The verdict in three sentences
Before a London CEO or a private equity operating partner calls a boutique strategy consultancy, many now ask AI assistants like ChatGPT for a shortlist, a comparison or a sanity check on a firm they were referred to. Whether your firm appears depends largely on consistent, factual public information about partners, sectors and published thinking, and on what credible third parties say about you. Nobody can guarantee a recommendation, but a dated record of answers to the same buyer questions shows where you stand and whether work on it pays.
What are London buyers asking before they call?
The questions are specific. Buyers rarely ask for the best consultancy; they describe a situation and ask who fits it. The examples below are realistic of what a board or a fund might type in 2026.
| Buyer question | Who tends to ask | What the answer needs to know about you |
|---|---|---|
| Which boutique strategy firms in London work on pricing for B2B industrial companies? | CEO of a mid-market manufacturer | Sector pages, named practice areas |
| Who could run commercial due diligence on a UK healthcare services deal in six weeks? | PE deal partner | Due diligence offer, sectors, team size |
| Alternatives to the large strategy houses for a growth strategy under £300k? | CFO with a budget ceiling | Engagement model, typical project size |
| Which London consultancies have former operators in consumer retail? | Chair of a retail group | Partner bios with real career history |
| Is [your firm] credible for a market entry project in the Gulf? | Board member checking a referral | Languages, regions, published work |
| Who writes useful research on UK energy transition strategy? | Strategy director | Recent articles, reports, talks |
| Small consultancies that help PE portfolio companies with value creation plans? | Fund operating partner | Portfolio work, anonymised case studies |
Each question is an opportunity to be named, and also a risk of being described wrongly: an old sector focus, a departed partner, a project size that no longer matches.
Why does one boutique appear and another does not?
AI assistants assemble answers from what they can find and trust. Boutiques with excellent reputations among clients sometimes barely exist in that public record, because their best work is confidential and their site says little.
| Factor | What helps | Common gap in boutiques |
|---|---|---|
| Consistency of public facts | Same name, address, partners and sectors across site, Companies House and directories | Old team page, two different firm descriptions |
| Third-party mentions | Press quotes, conference agendas, sector association pages | Thought leadership published only on partners' personal profiles |
| Clear factual pages | One page per sector and service, plain description of what you do | Abstract homepage with no services named |
| Structured data | Organisation and person markup aligned with visible content | None, or markup contradicting the page |
| Published thinking | Dated, signed articles with a clear point of view | Last article from 2023 |
| Case studies | Anonymised and real, with sector and type of question | None, or vague client logos |
| Freshness | Updates within the last 6 to 12 months | Static site since launch |
Reviews matter less in strategy consulting than in local services, and client testimonials must be real and approved. Data protection also shapes what you publish: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, supervised by the ICO, govern personal data on the site, PECR covers cookies and marketing email, and an Equality Act 2010 approach with a WCAG 2.2 AA target is the usual accessibility benchmark. If you write about investments, FCA financial promotion rules may become relevant. This is not legal advice.
What does the work cover, and what does it cost?
In broad terms, AEO/GEO work for a consultancy combines a baseline of current AI answers, a review of public facts and sources, factual content where the firm is unclear or invisible, and periodic re-measurement. It is closer to reputation and content work than to a technical trick. The market is young, so quotes vary widely.
| Item | London ballpark 2026 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| One-off AI visibility diagnostic | £2,000 to £6,000 | 30 to 60 questions, 3 to 5 competitors |
| Diagnostic plus SEO audit | £4,000 to £9,000 | Useful if the site is also weak on Google |
| Ongoing monthly work | £1,500 to £4,000 per month | Content, sources, quarterly re-measurement |
| Quarterly answer tracking only | £500 to £1,500 per quarter | Same questions, dated record |
| Thought leadership writing | £600 to £1,500 per article | Senior writer working with a partner |
| Kolonell | On quote | Scope set after the diagnostic |
Ranges come from typical agency quotes and public rate pages in London; they are prudent indications, not a survey.
How do you measure it without fooling yourself?
Measurement starts with a fixed panel of buyer questions, worded the way your clients speak, put to AI assistants like ChatGPT at regular intervals. Three numbers matter: the share of answers that name your firm, the accuracy of what is said about you, and the sources the answer appears to rely on. A boutique might find it is named in 4 of 40 questions in March, with one wrong sector, and track whether that moves over two quarters.
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Answers vary from one session to the next, so single screenshots prove little. The value is in the dated series and in linking it to your pipeline: ask every new prospect how they built their shortlist and log it in the CRM.
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Marlowe Lane Advisory, a fictional seven partner strategy boutique in Fitzrovia working with PE-backed consumer and industrial companies. Average engagement: £180,000.
The managing partner weighs a £4,500 diagnostic plus 6 months of ongoing work at £2,000 a month, so £16,500 in total. If one additional engagement in two years came from buyers who first met the firm in an AI answer, the fee of £180,000 would be about 11 times the spend. The case is fictional and the attribution is uncertain by nature, which is why the partners decide to log the source of every new enquiry from day one.
FAQ
Do strategy consultancy buyers really use AI assistants to shortlist firms?
Many senior buyers now use them for a first map of options, alongside referrals. A dated test on 30 to 60 of your own buyer questions tells you how often your firm appears today.
Our best work is confidential. Can we still be visible?
Yes, through anonymised case studies, signed articles and partner profiles. Five well described anonymised cases by sector usually say more than a page of client logos.
How long before changes show up in AI answers?
Expect 2 to 6 months after public facts and content are corrected, unevenly across questions. Quarterly re-measurement is the minimum to see a trend.
What budget should a London boutique plan for 2026?
Typical agency quotes run from £2,000 to £6,000 for a diagnostic and £1,500 to £4,000 a month for ongoing work. Kolonell works on quote after the diagnostic.
Can a provider guarantee we will be recommended?
No. Answers depend on systems nobody outside controls; honest work improves the accuracy and availability of information about you and measures the effect.
Find out how AI assistants describe your firm. We put 40 of your buyers' questions to AI assistants like ChatGPT, compare your consultancy with three London peers and show what is said, and what is wrong. 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.
