	6	No change
Recommendation-shaped answer share	40.8%	61.6%	Up 20.8 points
Valid recommendation shortlist share	79.3%	91.3%	Up 12.0 points
Leader by valid recommendation coverage	Fidelity	Fidelity	No change

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Online Financial Advisors

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.

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Research stage	Jul 2026	Oct 2026	What it represents
Source prompt-surface observations	800	800	Total prompts collected
Unique questions	525	619	Distinct questions asked
Brand / competitor mentions	800	800	Prompts mentioning a tracked brand
Relevant observations	763	606	On-topic responses
Irrelevant observations	37	194	Off-topic responses
Qualified benchmark observations	671	484	Public denominator

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology

Current Brand Standings

Questions This Section Answers

How did Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and Vanguard compare on presence, valid recommendation coverage, top-three, and rank-one rates?
Where did mid-tier brands like SoFi, Betterment LLC, and Empower land in the October 2026 standings?

Brand	Presence rate	Valid recommendation coverage	Top-three rate	Rank-one rate	Net sentiment
Fidelity	99.8%	90.9%	83.1%	57.0%	0.9
Charles Schwab	97.9%	89.3%	74.8%	16.7%	0.9
Vanguard	94.4%	85.5%	64.0%	7.4%	0.9
SoFi	47.1%	42.6%	9.5%	1.7%	0.9
Betterment LLC	38.8%	37.6%	9.1%	1.7%	1.0
Empower	27.7%	21.7%	6.6%	0.8%	0.8
Wealthfront Corporation	15.5%	14.9%	3.1%	1.5%	1.0
Facet	12.0%	11.2%	2.5%	0.8%	0.9
Ellevest	3.1%	2.5%	0.2%	0.0%	0.8
Zoe Financial	0.8%	0.8%	0.2%	0.0%	1.0

How to Read the Standings

Presence rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned at all.
Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand receives a valid recommendation.
Top-three rate: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the top three recommended positions.
Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is the first recommendation.
Net sentiment: positive mentions minus negative mentions divided by total mentions, on a -1 to +1 scale.

For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions.

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Questions This Section Answers

Why did Betterment and Wealthfront show 0.0% coverage while their legal-entity names appeared with coverage?
Which brands recorded significant month-over-month coverage increases from September to October 2026?
How did Betterment LLC, SoFi, and Empower each build their coverage gains across recent months?

Brand	Jul 2026	Oct 2026	Movement since baseline
Betterment	76.0%	0.0%	Down 76.0 points
Betterment LLC	0.0%	37.6%	Up 37.6 points
Charles Schwab	80.8%	89.3%	Up 8.5 points
Ellevest	1.5%	2.5%	Up 1.0 points
Empower	8.1%	21.7%	Up 13.6 points
Facet	0.0%	11.2%	Up 11.2 points
Facet Wealth	4.6%	0.0%	Down 4.6 points
Fidelity	83.9%	90.9%	Up 7.0 points
SoFi	28.6%	42.6%	Up 14.0 points
Vanguard	75.6%	85.5%	Up 9.9 points
Wealthfront	62.3%	0.0%	Down 62.3 points
Wealthfront Corporation	0.0%	14.9%	Up 14.9 points
Zoe Financial	1.6%	0.8%	Down 0.8 points

Beginning in September 2026, three tracked brands appear under their legal-entity names rather than their previous brand names: Betterment now appears as Betterment LLC, Facet Wealth as Facet, and Wealthfront as Wealthfront Corporation. The rows above show each name exactly as it appeared in the benchmark each month.

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Fidelity showed the largest significant prior-to-current movement, rising 9.5 percentage points from September 2026 to October 2026. Charles Schwab also recorded significant movement over the same period, rising 9.1 percentage points and extending a streak of two consecutive months of increase. Vanguard rose 6.9 percentage points, also a significant increase, extending a streak of three consecutive months of increase.

Largest Increase: Betterment LLC

Betterment LLC rose to 37.6% valid recommendation coverage in October 2026 from 0.0% in July 2026, a movement beyond normal variation. The brand recorded 182 valid recommendations in October 2026. Its presence rate reached 38.8% in October 2026. Betterment LLC rose in each of the two months since September 2026, reaching 31.9% in September 2026 before continuing to climb.

Largest Increase (Mid-Tier): SoFi

SoFi rose to 42.6% valid recommendation coverage in October 2026 from 28.6% in July 2026, a movement beyond normal variation. SoFi rose in each of the three months since July 2026, reaching 29.7% in August 2026 and 38.7% in September 2026 before climbing again. Presence rate reached 47.1% in October 2026, up from 35.0% in July 2026.

Largest Increase (Mid-Tier): Empower

Empower rose to 21.7% valid recommendation coverage in October 2026 from 8.1% in July 2026, a movement beyond normal variation. Empower rose in each of the three months since July 2026, reaching 10.4% in August 2026 and 21.6% in September 2026 before a modest gain in October 2026. Presence rate reached 27.7% in October 2026, up from 10.7% in July 2026, and top-three rate rose to 6.6% from 1.5%.

Largest Decline: Betterment

Betterment's valid recommendation coverage fell to 0.0% in October 2026 from 76.0% in July 2026, a movement beyond normal variation. The brand recorded no valid recommendations in October 2026, and its previous presence rate was 92.2% in July 2026.

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Largest Decline (Mid-Tier): Wealthfront

Wealthfront's valid recommendation coverage fell to 0.0% in October 2026 from 62.3% in July 2026, a movement beyond normal variation. The brand recorded no valid recommendations in October 2026, and its previous presence rate was 77.2% in July 2026.

Category Leader: Fidelity

Fidelity held the top position with valid recommendation coverage of 90.9% in October 2026, up from 83.9% in July 2026, a movement beyond normal variation. Fidelity's presence rate was 99.8% in October 2026, up from 98.4% in July 2026. Its top-three rate reached 83.1% in October 2026, up from 55.1% in July 2026.

Stable brands included Ellevest and Zoe Financial, each moving within normal variation. Ellevest's coverage was 2.5% in October 2026, up from 1.5% in July 2026. Zoe Financial's coverage was 0.8% in October 2026, down from 1.6% in July 2026.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Questions This Section Answers

How different was Fidelity's rank-one rate from Charles Schwab's despite similar coverage?
What does the top-three and rank-one data show about how prominently leading online financial advisors are placed in AI answers?

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leading brands in October 2026, Fidelity stood out for both top-three and rank-one placement.

Brand	Oct 2026 top-three rate	Oct 2026 rank-one rate	Jul 2026 top-three rate	Jul 2026 rank-one rate
Fidelity	83.1%	57.0%	55.1%	40.2%
Charles Schwab	74.8%	16.7%	47.1%	8.2%
Vanguard	64.0%	7.4%	38.6%	2.2%

Fidelity's rank-one rate of 57.0% in October 2026 was well above Charles Schwab's 16.7%, even though both brands were recommended in a large majority of qualified observations. Close coverage can hide very different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

Questions This Section Answers

Which buyer-intent classes are currently measured in the benchmark?
What do the zero counts for Pricing & Value and Multi-Brand Comparison mean for the current public series?

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All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

Buyer-intent class	Jul 2026	Oct 2026
Brand Recommendation	671	484
Pricing & Value	0	0
Multi-Brand Comparison	0	0
Total qualified observations	671	484

The current public series measures Brand Recommendation discovery only and does not yet contain qualified observations in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison classes.

Historical Measurement Record

Measurement	Qualified observations	Coverage leader	Leader coverage	Largest coverage movement
Jul 2026	671	Fidelity	83.9%	-
Aug 2026	660	Fidelity	84.4%	Wealthfront, down 6.5 points
Sep 2026	501	Fidelity	81.4%	Betterment, down 76.0 points
Oct 2026	484	Fidelity	90.9%	Charles Schwab, up 9.1 points

Note: beginning in September 2026, Betterment, Facet Wealth, and Wealthfront appear in the benchmark under their legal-entity names — Betterment LLC, Facet, and Wealthfront Corporation.

Evidence and Source Layer

Questions This Section Answers

What types of evidence are retained from prompt-level observations in this benchmark?
How should readers interpret citation or source-attribution data relative to brand recommendations?

The benchmark is built from prompt-level observations that retain the query, AI/search surface, answer, brand outcome, recommendation placement, sentiment, and, where exposed, citations or attributable evidence sources. Source presence is evidence about the information environment. It is not automatically proof that the source caused the recommendation.

Scope Boundaries

This public benchmark does not measure market share, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, private or sponsored channels, or causality from a metric movement alone. A change in recommendation coverage reflects what AI surfaces are returning for the tested prompts in this period; it does not, by itself, establish why that change occurred.

Top 10 Cited Domains

The benchmark observed 6,482 citations across all AI platform responses in October 2026, drawn from 1,073 unique domains.

Rank	Domain	Citations	Share	Platforms citing
1	nerdwallet.com	422	6.5%	ChatGPT, Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity
2	youtube.com	338	5.2%	Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity
3	reddit.com	299	4.6%	ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity
4	investopedia.com	266	4.1%	ChatGPT, Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity
5	fidelity.com	253	3.9%	ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity
6	google.com	228	3.5%	AI Mode, AI Overviews
7	cnbc.com	182	2.8%	Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity
8	fool.com	167	2.6%	ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity
9	forbes.com	142	2.2%	ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity
10	finance.yahoo.com	136	2.1%	Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity

Citations were broadly distributed, with no single domain exceeding 6.5% share across the 1,073 unique domains observed. Fidelity's own domain, fidelity.com, appeared in the top 10 and was cited by all six canonical AI surface families. The most-cited sources were a mix of personal finance comparison sites such as NerdWallet, user-generated platforms such as YouTube and Reddit, and established financial publishers including Investopedia, CNBC, and Forbes.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery Index tracks how often and how prominently brands appear in AI-generated answers across canonical AI surface families. It is a neutral industry benchmark built from prompt-level observations.

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The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper and reveal the specific prompts, competitors, and sources driving a brand's public percentage.

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