When a sole trader, landlord or small business owner needs an accountant, more of them now ask an AI assistant who to call. The answer names a few practices. This is how to be one of them.
What people are asking
People rarely ask for “an accountant”. They ask about their problem:
- “I’ve just gone self-employed and I’m dreading my first tax return. Which accountants in London are good with sole traders?”
- “I rent out two flats. Do I need to use Making Tax Digital, and who can set it up for me?”
- “We want to sell our company in the next two years. Which accountants can help us get ready?”
- “Which accountants are good with restaurants and cafés?”
ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini reply with a short list and a reason for each name. Those reasons come from what they can find about each practice.
What AI assistants look for
1. Services described in plain words. “Compliance and advisory” tells an assistant very little. “Self Assessment tax returns for sole traders and landlords” tells it exactly who you help.
2. The kinds of clients you work with. If you specialise in contractors, medical professionals, charities or hospitality, say so on its own page. Assistants match specialisms to questions.
3. Answers to the questions clients ask. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with income over £50,000, and the threshold drops in the coming years. Clear, accurate pages on topics like this are the kind of thing assistants quote and link to.
4. Trust signals. Professional body membership (such as ICAEW or ACCA), reviews, partner profiles and mentions on other trusted websites all help.
5. Consistent details everywhere. Your name, address, services and contact details should match on your website, Google Business Profile and directories.
Practical steps for your practice
- Ask the questions yourself. Try ten questions your ideal clients would ask, in two or three AI assistants, and note who comes up.
- Give each service and each sector its own page, written for the client, not for other accountants.
- Put faces to the firm. Short profiles of the partners and team, with what each person is good at.
- Publish clear guides on the deadlines and changes your clients worry about, and keep them up to date.
- Make it easy to get in touch, with a simple route to a call or a quote, and your fees or how you price where you can.
- Check again every few weeks to see where you appear and what has changed.
A note on promises
AI answers vary between people and over time, and nobody can promise a place in them. What helps is making sure the right information about your practice is there, clearly and consistently, and tracking the questions that matter.
Is your practice in the answer?
We have worked with accountants, and one senior team designs the website, runs the search work and tracks the results. See what we do for accountants, or get in touch. Someone senior will reply within one working day.