Answered on camera by Dan Milikow, CEO of iShoot.direct · 0:48 · transcript and sources below
AI helps — if your firm shows up in the answers. The traditional referral is already sliding: the share of buyers who ask their network fell from over 70% to under 60% in one five-year span[1], before AI Overviews even launched. When someone asks AI instead of calling around, the CPA cited in the answer gets the call — that citation is your new referral.
AEO matters for accounting firms that grow by referrals because it's an opportunity to reverse a slow, steady slide. The Hinge Research Institute runs a study called Inside the Buyer's Brain, first published in 2013. In one five-year period, the same survey showed that the share of buyers who ask their network for a referral fell from over 70% to under 60[1]. And all that data came before Google even started posting AI Overviews that cite experts who match the specific questions somebody's asking.
So somebody has a question about converting to a C corp. Instead of calling around, they ask AI now. The citation that shows up is your new referral. And the good news is there's a lot more you can actually do to make sure those referrals happen.
| The old referral | The new referral | |
|---|---|---|
| Spark | Someone calls around / asks their network | Someone asks AI a specific question |
| Trajectory | Declining — 70% → under 60% in five years[1] | Rising as people ask AI first |
| Reach | Whoever your contacts happen to know | Whoever asks the relevant question and sees the citation |