What FMG Does for SEO and AEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps your website rank in traditional search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) helps your website show up in AI-powered search tools that generate direct answers to questions, such as Google AI Overviews. Both matter for the same reason: when prospective clients search online, you want your firm to appear in the answer.

SEO and AEO are complementary, not separate strategies. In fact, Google's own guidance states that "optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO." The same technical and content setup that helps Google rank your site also helps AI tools cite it. The factors search engines and AI tools use to rank or cite websites are not disclosed and change frequently, but FMG incorporates current best practices into every site, so you do not have to think about the technical setup behind search visibility.

FMG's Approach

This article outlines the built-in features that support SEO and AEO on FMG sites. Most operate automatically without additional setup. A few features require activation or input from you.

How AI Search Actually Works

When someone asks an AI tool a question, the tool does not generate the answer from scratch. It pulls relevant pages from a search index, reads them, and uses them to ground its response, a process called Retrieval-Augmented Generation. The AI may also issue multiple related searches behind a single question (Google calls this "query fan-out") to gather a fuller picture. The practical implication: your site has to be discoverable and indexable for AI tools to cite it. That foundation is what FMG handles automatically.

Built-In Features

The following capabilities are part of every FMG website. No setup or activation required.

Structured Data (Schema Markup)

Schema markup is special code that tells search engines and AI tools what kind of business your website represents. When you publish your FMG site, schema is added automatically to identify your firm as a financial services firm, list your firm details (name, address, phone, logo, headshot, and linked social profiles), and label your blog posts and events so they can be indexed properly.

The key point: your site is identified as a financial services firm specifically, not as a generic business. That precision helps AI tools recognize your site as a credible source when answering financial advisory questions.

Once schema is generated, the platform manages it for you. There is nothing you need to update or maintain.

Automatic Sitemap Generation

Your FMG website automatically generates and maintains a sitemap.xml file. The sitemap lists every page, blog post, and event so search engines and AI crawlers can discover and index your content without manual steps.

Clean URLs

Every page on your FMG site uses a user-friendly URL structure that search engines and AI crawlers can interpret clearly.

Clean HTML Markup

Your site's HTML is organized with properly nested heading tags (H1, H2, H3) and a clean structure. This helps both search engines and AI tools understand the hierarchy of your content, which is one of the signals correlated with higher AI citation probability.

Mobile Optimization

Every FMG website is fully responsive and mobile-optimized. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning your mobile experience is evaluated before your desktop experience. AI tools also weigh mobile readability when assessing whether to cite a site.

Canonical URLs

Canonical URLs are automatically applied to all custom pages, blog posts, and event pages. They identify the primary version of a page when duplicates exist, ensuring the right page is indexed and ranked. This consolidates link equity and prevents duplicate content penalties without any manual effort.

Automatic Domain Redirects

Connecting multiple domains to your website increases visitor access, captures common misspellings, and prevents competitors from registering similar domains. Alternate and misspelled domains are automatically redirected to your primary domain, which consolidates ranking authority where it belongs.

Automatic Tagging

The platform generates essential meta tags for every page on your site, including [alt] and [title] attributes for images. These help search engines index your content and support accessibility compliance. You can customize alt text for images in rich text sections by following the Adding Alt Text to Images guide.

Features You Can Configure or Activate

These features exist in the platform but require some action on your part or eligibility based on your subscription tier or theme.

Page-Specific SEO Descriptions

You can add custom meta descriptions and title tags to any page using Page-Specific Advanced SEO Settings. When you fill in these fields, the platform inserts the corresponding HTML meta tags for you. If you leave them blank, the platform generates defaults.

SSL Certificates

Free SSL certificates are provided for all connected domains. SSL must be activated in your website settings. Non-secure sites are penalized in rankings, and AI tools de-prioritize sites without HTTPS. See Enabling SSL on Your Website for setup steps.

301 Redirects

When you migrate a site to FMG, you can redirect old URLs to retain search engine rankings and avoid dead links. 301 redirects tell browsers and search engines that content has permanently moved to a different location. Learn more in the 301 Redirects guide.

FAQ Sections (AEO Beneficial)

Adding an FAQ section to your site is one of the highest-impact actions you can take for AEO. AI tools cite FAQ-format content with FAQ schema more consistently than most other content types. When you add an FAQ section using the FMG FAQ widget, the FAQPage schema is applied automatically.

FAQ sections are available to Website Suite users on the Developer Theme and require prior compliance approval. Learn more in Adding an FAQ Section to a Page.

Local Listings

Local Listings syndicates your firm's information across third-party directories like Google, Bing, and Apple. Cross-platform consistency is a strong signal for both SEO and AEO, particularly for location-based queries. Local Listings is included in DIFM and Website Suite Premium subscriptions and is activated by the FMG implementation team. It is not included in Website Suite Essential.

How to Make Your Content More AI-Friendly

The technical foundation is built in. These actions, drawn from FMG best practices and Google's official guidance, build on top of it and help your content show up more often when AI tools generate answers.

1.  Add an FAQ page using the FMG FAQ widget. This is the highest-impact step for AEO. AI tools favor question and answer format because it matches the conversational way people query AI assistants. When you add an FAQ section using the FMG FAQ widget, the FAQPage schema is applied automatically. Write your questions the way clients actually ask them: "How much does a financial advisor cost?" performs better than "Advisory Fee Structure." Learn how in this article: Adding an FAQ Section to a Page
2. Write content that reflects your unique expertise. Google calls this the difference between "commodity" and "non-commodity" content. A generic "5 Tips for Retirement Savings" piece is commodity content, which anyone could write, and AI tools tend to skip it. A page like "How I Helped a Pre-Retiree Recover After a 2008-Style Drawdown" is non-commodity, reflects actual experience, and is more likely to be cited. Google's AI systems are designed to favor content that goes beyond commonly available information. Write from your own client work, not from a template.
3. Lead with the answer in plain language. Put the most important point in the first one or two sentences of any page or article, and write the way your clients actually talk. Google confirms that AI tools are designed to understand natural language, so plain English works better than industry terminology.
4. Keep content organized and easy to scan. Use clear headings, short paragraphs, and numbered or bulleted lists for multi-step topics. This helps both clients and AI tools understand your content quickly.
5. Keep content current. Update your website content when regulations, fee structures, or details change. AI tools weigh freshness when deciding what to cite. FMG created and managed content is reviewed and updated regularly without you needing to make updates.
6. Ignore "AI-specific hacks” you may have read about online. Google explicitly warns against several common myths:

You do not need to do everything. Google's own guidance notes that "plenty of content thrives in Google Search without any overt SEO at all." For more guidance directly from Google, see their official AI optimization guide.

What Falls Outside Your FMG Website

Some of the strongest signals for SEO and AEO come from sources outside your website. These often determine how often AI tools cite your firm or how high you rank in searches involving your name.

• Third-party reviews and social proof: Google Business Profile reviews, financial advisor review platforms, LinkedIn recommendations, and BrokerCheck testimonials
• Earned media and third-party mentions: Press mentions in financial publications, podcast appearances (especially episodes with published transcripts), award coverage, and named quotes in articles

These signals are outside the scope of any website platform. Building them is an ongoing effort that pays off in both traditional search rankings and AI citations.

Additional Support

SEO and AEO strategy fall outside the scope of FMG Customer Support due to the evolving nature of search and AI technology and the unique marketing needs of each firm. Specific ranking changes or AI citation outcomes cannot be guaranteed.

For customized search engine marketing or paid advertising support, All In Advertising offers PPC campaigns and SEO services.

RSS Feeds

FMG websites do not support RSS Feed output. You can display RSS data using third-party embed scripts like Elfsight's RSS Feed Widget.