If you earned recognition from your peers in financial services, take a moment to give yourself credit. Then turn that award into business growth.
Why do awards matter in our industry? Clients and prospects don’t spend all day refreshing award lists, or attending events like last week’s Wealth Management Industry Awards. What they do look for is signs of credibility, wherever they get their information.
That could be Google searches, trawling LinkedIn, or in the answers and summaries of generative AI tools. Your goal is to meet people where they are.
Why Awards Still Matter
But why care? Mainly because third-party validation is one of the hardest things to earn in financial services. This social proof is also why media campaigns are so potent. They give external, independent answers to the biggest question every prospect has: “Why should I trust you over someone else?”
Once you’ve earned a nomination or award, don’t treat it like a one-day news item. You have earned a marketing asset with a long shelf life. Here’s how you can put it to use!
Your website: Create a dedicated “Recognition” page and spotlight it on your homepage.
Your sales toolkit: Include the award badge in pitch decks, proposals, and even email signatures.
Client communications: Thank clients for making it possible. Turn your award into a moment of shared pride.
Recruitment: Highlight it in job postings and onboarding materials.
The GEO Angle
Here’s where awards get really interesting.
Generative search is reshaping the way financial services firms are discovered. Google’s AI Overviews now sit above the traditional blue links. People have started using generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude to give answers to very in-depth questions.
When a prospect asks, “What are the best independent advisory firms in the Southeast?” the AI isn’t making up an answer from scratch. These platforms pull from what they understand to be credible, timely, authoritative sources.
That’s where awards matter.
Muck Rack’s Generative Pulse 2025 found that over 89% of citations in generative answers come from earned media. Awards, when covered by industry publications or trade media, instantly qualify as authoritative proof points that AI models love to surface.
Freshness also plays a role. OpenAI pulls 56% of finance-related journalism it cites from the past 12 months. That means if your award was recognized recently and written about in a respected outlet, it has a much higher chance of showing up in generative answers that prospects actually read.
This changes the calculus on some strategies like press releases. In the past, it might not have always made sense to create press releases about your victories. After all, if you win an award from one industry publication, its competitors are not going to cover the news. But in a GEO-forward strategy, the purpose of these releases are to speak directly to your clients and prospects – and indirectly, by giving AI tools a fresh example of your bona fides.
AI Sees You As A News Outlet
The consequence of AI search prioritizing domain expertise is that sufficiently authoritative, regularly updated websites are being treated like media outlets for the purposes of search results. That means if you cover your award on your own site in a timely, quotable, well-structured post, it can get indexed and picked up just like third-party coverage.
The trick is cadence. Don’t bury the award in a single blog post. Work it into a steady rhythm of:
- Thought leadership content tied back to your recognition.
- Press announcements on launches, milestones, and new hires.
- Ongoing commentary on your niche, so the award is one proof point among many.
Generative AI rewards recency and authority. Awards give you both, if you frame and distribute them strategically.