Twenty-eight million adults in the UK now use AI tools to help manage their money. Not in a future scenario — right now.
A study commissioned by Lloyds Banking Group, surveying 5,000 UK adults, found that 56% have used platforms like ChatGPT for financial guidance. That includes budgeting, savings advice, pension questions, and investment decisions. Financial advice is now the most common reason people use generative AI — ahead of writing emails, generating recipes, or asking about health.
One in three users checks in with an AI tool at least once a week for money-related questions.
If you run a small business, this matters more than you might think.
The advice gap is real, and AI filled it
The UK has a well-documented "advice gap." Traditional financial advisors charge around £1,000 for a consultation. Most people can't justify that cost for routine questions about budgeting or retirement savings. So when ChatGPT showed up offering instant, free, conversational answers, adoption was predictable.
The same dynamic plays out across industries. Wherever professional advice is expensive or hard to access, consumers will turn to the cheapest available alternative. For many, that alternative is now a chatbot.
This isn't limited to finance. Your customers are probably already using AI to research purchases, compare services, evaluate vendors, and make decisions that directly affect your business.
What AI gets wrong (and why it matters for you)
Here's the part that should concern business owners: these AI tools are unregulated. Unlike a licensed financial advisor or a regulated bank, ChatGPT has no obligation to be accurate, no professional liability, and no accountability when its advice is wrong.
The Lloyds study found that 80% of respondents worried about inaccurate advice, and 83% had concerns about data privacy. But they keep using it anyway, because the convenience outweighs the anxiety.
For your business, this creates a specific problem. A potential customer might ask ChatGPT whether your product is worth the price, whether your industry is trustworthy, or how your service compares to a competitor. The AI will answer confidently — whether or not that answer is correct.
You can't control what ChatGPT says about you. But you can control what information is available for it to find.
Three things small businesses should do now
1. Make your expertise findable and specific.
AI models pull from publicly available content. If your website has generic marketing copy and nothing else, that's all an AI can reference. But if you publish clear, detailed information about your services — pricing guides, FAQ pages, comparison breakdowns, case studies — you increase the chances that AI tools surface accurate information about your business.
This isn't just SEO. It's about being part of the training data and retrieval sources that shape what AI tells your potential customers.
2. Build trust signals that AI can't replicate.
The Lloyds study highlights a trust deficit. People use AI because it's convenient, not because they trust it. That gap is your opportunity. Real testimonials, verifiable credentials, transparent pricing, and direct human contact are all things a chatbot cannot provide.
When a customer has been told by ChatGPT that "most businesses in your industry charge X" or "the typical quality concern with this service is Y," your job is to meet them where they are. Acknowledge that they've done research. Then give them something the AI couldn't: specifics about their situation, your track record, and what makes your approach different.
3. Use AI yourself — but know its limits.
If your customers are using ChatGPT for financial decisions, some of your own business decisions probably involve AI too. That's fine. Use it for drafting, brainstorming, and initial research. But don't treat it as a substitute for professional advice on legal, tax, or financial matters.
The same limitations that affect consumers affect business owners. AI tools are helpful for getting started. They're unreliable for getting it right.
The bigger picture
This study measured financial advice, but the behavioral shift is broader. Consumers are building a new habit: when they have a question, they ask AI before they ask a person. Before they call your business. Before they read your website. Before they check reviews.
That changes the customer journey in ways most small businesses haven't accounted for yet. The businesses that adapt — by being visible, specific, and trustworthy in ways AI cannot fake — will have an advantage over those still waiting for customers to find them through traditional channels.
The 56% number will only grow. The question isn't whether your customers are using AI to make decisions. It's whether the information AI has about your business is accurate enough to work in your favor.
If you're not sure where to start, get in touch. We help small businesses figure out where AI fits into their strategy — and where it doesn't.