Digital advice & D2C — n = 10

Can a consumer find the right advisor on a digital advice provider’s website?

We walked every one of these 10 by hand and tested each against the same six things. Here is what we found, firm by firm.

What this group does, and does not, let a visitor do

10 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces audited here pass 0.5 of the six on average, but the middle one passes 0 — the mean does not describe a real surface in this group.

Against the 340 financial surfaces overall, this group is weakest on see a real person at all (30% here against 76% across the study) and narrow by what you need (0% here against 29% across the study).

7 of the 10 reach nobody at all — no named advisor appears at any depth, so there is nothing for a visitor to choose between.

None pass all six. 7 pass none.

Can you see a real person at all?

30%

3 of 10

3 of 10 show a named advisor somewhere on the page without asking for a form first. On the other 7, a visitor never sees an individual at all.

Can you narrow by what you need?

0 of 10

0 of 10 offer a control for specialty, credentials, or how an advisor is paid. On the other 10, location is the only thing a visitor can narrow by, or there is nothing to narrow by at all.

Can you narrow by who fits you?

0 of 10

0 of 10 offer a control for the language a visitor speaks, the community they belong to, or the life event they are facing. On the other 10, who the visitor is makes no difference to who they are shown.

Can you reach them yourself?

0 of 10

0 of 10 give a visitor that named advisor’s own phone, email, or calendar without submitting their details to the firm first. The other 10 do not.

Can you keep your details until you choose?

0 of 10

0 of 10 let a visitor reach the advisor they picked without joining a queue, asking for a callback, or filling in a match form. On the other 10, the route runs through the firm.

Can a machine find them?

20%

2 of 10

2 of 10 put their advisors in the served bytes, where a crawler or an answer engine can read them. On the other 8, the advisors are invisible to machines.

The rows

All 10, and what a consumer could actually do on each

Click a name to open its finding: the six with what carries each, what the walk ended in, every control on the page as the page labels it, and the URL we audited.

Search surface name

Country

Route

Ended in

Machines can read

Sort within route

Filter by test

See a real person at all

Narrow by what you need

Narrow by who fits you

Reach them yourself

Keep your details until you choose

Be found by a machine

Digital advice & D2C — all 10 audited pages, grouped by the route a consumer got. Fieldwork closed 11 September 2026.
Surface	The Six	Steps	Choose by	Ended in	Machines
You can see them. You cannot reach them.3
	See a real person at all — passes Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — passes	—Seen, not reachable	Nothing	A queue	Yes
Observed 2026-09-11 Country US Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route You can see them. You cannot reach them. Machines can read Yes Where we looked domainmoney.com/advisors This walk ended in a queue. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — passesa named advisor appears Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — passesmachines can read it: Yes Every control on the page, as the page labels it 2 THE ROSTER HAS NO CONTROLS AT ALL – 0 <select>, no search box, no combobox, no facet, no pagination, no tabs. 15 cards under the heading ‘Our CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(R) professionals’. THE FUNNEL (/free-consultation) is a lead form, not a filter, and nothing in it touches the roster: step 1 of a multi-step bar asks ‘First name’, ‘Last name’, ‘Email address’, ‘Phone number’ ALL ON ONE SCREEN, under ‘The first step to a smarter financial plan – Book your Free Strategy Session in under 2 minutes.’ What would change this row Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Of the 8 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited in US, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
	See a real person at all — passes Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — passes	—Seen, not reachable	Nothing	A calendar — but not that advisor’s	Yes
Observed 2026-09-10 Country US Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route You can see them. You cannot reach them. Machines can read Yes Where we looked app.facet.com/discover This walk ended in a calendar — but not that advisor’s. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — passesa named advisor appears Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — passesmachines can read it: Yes What would change this row Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Of the 8 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited in US, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
	See a real person at all — passes Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails	—Seen, not reachable	Nothing	A clear “we don’t offer this”	No
Observed 2026-09-11 Country US Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route You can see them. You cannot reach them. Machines can read No Where we looked range.com/public/about-us This walk ended in a clear “we don’t offer this”. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — passesa named advisor appears Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails Every control on the page, as the page labels it 1 NONE. The planner section contains zero input, zero select, zero button, zero checkbox, zero radio and zero custom combobox – there is no search, filter, sort or facet of any kind over the 24 planners. Confirmed by enumeration rather than by eye, and confirmed negatively: the whole page carries four form controls in total and all four belong to the newsletter sign-up and the cookie banner. Addendum 5 iframe check performed: no iframe holds a facet. What would change this row Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Be found by a machine Give every advisor their own URL, rendered in the served bytes rather than assembled by script after the page loads. Of the 8 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited in US, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
No named person at any depth7
	See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails	—No route at all	Enquiry type / service line (‘How can we help you?’ chip set) · Existing-customer status (on the /contact-us/help form)	No named person at any depth	No
Observed 2026-09-10 Country South Africa Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered Enquiry type / service line (‘How can we help you?’ chip set), Existing-customer status (on the /contact-us/help form) Route No named person at any depth Machines can read No Where we looked 10x.co.za/contact-us This walk reached nobody. No named person at any depth. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails What would change this row See a real person at all Publish the individual advisors, not only offices, a switchboard or a form. Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Be found by a machine Give every advisor their own URL, rendered in the served bytes rather than assembled by script after the page loads. Of the 10 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
	See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails	—No route at all	Nothing	No named person at any depth	No
Observed 2026-09-10 Country US Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route No named person at any depth Machines can read No Where we looked betterment.com/financial-experts This walk reached nobody. No named person at any depth. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails What would change this row See a real person at all Publish the individual advisors, not only offices, a switchboard or a form. Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Be found by a machine Give every advisor their own URL, rendered in the served bytes rather than assembled by script after the page loads. Of the 8 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited in US, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
	See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails	—No route at all	Nothing	No named person at any depth	No
Observed 2026-09-11 Country South Africa Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route No named person at any depth Machines can read No Where we looked easyequities.co.za This walk reached nobody. No named person at any depth. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails What would change this row See a real person at all Publish the individual advisors, not only offices, a switchboard or a form. Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Be found by a machine Give every advisor their own URL, rendered in the served bytes rather than assembled by script after the page loads. Of the 10 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
	See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails	—No route at all	Nothing	No named person at any depth	No
Observed 2026-09-10 Country US Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route No named person at any depth Machines can read No Where we looked empower.com/personal-investors/financial-advisors This walk reached nobody. No named person at any depth. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails What would change this row See a real person at all Publish the individual advisors, not only offices, a switchboard or a form. Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Be found by a machine Give every advisor their own URL, rendered in the served bytes rather than assembled by script after the page loads. Of the 8 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited in US, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
	See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails	—No route at all	Nothing	No named person at any depth	No
Observed 2026-09-10 Country US Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route No named person at any depth Machines can read No Where we looked useorigin.com This walk reached nobody. No named person at any depth. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails What would change this row See a real person at all Publish the individual advisors, not only offices, a switchboard or a form. Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Be found by a machine Give every advisor their own URL, rendered in the served bytes rather than assembled by script after the page loads. Of the 8 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited in US, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
	See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails	—No route at all	Nothing	No named person at any depth	No
Observed 2026-09-10 Country US Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route No named person at any depth Machines can read No Where we looked investor.vanguard.com/advice/personal-hybrid-robo-advisor This walk reached nobody. No named person at any depth. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails What would change this row See a real person at all Publish the individual advisors, not only offices, a switchboard or a form. Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Be found by a machine Give every advisor their own URL, rendered in the served bytes rather than assembled by script after the page loads. Of the 8 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited in US, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →
	See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails	—No route at all	Nothing	No named person at any depth	No
Observed 2026-09-10 Country US Segment Digital advice & D2C All controls offered None Route No named person at any depth Machines can read No Where we looked wealthfront.com This walk reached nobody. No named person at any depth. The six, and what carries each See a real person at all — fails Narrow by what you need — fails Narrow by who fits you — fails Reach them yourself — fails Keep your details until you choose — fails Be found by a machine — fails What would change this row See a real person at all Publish the individual advisors, not only offices, a switchboard or a form. Narrow by what you need Add one professional-need control — specialty, credentials, or how the advisor is paid. Location does not count. Narrow by who fits you Add one personal-fit control — language, identity or community, or a life event or life stage. Reach them yourself Put that advisor’s own phone or email on their profile, or let the consumer book into their calendar, before asking for anything. Keep your details until you choose Let the consumer see and choose an advisor before the form, not after it. Be found by a machine Give every advisor their own URL, rendered in the served bytes rather than assembled by script after the page loads. Of the 8 digital advice and direct-to-consumer surfaces we audited in US, 0 let a consumer narrow by who fits them. You are not one of them. Something wrong here? Tell us →

Every part of this report

By business model

By country

The whole thing

The Find an Advisor Index