The verdict in three sentences
In Geneva, the owner of a family SME preparing a succession, the investment banker building a shortlist and the analyst candidate increasingly put their questions to an AI assistant like ChatGPT before contacting a fund. A private equity firm whose strategy, ticket size and team are not clearly described online is either missing from the answers or described with errors that cost it deal flow. The task is to make what is already public accurate, within the rules on financial communication, then to measure the answers over time.
What do owners, intermediaries and candidates ask?
The questions put to AI assistants are long and specific. They rarely concern performance and far more often concern fit: does this fund invest in my sector, at my size, with what horizon and what role?
| Question asked to an AI assistant | Who asks | What the answer relies on |
|---|---|---|
| Which private equity firms in Geneva invest in family SMEs in French-speaking Switzerland? | Owner-manager | Strategy page, investment criteria, Swiss business press |
| What is this fund's usual ticket size? | Investment banker or M&A adviser | Criteria page, acquisition announcements |
| Geneva funds specialised in medtech or B2B services | M&A adviser | Sector pages, portfolio companies published with consent |
| How does a succession with a fund compare with a sale to a trade buyer in western Switzerland? | Owner weighing options | In-depth content published by funds, interviews |
| Does this fund take minority stakes? | Shareholding family | Approach page, real portfolio examples |
| Who are the partners and what operating experience do they have? | Management team of a target | Dated bios, professional profiles |
| What is this fund's value creation approach after acquisition? | CEO of a target | Value creation page, authorised statements from executives |
| Which private equity firms in Geneva hire analysts? | Candidate | Careers page, team profiles |
Institutional investors (LPs) also ask questions, but their selection runs through due diligence and restricted documents. The public site does not market a fund: it describes the management company, and any investor-facing content belongs in a gated area, priced on quote.
Why do some funds get cited and others not?
AI assistants like ChatGPT cross-check what they find. The funds that get cited share several traits: consistent public information across the website, registers, partner profiles and sector databases; third-party mentions (Swiss business press, M&A adviser announcements, talks at Geneva ecosystem events); clear factual pages on strategy, sectors, ticket range, type of stake and team; structured data describing the organisation and its people; and visible freshness, with dated portfolio entries and news.
The funds that are missing often have a one-page site with a sentence about excellence, portfolio companies shown without dates, or a ticket range that differs from source to source. The AI assistant then fills the gaps with approximations.
The constraints are real. Communication by financial players in Switzerland falls under the FINMA framework and FinSA, and marketing funds into the EU falls under the AIFM Directive: a management company's site stays a factual description, with no return promises. A portfolio company is named only with its consent. On data, the revFADP (in force since 1 September 2023) applies to forms and analytics, under the supervision of the FDPIC, and the GDPR applies on top for EU residents. This is not legal advice.
What this work covers and what it costs
In broad terms: a review of what AI assistants say about the fund, correction of public inconsistencies, writing or reworking factual pages in French and English, structured data, and a compliance-friendly approach to third-party mentions. The market is emerging and prices vary widely.
| Service | Usual content | 2026 ballpark (CHF) |
|---|---|---|
| One-off diagnostic | 30 to 50 sample questions, dated record, gaps found | 3,000 to 12,000 |
| Monthly engagement | Answer tracking, content, structured data | 2,500 to 9,000 per month |
| Factual page rework | Strategy, criteria, team, value creation | 5,000 to 20,000 |
| Financial press relations | Interviews, op-eds, deal announcements | 4,000 to 15,000 per month |
| Legal and compliance review | Counsel review, per batch of content | 2,000 to 8,000 |
| English or German adaptation | Per page | 300 to 800 |
These ranges reflect typical agency quotes and public agency rate pages. Kolonell does this work on quote, after a diagnostic.
Measurement relies on a dated record: the same questions, asked each month to AI assistants, answers archived. It tracks the share of answers citing the fund, the accuracy of ticket size, sectors and team, and the competing funds named. No one can promise that an AI assistant will recommend a fund: the record shows the trend, whatever it is.
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Mini case study
Illustrative example. Salève Croissance Partners, a fictional Geneva management company investing CHF 5 to 25 million in SMEs across French-speaking Switzerland, hears from an intermediary that an AI assistant attributed a CHF 50 million minimum ticket to it.
A record of 40 questions shows the fund cited in 4 answers, or 10%, and 3 of them give a wrong ticket size. Chosen budget: a CHF 7,000 diagnostic followed by six months of engagement at CHF 4,500, so 7,000 + 6 × 4,500 = CHF 34,000 (market assumption). Against an annual sourcing budget of CHF 120,000 (conferences, travel, databases, assumption), the project represents about 28%. The outcome is not promised: the monthly record will show whether accuracy and citation share improve.
FAQ
Does a private equity firm benefit from visibility in AI assistants?
Yes for deal flow and hiring: an owner who reads a wrong ticket size will not call you. A few accurate factual pages, usually 5 to 10, often fix the essentials.
How much does a diagnostic cost in Geneva?
On the market, CHF 3,000 to 12,000 depending on the number of questions and competitors tracked (2026 ballpark). At Kolonell, it is priced on quote.
Can we name our portfolio companies?
Only with the consent of the companies concerned, and with each mention dated. An exited holding should be shown as such.
Is this work compatible with financial regulation?
It concerns the factual description of the management company, not the marketing of a fund. Every piece of content goes through a compliance review, often CHF 2,000 to 8,000 per batch.
How long before the answers change?
Corrections to public facts can appear within a few weeks; the effect of third-party mentions often takes 3 to 6 months. Nothing is assured, hence the monthly record.
Find out how AI assistants describe your firm. A dated record of the answers to the questions owners, intermediaries and candidates ask shows how your fund is described today. Request a diagnostic quote: reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
