5 Top Takeaways from the 2025 Yext Financial Services Summit

At the 2025 Yext Financial Services Summit, some of the sharpest marketing, compliance, and business leaders gathered to explore how AI-driven search and digital engagement are transforming the client experience — and how firms are responding to connect, comply, and compete.

From a thoughtful keynote to hands-on breakouts and collaborative think tank sessions, the summit created space for financial services leaders to lean into change, be intentional about compliance, and focus on creating meaningful business outcomes.

Here's a look at the standout moments that defined the day.

At this year's Yext Financial Services Summit, one message was clear: search is no longer confined to one platform – it's everywhere.

With the rise of AI agents and tools like Gemini, OpenAI, and Perplexity, the customer journey is changing fast. Clients are asking more nuanced, complex questions, and the once-linear path to conversion has become decentralized.

To stay visible, financial services leaders must rethink how they engage and where they show up.

And AI isn't just changing how people search — it's changing what search means. Questions evolve into conversations, and content must adapt accordingly, with context and personalization more important than ever.

Despite this shift, the fundamentals still matter. Clean, structured data remains the backbone of visibility, powering both traditional rankings and AI-generated results. Financial services organizations that embrace this evolution will stand out in a world where discovery happens everywhere.

In his session, "Search Everywhere Optimization: Winning in the New SEO Landscape," Sr. Director of Insights and Analytics, Anthony Rinaldi, repositions SEO as a user-first discipline.

Instead of decoding algorithms, success hinges on aligning with the core questions customers ask during discovery: Are you close? Are you real? Are you good? Do you have what I need?

To stay visible, competitive, and relevant, firms should prioritize maintaining fresh, accurate data across all digital listings.

Expanding reach beyond major platforms to include a wide network of smaller publishers amplifies authority and trust signals. In addition, enriching digital content with structured data— like services, products, FAQs, and reviews — helps search engines quickly validate relevance and improve user experience.

These actions enhance discoverability, credibility, and conversion potential across every touchpoint.

According to Adam Abernathy, Sr. Director of Industry & Product Research, traditional attribution models — heavily reliant on impressions and linear funnels — are irrelevant for capturing today's complex customer journeys.

With infinite entry points and personalized search on the rise, financial services marketers must evaluate effectiveness across increasingly untrackable, off-platform touchpoints.

In his session, "Attribution 2.0: Measuring Success in Financial Services Marketing," Adam likens measuring performance today to "remote sensing" vs. "direct observation" – the norm in past models.

To rethink your ROI model, Adam recommends the following:

• Reframe ROI calculation: Categorize digital investments into three buckets — Operational Costs, Paid Media, and Brand/Creative — to better align your budget with tangible outcomes.

• Know your true competition: Benchmark against unexpected rivals that clients discover in high-intent moments.

• Adjust metrics for modern discovery: Use a blend of direct measurement and proxies (e.g., review trends, conversion deltas) to assess marketing effectiveness in unmeasurable or off-platform environments.

Tracking and justifying meaningful engagement and outcomes across channels will become table stakes in today's decentralized marketing environment.

As younger investors redefine the customer journey, digital compliance faces new challenges and opportunities. In his session, "Navigating the New Frontiers of Digital Compliance," Director of Compliance, Bill Simpson, reflected on the rising generation's demand for authenticity and personalized engagement when it comes to financial advice.

Authenticity — especially in video — is essential for trust-building, but it does increase risk, volume, and demands on compliance teams. Successful firms are finding balance by integrating compliance early into program development, using smart technology, and tailoring supervision strategies.

To scale effectively, financial organizations should:

• Integrate compliance early in program development

• Analyze user maturity and teach best practices

• Use smart supervision tools, like lexicons, to help prioritize risk

• Use enablement and clear guidance to get buy-in from the field

• Rely on data-backed risk management to assess content and channel decisions

With trust in financial advisors increasingly valuable and advisor retirements looming, building efficient, scalable, and compliant digital programs is mission-critical.

AI and digital transformation may be changing the landscape, but one constant remains: connection matters. In "From Search to Social and Back," Sr. Director of Value Consulting, Tim Rickards, highlighted the key role that field social media programs play in bridging the gap between top-down brand (or corporate) marketing and bottom-up team-led messaging.

Field social complements existing marketing strategies such as paid campaigns and organic outreach – enabling personalized, scalable human interactions that align with real-life decision moments for clients.

By putting people at the center, financial services organizations build trust in an industry where privacy and personal connection are paramount. Most importantly, field social drives measurable business results.

From enhanced engagement metrics and earned media value to increased conversions and client acquisition, a strategic approach can unlock higher ROI. When done correctly, you can amplify reach, authority, and intent signals – all crucial to improving visibility and cementing credibility in the new era of AI search.

We're thrilled to have hosted such a dynamic and forward-thinking community of financial services leaders. Thank you to all who joined us in moving the industry forward — we can't wait to continue the conversation together.

Already hungry for more learning? Check out how firms win in a social and AI-driven world.