Retail investors are becoming an increasingly important audience for your digital channels - your website, social media and of course AI search.
Their expectations, behaviours and sources of information are evolving quickly. As a result, organisations need to rethink how their websites support this audience, ensuring content is accessible, relevant and easy to interpret.
The profile of the retail investor is shifting.
There is a growing presence of younger investors, particularly Gen Z and millennials, who are entering the market earlier and with different expectations. Many are comfortable using digital tools to guide decisions and are more self-directed in how they research companies.
Their sources of information are also changing.
Social media is now embedded in the research process for younger investors, with around a quarter using these platforms as a source of investment insight. Content, discussion and sentiment increasingly shape how companies are perceived.
At the same time, these investors are far more open to technology enabled decision making. Around 41% of Gen Z and millennials say they would be comfortable with AI managing their investments, highlighting a clear shift in trust towards new tools.
This is not just a demographic change. It is a fundamental shift in how investment decisions are made.
Alongside social platforms, AI is rapidly becoming part of how retail investors research and interpret information.
62% of retail investors have already used AI tools to inform investment decisions, showing how quickly these technologies are being adopted. Many are now using them as a core part of their research process.
AI chat tools are playing a particularly important role. 54% of investors have used tools such as ChatGPT to support investment research, whether to understand companies, compare options or interpret financial information.
This means investors are no longer relying solely on corporate websites as a starting point.
Instead, they are increasingly asking AI tools to summarise and explain information. Your website content is often being used as the source, but the journey does not always begin there.
This shift has important implications for corporate websites.
Your website is no longer just a destination. It is a source that feeds AI tools, social platforms and external conversations. If your website is not built to be discoverable to AI you wont appear or be cited in AI search channels.
To remain effective, content needs to work in two ways.
It must be clear, engaging and easy to navigate for human audiences. At the same time, it must be structured and explicit so that AI tools can interpret it accurately and reuse it in responses.
If content is unclear, overly complex or locked in documents, it becomes harder for both audiences to access and understand.
Consistency is also critical. Information about strategy, performance and positioning should align across your website, results content and external channels. When messages differ or are unclear, it becomes harder for both investors and AI tools to build a reliable picture of the organisation.
This is where narrative content becomes essential. Clear explanations of strategy, performance and value creation create stronger signals, helping both investors and AI tools understand your organisation accurately.
To meet these expectations, corporate websites need to provide a strong foundation of clear, structured and accessible content.
The investment case remains one of the most important pieces of content for retail investors.
It should provide a clear articulation of why someone should invest in the company, bringing together strategy, market position and growth potential in a simple and structured way. It addresses AI search queries such as ‘should I invest in company XYZ’ as well as visitors to the site.
Astonishingly only 59% of FTSE 100 companies currently share an investment case in their website. More companies present it within their Annual Report but don’t carry it through to the website. The result is that this content wont be discoverable to AI and wont be cited in these AI search results.
Burberry and Informa are strong examples of companies presenting a clear and compelling investment case. Their content is structured, focused and easy to interpret, helping retail investors quickly understand the drivers of value.
Retail investors want straightforward access to financial performance. You also want this data available to AI search – so your data and performance is referenced rather than third party’s.
Clear summaries of key financials allow users to understand performance quickly without navigating complex reports.
91% of FTSE 100 companies now provide financial highlights and key performance indicators in some form, making this one of the more established areas of corporate reporting. Increasingly companies are now looking to publish more of this content in their website.
Burberry stands out here, presenting financial information in a clear and structured way that supports easy interpretation.
A key learning for AI channels is that AI struggles to access PDF content, and will always cite web page content above PDFs. PDFs are of course shared as links, but if you want key messages and performance visible to AI then publish in webpages. Not only that, but this also enriches the human experience for those visiting your website, especially retail investors who will look for summaries and key takeouts.
Currently, only 57% of FTSE 100 companies publish an online report alongside PDFs, showing there is still room to improve.
Haleon provides a strong example of this approach, offering structured and accessible reporting content that works effectively across both audiences.
Your Annual Report is of course a primary communications vehicle for your investors and retail investors are no exception. An online summary will receive 5 times the views than the number of downloads. Providing an online summary, and encouraging further exploration of additional content in the website is a vital element of communication.
Critically you must ensure that this online summary delivers your key messages and performance data – to fuel content in AI searches. You want your narrative and performance to be shaping AI search results.
Haleon’s online Annual Report is designed with Humans and AI in mind – as exampled by presenting performance data in charts and tables.
Retail investors need to understand your strategy and how you create value, so your strategy and business model are important content elements. This build belief and confidence in the future of the organisation and deepens understanding in the business
Coca Cola HBC and HSBC are strong examples of clearly articulating your strategic intent. Their content is structured and easy to follow, making it accessible to a wider audience.
This clarity is essential both for investor understanding and for how AI tools interpret and summarise your organisation.
Retail investors are often looking for simple, direct answers to specific questions. Frequently Asked Questions are a great way of doing this. Topics should respond to common queries around performance, strategy, dividends, risk and outlook and be jargon free.
This type of content is not just useful for users. It also supports AI interpretation, providing clear and structured information that can be easily surfaced in search results and AI generated responses.
Imperial Brands is an example of specific investor FAQs, providing succinct responses and linking to deeper content within the website.
Sustainability is an increasingly important factor for retail investors, particularly younger audiences.
Investors want to understand how organisations are managing environmental and social impacts and how this links to long term value creation.
Vodafone is a good example of how sustainability is woven into the investor landing page.
As the starts above show, retail investors use social media as a primary channel. Social media can also increase your authority in AI search. It is important that you:
Retail investors are becoming more influential, more digital and more self-directed in how they engage with companies.
At the same time, the way they access information is changing. Social platforms and AI tools are now central to the research process, meaning corporate websites are no longer the starting point but remain the primary source.
This creates a clear opportunity.
Organisations that invest in clear, structured and discoverable content through their website and leverage social channels will be better positioned to engage retail investors, support informed decision making and ensure they are accurately represented across both human and AI driven channels.
Through our Digital Index research, we help organisations understand how effectively their websites meet the needs of retail investors and where improvements can drive stronger engagement.
We also support organisations in assessing how their content performs in an AI driven environment, ensuring it is clear, structured and ready to be interpreted accurately.
If you want to understand how your website is supporting retail investors and where you can improve, please contact:
Abbie Dixon, Relationship Marketing Executive
adixon@blacksun-global.com
About Black Sun
Black Sun Global is a stakeholder advisory and engagement agency that's been driving transformation and positive change for ambitious brands for more than 20 years. With deep expertise in disclosure and reporting, ESG, sustainability, and digital engagement, we reshape how organisations connect with customers, investors, employees, and the wider world.
We are trusted partners to some of the most influential global organisations, sparking innovation and sustainable performance through our strategic insights, partnerships, and proprietary technologies.
As founders of the Positive Change Group, we are on a mission to create a new kind of stakeholder relations partner. Our world-class specialists work closely with executive leadership teams to protect reputations, inspire trust, and promote responsible business practices - building resilience and long-term value in a rapidly changing world.
For more information, please visit: www.blacksun-global.com
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