Ep 480: Growing To $660M Of AUM By Leveraging SEO (And Now AEO) To Build A Durable Pipeline Of Good-Fit Prospects with Helen Stephens
Financial Advisor Success
Michael Kitces
4.7 • 719 Ratings
🗓️ 10 March 2026
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Search has changed—and so has the way advisory firms can earn visibility online. This episode explores how early investments in SEO can compound over time, how today's "findability" now includes AI tools like ChatGPT, and what it takes to build a marketing engine that not only attracts the right prospects, but also supports sustainable firm growth for the long haul.
Helen Stephens is the founder of Aspen Wealth Management, an RIA based in Fort Worth, Texas, that oversees $670 million in assets under management for 342 client households. Listen in as Helen shares how her SEO strategy evolved alongside Google's changing standards, from early location-and-service pages to consistently publishing high-quality content that demonstrates real expertise for her ideal-fit clients. We also discuss how that long-term commitment created a steady prospect pipeline that's helped drive roughly 30% annual growth over the past five years, why it's now paying off through leads coming from ChatGPT and other AI tools, and how Helen is executing an internal succession plan so that her firm remains independent for years to come.
For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/480
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Financial Advisor Success Podcast, where you go behind the scenes with |
| 0:07.1 | financial planner, speaker, and consultant Michael Kitsis to hear stories of how leading |
| 0:12.4 | financial advisors navigated the inevitable challenges that arise on the path to success |
| 0:17.4 | and get insight from leading industry consultants about how to break through to the next |
| 0:22.2 | level in your advisory business. And now here's your host, Michael Kitsis. Welcome, everyone. |
| 0:29.3 | Welcome to the 480th episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast. My guest on today's podcast is |
| 0:35.3 | Helen Stevens. Helen is the founder of Aspen Wealth Management and RIA based in Fort Worth, Texas, |
| 0:40.9 | that oversees $670 million in assets under management for 342 client households. |
| 0:46.9 | What's unique about Helen, though, is how she has grown her firm thanks in large part |
| 0:50.7 | to early investments in search engine optimization, which have paid off over time, |
| 0:54.9 | not only through prospects finding her through Google searches, but also now by getting leads |
| 0:59.1 | from chat GPT and other artificial intelligence tools. |
| 1:02.9 | In this episode, we talk in depth about how Helen's SEO strategy has evolved over time, as |
| 1:07.9 | Google has changed how it evaluates sites, moving from creating |
| 1:11.2 | backend pages that mentioned her location and services to high-quality content that |
| 1:15.1 | demonstrated her expertise in serving her ideal-fit clients. |
| 1:18.6 | How creating high-quality content and serving a local geographic area has now paid off through |
| 1:23.0 | referrals from ChatGPT, which often occur when a consumer goes deep enough into planning |
| 1:27.4 | questions that Chat-GPT suggests that they seek out an advisor. from chat GPT, which often occur when a consumer goes deep enough into planning questions |
| 1:27.8 | that chat GPT suggests that they seek out an advisor, and how that while Helen's commitment to |
| 1:33.0 | SEO and content creation took time to pay off in terms of a steady pipeline of prospects, |
| 1:38.1 | it has contributed to her approximately 30% annual growth rate over the past five years. |
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