What is AI prospecting?

Definition

AI prospecting tools help find people who may need an advisor and decide who to contact first. They combine data (job changes, company events, professional profiles) with machine-learning scores, and often add generative AI to draft personalized outreach.

Lead scoring is the ranking part: a number or tier that estimates how promising a prospect is.

Why it matters for advisors

Prospecting tools can save hours of research, but outreach is still a communication under the Marketing Rule or FINRA Rule 2210, and automated calls and texts bring in telemarketing rules. The FCC has said calls using AI-generated voices are "artificial" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Scores are estimates. Use them to prioritize, not to decide who deserves your attention.

Data source matters as much as the AI. Ask where the contact and wealth data comes from, how often it's refreshed and whether your use of it fits the vendor's terms. Outreach based on stale or wrong data wastes time and can embarrass the firm.

Example

An advisor uses a prospecting database to find local business owners who recently sold a company, reviews each profile and personalizes an AI-drafted note before sending it.

Watch out for

Check where the data came from and whether your use of it is allowed under the vendor's terms and privacy law.