Last Updated on October 5, 2026
Status: specified, not yet collected. This page sets out a study Whito has designed and will run. It contains no findings. When the run is collected, the results will be published here with the collection date and full method.
Brokers, independent financial advisers and comparison sites do different jobs under different FCA permissions, and AI engines flatten all three into one list. The Financial Services Register records every authorised firm’s permissions and trading names. This study asks for a broker and counts what actually comes back.
The question we will ask
“Recommend a business insurance broker in [town]”, with the town name substituted for each of the twelve.
Engines: ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, asked the same question on the same day, each in a fresh session.
Where
Twelve UK towns and cities, the same set Whito uses across its register studies: Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry, Newcastle, Cardiff, Southampton and Brighton.
The register, and how every name gets classed
Every recommended name goes against the FCA Financial Services Register on the day of collection, matched by trading name where the brand and the authorised entity differ, plus Companies House for company status. Each name lands in exactly one class:
- Broker. FCA authorised with insurance distribution as the substance of its business.
- IFA. An authorised firm whose business is financial advice, answered for an insurance broking question.
- Comparison site. An aggregator; authorised, but a different product and no advice.
- Not authorised or unmatchable. No FCA record under the trading name or a traceable legal name. In regulated financial services, the count that matters most.
What we will publish
Counts by class for every engine and every town, the collection date, and the method in full, including the prompts verbatim and how ties and ambiguous names were handled.
Why this check, in this trade
Insurance bought through the wrong kind of firm fails at the only moment it is tested, claim time. The register exists so a customer can check a firm and its permissions by name or firm reference number in two minutes. The study measures whether the engines’ labels, broker, adviser, comparison, survive that check, and how often the label is simply wrong.
ed, and gave a registration number twice. https://whito.co.uk/gas-engineers/research/ai-gas-engineer-recommendations-gas-safe/. Free to quote with a link.Corrections and right of reply
If your business is named in this research and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk. We check it against the register, correct it within five working days if we are wrong, and publish your statement alongside if you want us to. Full route: corrections, right of reply and removals.
Questions
Can I trust an AI answer that says a gas engineer is Gas Safe registered?
Treat it as a claim to check. On 3 October 2026, 36 answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode in 12
If your business is named here and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk and we will check it and correct it. If you want to respond, send us a statement and we will publish it alongside. Full detail: Corrections, right of reply and removals.
