Fintech AI search case study: 4 lessons from Wise.com

AI platforms have become a key part of how people shop for financial products. 

Before users sign up, compare fees, or even visit your site, there’s a strong chance they’ve already used ChatGPT or another AI tool to learn about you. And the answers they got likely shaped their initial impressions about your company.

This means that being accurately represented in AI platforms and earning a recommendation over your competitors is incredibly important.

In the fintech world, Wise (meaning Wise.com) is leading when it comes to AI visibility.

Wise.com: A quick AI visibility overview

Wise provides international money transfer services and multi-currency accounts for both individuals and businesses. They compete in a crowded category — going head-to-head with major players like PayPal, Remitly, and Payoneer.

But when you look at the data on AI visibility, you’ll notice something interesting. Even though Wise may not have the same level of popularity as PayPal (as measured via Google Trends), it actually leads the market in AI search visibility, surpassing PayPal, Remitly, and Payoneer across almost all key metrics.

(Data from Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit as of March 2026)

We analyzed Wise’s website to figure out how they’re winning in AI search. And we discovered four core factors that are likely driving much of that success.

4 AI search insights to learn from Wise

Wise has managed to get ahead in AI search by leveraging their strong SEO presence, creating data-driven pages, consistently building trust signals, and growing their presence across the web.

Let’s see how.

1. Have a strong organic search footprint

Success in AI search is largely a by-product of success in traditional search. 

The high-quality pages appearing for relevant topics in traditional search results are often the same ones AI platforms pull from when generating answers.

Wise has been investing in SEO for years, and now they’re seeing the benefits in AI search. For instance, if you ask Google “how does an international wire transfer work” or “what is a swift code,” you’ll notice Wise’s pages being cited as sources in the answers.

Wise has published well-structured, high-quality content on informational topics like these over many years. Those pages already rank at the top in traditional search results. And guess what? AI platforms tend to reference the same pages.

Here’s another example: When I asked Google “what is the cheapest way to send money abroad,” Wise got a direct mention in an AI Overview.

That’s not by coincidence. Wise’s pages on money transfer topics have earned lots of backlinks that build authority to push those pages to the top of search results. That ranking benefit carries over to AI search too, where the same pages get cited in generated answers.

In other words, Wise is getting AI visibility on the back of its strong SEO presence.

Just look at the numbers to see how robust Wise’s overall SEO footprint is:

• ~152M organic search visits
• ~16M keyword rankings
• ~54K referring domains
• ~44M backlinks
• ~284K keyword rankings in position 3 or higher

Granted, Wise didn’t achieve success overnight. It’s the result of years of consistent effort.

But if you’re in a niche finance category, you can still succeed without needing a massive investment in SEO or years of work. You can start seeing results relatively quickly if you focus on:

• Owning specific topics and producing high-quality content around them
• Getting backlinks from relevant sites within your niche
• Ensuring your website is free from technical issues

SEO is still one of the most important investments you can make — maybe more so now than before.

Further reading: SEO basics: How to do SEO for beginners

2. Build data-driven pages

Pages that share specific, up-to-date financial information are another reason behind Wise’s success in AI search. 

Consider what happens when someone wants to transfer money internationally:

• They typically start by checking the current exchange rate
• They’ll also need the recipient bank’s SWIFT code and/or routing number 
• And they’ll compare the transfer fees from various providers

To find this information, users are likely using AI. And Wise has created thousands of pages that AI can easily access and reference when answering users’ questions.

For example, they have dedicated currency conversion pages like this for hundreds of currency pairs, each showing market exchange rates.

When a user asks an AI platform, “what is the current exchange rate from USD to EUR,” AI sometimes cites Wise as a source for the answer.

Another great example is their pages dedicated to SWIFT codes and routing numbers. Wise has created over 10,000 pages that list specific bank SWIFT codes and routing numbers, which AI platforms sometimes pull from when responding to user inquiries.

A quick review of Wise’s most-cited pages in the AI Visibility Toolkit shows that these types of pages collectively have a decent number of citations.

Now, how do you apply this as a fintech company?

Think about the financial information users in your space regularly look up. It could be rates, fees, approval times, eligibility criteria — anything users search for that isn’t sensitive or private data.

Once you have some ideas, validate them using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. Open the tool, type in a seed keyword tied to your idea, and click “Search.”

Do you see a search volume for your keyword? And are the queries mostly repeating the same query with slightly different variations? Like “chase routing number,” “wells fargo routing number,” and “bank of america routing number.” If so, you’re sitting on a good opportunity.

Now, all you have to do is create pages for each variation. These pages are best created programmatically, so you’ll likely need to work with a web developer. We have a dedicated guide on how to build programmatic pages. Make sure to check that out.

3. Be trustworthy

AI platforms take into account how trustworthy your brand appears before recommending it to users.

And it makes sense. If AI platforms recommend a bad financial product or service, users may lose confidence and stop using them for advice.

Overall, Wise does a really good job of demonstrating trust. Every landing page promoting their products includes detailed information on exchange rates, transfer fees, and transfer times.

Wise also clearly communicates their money transfer process and the safety protocols they use. So there’s no ambiguity about how your money is handled.

Just as importantly, external endorsements play a big role in establishing trust.

Wise has received tons of positive reviews on third-party sites. They’re regularly recommended by major financial publications like Forbes, NerdWallet, and Bankrate. And they carry strong ratings on Trustpilot and the Apple App Store.

When AI platforms look for external signals to confirm a brand’s credibility, Wise has no shortage of them.

To establish your credibility as a fintech brand, make it easy for AI to verify that your product is legitimate. Display your licenses, regulatory certifications, and fee structures clearly on your site. 

Then check what third-party sources are saying about you. You won’t have full control over how others discuss your brand, but you can actively work to earn coverage by making sure your product is easy for journalists and analysts to evaluate and recommend.

4. Have an omnichannel presence

Another reason why Wise is doing so well in AI search is because they’re present across every channel that AI draws from — social media, YouTube, and forums.

For example, Wise publishes product explainers, how-to tutorials, and general personal finance-related content on YouTube. 

When someone searches Google for a topic Wise has a video on, their videos often surface in the AI results.

And on Reddit, Wise comes up organically in threads about international transfers, expat banking, and freelancer payments. That matters because AI platforms pull from Reddit when answering queries.

As a fintech company, you need to start posting on multiple channels:

• LinkedIn: Share product updates, original research, and industry commentary. Our recent study shows that LinkedIn is now the second most cited source in AI answers.
• YouTube: Publish how-to tutorials, product explainers, and content that answers common questions in your category. Videos often get surfaced directly in AI results.
• Reddit: Participate in communities where your category is already being discussed. Think about adding value — not shoehorning in your product. Only mention your product if it’s genuinely going to help.

Make your fintech business discoverable by AI

Wise isn’t doing anything mysterious. They’ve built a strong SEO presence, created data-driven pages, earned trust signals, and maintained presence on channels AI draws from.

If you’re in the fintech space, you need to follow suit.

At Semrush, we’re building tools to help brands win the AI search game. Try our AI Visibility Toolkit for free to measure, understand, and improve your performance in AI search.