Accounting
Getting AI referrals means optimizing for bots
Artificial intelligence is fast becoming a source for new client leads—as more people use the technology to research complex accounting and finance questions, public models like ChatGPT have started referring users to accounting firms germane to their particular issues. While the number and nature of such leads can vary, firms across the country have been seeing leads from AI bots, and likely will see more in the future.
A diverse array of firms have been getting leads from AI bots, ranging from small local boutique firms to large firms with multinational footprints. But one thing they all have in common is a robust internet presence built by active and ongoing digital marketing efforts. This is because public AI models generally tend to get their information from scraping the internet, so the more online a firm is, the more likely it is a bot has absorbed its content.
For example, Katherine Bunschoten, head of North Carolina-based Certum Solutions, noted her firm has significant presence on YouTube and social media platforms as well as a great deal of resources and thought leadership content on its site. This has led to a regular stream of referrals from AI bots.
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“They found us through our content,” she said. “What I think is happening is people are looking for how to do things or how to learn things through these answer engines, through artificial intelligence like ChatGPT, and we actually have content out there. We love developing our own content, so they were running into some of our content, but it was brought into the answer engine.”
Patrick Camuso, head of digital asset specialist firm Camuso CPA, agreed that a strong online presence is vital if one wants to get noticed by AI. While he is getting a large number of AI leads, he doesn’t think this is because he discovered one weird trick to getting the bots to recognize him. He believes instead that the leads are the combined result of not only content he puts out himself but the videos and podcasts he has appeared on, as well as what is published about him in places like Accounting Today.
“It’s basically like every piece of marketing you’re putting online can, to a certain degree, impact AI. All of them are going to pull from different sources to different degrees and weigh their importance differently, but overall there’s not necessarily one thing you can do. … The real results come from having all these fundamental things in place,” he said.
Similarly, Katherine O’Toole, chief marketing officer for Top 25 firm PKF O’Connor Davies, noted that her own firm was aware that AI would likely become a factor in the firm’s marketing and so accounted for it in its search engine optimization strategy.
“After ChatGPT first launched, we approached it like our SEO strategy where we identified keyword groups, built out a strategy based around brand awareness and conversions to develop content specific for the users’ needs, while monitoring AI referrals to our website and staying abreast of industry trends and insights,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tanina Khanuja, Top 25 firm Withum’s digital marketing director, said the firm’s already active SEO efforts began to naturally bleed into AI optimization as time went on, as it raised the same kinds of questions about how content was structured.
“We did make that active change early on. We also paid very close attention to the structure of our content: Is it simple for bots to read, is it structured the right way, does it have [marketing software] Schema in the back end telling Google what type of insight it is?” she said.
Becky Livingston, founder and CEO of accounting-focused marketing consultancy Penheel Marketing, felt this made sense, as what she has observed is that the likelihood of a firm getting AI referrals was not a function of size but the diligence and consistency of its digital marketing, especially SEO. A lot of AI optimization isn’t that much different from traditional SEO techniques, she added.
“It’s not that much different, technically. The [challenge] is focusing on answering your target market’s questions because people are usually asking questions to get the search result snippets. But otherwise you’re doing the same thing: You’re using your SEO keywords, you’re putting it in your headlines and subhead and alt tags. It’s still the same. The difference is you’re answering the question as your headline versus embedded inside the article. And you’re usually bullet-pointing steps instead of paragraphs as you organize the content,” she said.
She added that currency is another factor; whether one is optimizing for search engines or AI, firms should not take a “set it and forget it” approach for their marketing because what people are looking for and what questions they’re asking can change with the season. Further, regularly updated content will be seen as more relevant and so be weighed higher for both AI and search engines.
While firms had not been optimizing specifically for AI before, they are now, and in doing so are finding the same sorts of similarities to traditional SEO and digital marketing techniques Livingston talked about. However, as they refine their techniques over time, they are learning that similar does not mean identical.
Suzanne Reed, chief marketing officer for Top 50 firm LBMC, noted that it has started emphasizing blog posts that provide clear, direct answers to client questions versus high-level educational pieces. The firm is also tightening up content around key specialties it wants to be associated with, as well as investing in more AI-friendly solutions for its back-end marketing infrastructure. This is similar to what has always been done, but with some key differences.
“The biggest difference is mindset. Traditional SEO is often about keywords and rankings. With AI, it’s about clarity and credibility. If your content clearly answers real questions in a trustworthy way, you’re more likely to get surfaced. We’re not abandoning traditional digital marketing, but we are adapting. AI is changing how people find professional services, and we want to be proactive about meeting them where they are,” she said.
Khanuja said Withum was also planning content changes on its website: All page hits will have a “Why Choose Us” section to explain why her firm is particularly suited to addressing a specific issue, and all websites will have a summary at the top plus a set of key takeaways.
“We certainly cannot do that for everything, but a lot of our evergreen content we are now approaching [this way], making sure we have an intro, making sure we have all our headings in the right order for bots to read,” she said.
Sasha Tchulkova, Withum’s marketing director, added that the content itself is also being rethought. Superficially, this means making sure pages have the proper tags and headers. But more deeply, it also means a mindset shift in how the firm presents its content in the first place. She has found that bots tend to prefer simple, direct, clear content that is arranged in an orderly manner, which might be a little different from how people have traditionally approached their online thought leadership.
“It goes beyond marketing, into our teams delivering this stuff. … Customizing for AI does make them think a little differently than the tradition of putting all [their] thoughts into the article,” she said. Noting that they still want people to be reading these pieces, the new approach emphasizes content that is easy to understand for both humans and AIs. “It’s a real restructure on thought leadership and content as a whole.”
People also reported investing in more back-end solutions to increase AI visibility, such as O’Toole from PKFOD.
“In 2025, we’ve been more proactive with purchasing plans on trusted platforms (like SEMrush) to gain deeper insights like favorability ratings, competitive benchmarking and prompt insights. With these insights, we’ve reassessed and updated content to get our website to show up more in relevant chats/outputs,” she said.
While the art and science of AI optimization is a still-evolving field, firms have found even these rudimentary techniques have been yielding potent results.
“We had no playbook for ‘getting recommended by ChatGPT,’ but we knew traffic and leads were being impacted by the new AI models, i.e., ChatGPT, Google Genius, Perplexity, etc. ,” said Reed. “We did not realize it was actually happening, though, until a few prospects mentioned it. That is when we shifted our content strategy and focused on publishing niche content, answering detailed questions, and keeping our site updated. It’s paying off in new ways we didn’t fully anticipate.”
However, Livingston from Penheel Marketing warned that optimizing for AI may also lead to backlash from humans. Firms need to remember to balance the interests of both in their marketing efforts, because while some humans may embrace AI referrals, others may be repelled by them.
“I teach adult continuing education and I also teach traditional students, and both groups tell me of their distrust,” she said. “When they see AI search results, they often don’t believe them because they think they’re fabricated or faked or hallucinated, so they distrust it. That might be a drawback. Until we begin to believe the AI results are real, people won’t trust it as much as they would the search results sitting beneath the AI snipper.”
Over the last few years, AI has gone from being a novelty to a mission-critical business strategy for many accountants. Innovative, forward-thinking firms are using these tools to streamline manual tasks, ensure compliance and provide the best possible service to their clients. According to the 2025 Intuit QuickBooks
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However, AI adoption is at varying levels across the industry. While nearly every firm has begun experimenting with basic AI tools, many remain in a sandbox phase, hesitant to move toward full-scale integration due to perceived complexity or costs.No matter where you may fall on the integration spectrum, the fact remains: AI is rapidly reshaping the accounting industry. If you’ve delayed AI adoption in your business, you’ll want to create a focused plan to catch up.
Time is of the essence, but don’t sacrifice strategy for speed
Firms that are ready to take the leap from casual use to deep integration may find themselves in need of accelerated adoption, but speed should not come at the cost of strategy. Identify tangible, practical ways that easy-to-use tools can impact your business through automation. Having a strong strategic focus allows firms to implement workflow changes to streamline manual tasks, ensure compliance and provide excellent service to your clients.
To begin your AI journey, here is a four-step plan that firms can use to transition from experimentation to execution, in a safe, practical manner:
Step 1: Kick off your first AI project
As is the case with many things, getting started is often the most challenging step. While enthusiasm is high, uncertainty with implementation risks can cause hesitation. The key is to lower risk by embracing AI and implementing an intentional, phased approach. Begin by weaving AI tools into high-impact, low-risk tasks, such as summarizing meeting notes, drafting client or firm-wide memos, or translating complex concepts into easy-to-understand ideas. Monitor results carefully and, if these initial attempts need adjustment, be prepared to pivot to the next use case until you can clearly demonstrate that AI systems are delivering a measurable impact on your operations. From there, you can learn from early experiences, adapt strategy, and scale appropriately to complete more complex projects.
Step 2: Dig into your AI toolkit
The marketplace is crowded with AI-powered tools that promise to do everything from enhancing your workflows to improving the customer experience. It can be hard to know which ones are worth investing your time and money. Find a trusted source like a respected peer, or leverage your professional network to help discuss the tools that may be the best fit for achieving your business goals. You can also look within the tools you’re already using to see if they offer AI-powered features, which can help ease into the transition. Additionally, look for free high-quality education to upskill your team. For example, Anthropic offers a Claude AI University that provides excellent foundational resources for moving beyond basic prompts.
Step 3: Review an AI security checklist
An important element in AI implementation is security. With AI tools needing access to firm and client data to function, it leads to questions of how the data will be protected. This makes the right AI and cybersecurity strategy critical. Firms must proactively ensure that client data remains protected from today’s increasingly sophisticated threats by embracing an established cybersecurity framework such as
Step 4: Openly discuss AI usage with your clients
Once you’ve established the best way to use AI tools that meet your firm’s needs, you’ll want to communicate all of the advantages afforded by these tools to your clients. Make sure you highlight the benefits and simultaneously ensure you are addressing any potential concerns. It’s also important to get explicit consent from all clients if you’re sharing their information with the third-party tools you may use. While this might seem like an extra step, it will go a long way toward fostering a greater level of transparency and deepen trust between you and your clients.
Don’t get left behind
Adopting AI does not have to be intimidating, expensive or overly complex. Think of it as a strategic business move that will not only keep you competitive, but will potentially free you up to focus on keeping clients happy and growing your practice. By strategically focusing on these best practices, identifying AI use cases in a phased approach, evaluating the right tools for your business, ensuring client information is secure and clearly communicating your AI strategy, you’ll be AI-ready in no time.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board met this week to discuss its projects on accounting for transfers of cryptocurrency assets and enhancing the disclosures around certain digital assets, such as stablecoins.
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During Wednesday’s meeting, FASB’s board made certain tentative decisions, according to a
At a future meeting, the board plans to consider clarifying the derecognition guidance for crypto transfer arrangements to assess whether the control of a crypto asset has been transferred.
FASB also began deliberations on the
The board decided to provide illustrative examples in Topic 230, Statement of Cash Flows, to clarify whether certain digital assets such as stablecoins can meet the definition of cash equivalents. It also decided to include the following concepts in the illustrative examples:
- Interpretive explanations that link to the current cash equivalents definition;
- The amount and composition of reserve assets; and,
- The nature of qualifying on-demand, contractual cash redemption rights directly with the issuer.
FASB plans to clarify that an entity should consider compliance with relevant laws and regulations when it’s creating a policy concerning which assets that satisfy the Master Glossary definition of the term “cash equivalents“ will be treated as cash equivalents.
“I agree with the staff suggestion to look at examples,” said FASB vice chair Hillary Salo. “From my perspective, I think that is going to help level the playing field. People have been making reasonable judgments. I agree with that. And I think that this is really going to help show those goalposts or guardrails of what types of stablecoins would be in the scope of cash equivalents, and which ones would not be in the scope of cash equivalents. I certainly appreciate that approach, and I think it has the least potential impact of unintended consequences, because I do agree with my fellow board members that we shouldn’t be changing the definition of cash equivalents, and it’s a high bar to get into the cash equivalent definition.”
“I’m definitely supportive of not changing the definition of cash equivalents,” said FASB chair Richard Jones. “I believe that’s settled GAAP in a way, and we’re not really seeing a call to change it for broader issues. I am supportive of the example-based approach. The challenge with examples, though, is everybody’s going to want their exact pattern, but that’s not what we’re doing.”
The examples will explain the rationale for how digital assets such as stablecoins do or do not qualify as cash equivalents and give a roadmap for other types of digital assets with varying fact patterns to be able to apply.
“We really don’t want to be as a board facing a situation where something was a cash equivalent and then no longer is at a later date,” said Jones. “That’s not good for anyone, so keeping it as a high bar with certain rigid criteria, I think, is fine.”
Stablecoins are supposed to be pegged to fiat currencies such as U.S. dollars and thus provide more stability to investors. “In my view, while a stablecoin may meet the accounting definition established for cash equivalents, not every one of those stablecoins in the cash equivalent classification represents the same level of risk,” said FASB member Joyce Joseph.
She noted that the capital markets recognize the distinctions and have established a Stablecoin Stability Assessment Framework to evaluate a stablecoin’s ability to maintain its peg to a fiat currency. Such assessments look at the legal and regulatory framework associated with the stablecoin, and provide investors with information that could enable them to do forward-looking assessments about the stability of the stablecoin.
“However, for an investor to consider and utilize such information for a company analysis the financial statement disclosures would need to include information about the stablecoin itself,” Joseph added. “In outreach, the staff learned that investors supported classifying certain stablecoins as cash equivalents when transparent information is available about the entities at which the reserve assets are held. Therefore, in my view, taking all of this into consideration a relevant and informative company disclosure would include providing investors with the name of the stablecoin and the amount of the stablecoin that is classified as a cash equivalent, so investors can independently assess the liquidity risks more meaningfully and more comprehensively by utilizing broader information that is available in the capital markets and its emerging information.”
Such information could include the issuer, reserves, governance and management, she noted, so investors would get a more holistic look at the risks that holding the stablecoin would entail for a given company.
The board decided to require all entities to disclose the significant classes and related amounts of cash equivalents on an annual basis for each period that a statement of financial position is presented.
Entities should apply the amendments related to the classification of certain digital assets as cash equivalents on a modified prospective basis as of the beginning of the annual reporting period in the year of adoption.
FASB decided that entities should apply the amendments related to the disclosure of the significant classes and amounts of cash equivalents on a prospective basis as of the date of the most recent statement of financial position presented in the period of adoption.
The board will allow early adoption in both interim and annual reporting periods in which financial statements have not been issued or made available for issuance.
FASB also decided to permit entities to adopt the amendments to be illustrated in the examples related to the classification of certain digital assets as cash equivalents without the need to perform a preferability assessment as described in Topic 250, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections.
The board directed the staff to draft a proposed accounting standards update to be voted on by written ballot. The proposed update will have a 90-day comment period.
Senators introduced several pieces of tax-related legislation this week, including measures aimed at improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service, cracking down on tax evasion and curbing the carried interest tax break, in addition to efforts in the House to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act.
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Senators Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, and Mark Warner, D-Virginia, teamed up on introducing a bipartisan bill, the
The bill would establish a dashboard to inform taxpayers of backlogs and wait times; expand electronic access to information and refunds; expand callback technology and online accounts; and inform individuals facing economic hardship about collection alternatives.
“Taxpayers deserve a simple, stress-free experience when dealing with the IRS,” Cassidy said in a statement Wednesday. “This bill makes the process quicker and easier for taxpayers to get the information they need.”
He also mentioned the bill during a
“I’m happy to meet with the team … and do all I can to make it as good as you want it to be,” said Bisignano.
“My bill would equip the IRS with the legislative mandate to create an online dashboard so that taxpayers can monitor average call wait time and budget time accordingly,” said Cassidy. He noted that the bill would allow a callback for taxpayers that might need to wait longer than five minutes to speak to a representative, and establish a program to identify and support taxpayers struggling to make ends meet by providing information about alternative payment methods, such as installments, partial payments and offers in compromise.
“I know people are kind of desperate and don’t know where to turn for cash, so I think this could really ease anxiety,” he added. “This legislation is bipartisan and is likely to pass this Congress.”
Cassidy and Warner
“Taxpayers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get basic answers from the IRS — and in the last year, those challenges have only gotten worse,” Warner said in a statement. “I am glad to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation on Tax Day to ease some of this frustration by increasing clear communication and making IRS resources more readily available.”
Stop CHEATERS Act
Also on Tax Day, a group of Senate Democrats and an independent who usually caucuses with Democrats teamed up to introduce the Stop Corporations and High Earners from Avoiding Taxes and Enforce the Rules Strictly (Stop CHEATERS) Act.
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, joined with Senators Angus King, I-Maine, Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island. The bill would provide additional funding for the IRS to strengthen and expand tax collection services and systems and crack down on tax cheating by the wealthy.
“Wealthy tax cheats and scofflaw corporations are stealing billions and billions from the American people by refusing to pay what they legally owe, and far too many of them are getting a free pass because Republicans gutted the enforcement capacity of the IRS,” Wyden said in a statement. “A rich tax cheat who shelters mountains of cash among a web of shell companies and passthroughs is likelier to be struck by lightning than face an IRS audit, and Republicans want to keep it that way. This bill is about making sure the IRS has the resources it needs to go after wealthy tax cheats while improving customer service for the vast majority of American taxpayers who follow the law every year.”
Earlier this week. Wyden also
The Stop CHEATERS Act would provide the IRS with additional funding for tax enforcement focused upon high-income tax evasion, technology operations support, systems modernization, and taxpayer services like free tax-payer assistance.
“As Congress seeks ways to fund much-needed policy priorities and address our growing national debt, there is one common sense solution that should have unanimous bipartisan support: let’s enforce the tax laws already on the books,” said King in a statement. “Our legislation will make sure the IRS has the resources it needs to confront the gap between taxes owed and taxes paid – while ensuring that our tax enforcement professionals are focused on the high-income earners who account for the most tax evasion. This is a serious problem with an easy solution; let’s pass this legislation and make sure every American pays what they owe in taxes.”
Carried interest
Wyden, King and Whitehouse also teamed up on another bill Thursday to close the carried interest tax break for hedge fund managers that
Carried interest is a form of compensation received by a fund manager in exchange for investment management services, according to a
Under the bill, the
“Our tax code is rigged to favor ultra-wealthy investors who know how to game the system to dodge paying a fair share, and there is no better example of how it works in practice than the carried interest loophole,” Wyden said in a statement. “For several decades now we’ve had a tax system that rewards the accumulation of wealth by the rich while punishing middle-class wage earners, and the effect of that system has been the strangulation of prosperity and opportunity for everybody but the ultra-wealthy. There are a lot of problems to fix to restore fairness and common sense to our tax code, and closing the carried interest loophole is a great place to start.”
Repealing Corporate Transparency Act
The House Financial Services Committee is also planning to markup a bill next Tuesday that would fully repeal the Corporate Transparency Act, which has already been significantly
If enacted, the repeal would eliminate beneficial ownership reporting requirements, removing a transparency measure designed to help law enforcement and national security officials identify who is behind U.S. companies.
“This repeal would turn the United States back into one of the easiest places in the world to set up anonymous shell companies, something Congress worked for years to fix,” said Erica Hanichak, deputy director of the FACT Coalition, in a statement. “These entities are routinely used to facilitate corruption, financial crime, and abuse. Rolling back the CTA doesn’t just weaken transparency, it signals to bad actors around the world that the U.S. is once again open for illicit business.”
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